This report provides an outline and discussion of the support needs and services required for students to achieve successful outcomes while studying online. The findings of the report are based on a literature review, surveys and follow-up interviews with students studying online and with teachers/co-ordinators delivering online. The focus of the surveys and interviews is on students' expectations of the services either currently provided or required to be provided to ensure their success.
Ten industry training packages are investigated to assess how much focus they give to the attainment of generic skills. Author Susan Dawe draws on recent case studies of ten Australian industries where generic skills are taught in companies and TAFE institutes using training packages. This in-depth study also examines approaches that can enhance the delivery of generic skills so that students are better prepared for the new demands of the workplace.
This report describes the support that informal and formal learners need in order to help them successfully complete VET. It includes two types of indicators deemed necessary to provide effective learning support: those relating to organisational features and learning culture, and those that relate specifically to teaching and learning practices.
This resource contains practical material to help assessors maintain the quality of their assessment systems. It includes an overview of how registered training organisations can develop a validation or moderation process, and a range of checklists that assessors can use as part of the assessment review process. Also included is a sample of a code of practice for assessors, guidelines for set-up simulated assessment and gathering evidence, and guidelines for training organisations on documenting partners and collaborative assessment arrangements. The resource is designed as a series of strategies with case study examples and scenarios of how particular RTOs have dealt with assessment issues.
The encouragement of lifelong learning is one important aim of the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system. The recognition of the concept of 'module' enrolments in VET, in addition to enrolments towards qualifications, gives practical effect to that aim. A student undertaking VET modules only or a 'module enrollee' may be thought of as an individual enrolling in a program with a VET provider, but not intending to proceed to a qualification. Similarly a 'module completer' is a student who is not a graduate but has successfully completed some training in a VET program of study and then left the VET system. This report provides information on the employment and industry characteristics of module enrollees and completers in VET. Their reasons or motivations for module (as opposed to course) enrolment and the employment and lifelong learning outcomes associated with the types of module providers and training programs are also examined.
The financial benefits of gaining a VET qualification are calculated and assessed in this report. Using data from a representative sample of Australian employees, author Chris Ryan compares the wages and after-tax returns for individuals with different qualifications and with different levels of experience and labour market participation.
The long-term benefits of a VET qualification are compared with the long-term employment outcomes for university graduates and for individuals whose education ceased at Year 12. Also looked at are the long-term effects for VET graduates with disabilities and from non-English speaking backgrounds and what differences exist for males and females over time. Author Chris Ryan uses data from two major surveys to assess the value of various VET qualifications for lifelong learning and longer term employment opportunities.
How lifelong learning and vocational training are currently being implemented in Australia and in Germany is explored by educational specialists from both countries in this edited anthology of conference papers. They compare the methods and effects in both countries. The papers also reflect the importance of lifelong learning in the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung, the Australian National Training Authority, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research and the Monash University, ACER Centre for the Economics of Education and Training. The conference in Potsdam in 2000 was organised for the Australia Centre in Berlin, by the Centre for the Economics of Education and Training.
This study examines the evolving nature of work in the process manufacturing industry. It considers the changing political philosophies and especially the enterprise-based industrial relations system that has enabled much of the job redesign examined in this study to occur. In addition, the report looks at recent social theory on the nature of work.
A discussion of the vocational education and training system in Sweden, which has developed from being primarily industry-based in the 1960s to a structurally uniform system that is integrated with general education in the present day.
This project explored the use of a range of learning technologies by TAFE students who are Deaf and hard of hearing. Infrastructure requirements, such as access to interpreters skilled in Auslan signing for the profoundly Deaf, were also explored. The report discusses the range of ways information in the classroom can be made more visual. It also discusses barriers to the implementation and use of these new learning technologies.
This research investigates what knowledge, skills and attitudes independent contractors, working in alliances with others, need to operate successfully in their working life. It also shows how the existing vocational and education training (VET) system meets these needs and what the implications are for VET for the future.
This report presents results from the 1997 TAFE Graduate Destination Survey and from interviews conducted in 1998 with staff from nine courses in entry-level office skills. The aim of the report is to compare satisfaction ratings and the outcomes achieved by graduates from courses at similar levels and in similar fields of studies across different training organisations.
This project developed and tested a management and leadership capability framework for vocational education and training (VET) directors and senior managers. Nine capabilities emerged as required of VET leaders and managers: provides corporate vision and direction; focuses strategically; achieves outcomes; develops and manages resources; change leadership; interpersonal relationships; personal development and mastery; business and entrepreneurial skills; and develops and empowers people.
This project examines different ways in which young people still at school experience workplaces through paid work, vocational placements and work experience. The study is based on a survey of students in Years 10, 11 and 12 in 13 schools in NSW and SA. In fact, 1451 responses were received. In addition, case studies were carried out in five schools.
This report focusses on the implementation of vocational education and training (VET) in schools over the period 1996-1999. The report is comprehensive and provides an overview of school-based VET, historic and international aspects of vocationalism in secondary schooling, policy influences on the implementation of VET in secondary schools in Australia, a statistical description of VET provision in Australian secondary schools, a description of school-level implementation, discussion of cost and resourcing issues and then a suggested blueprint for school-based VET. Part 2 elaborates on the major findings and issues presented in part 1 and is available as a pdf file only.
The aim of this project was to investigate and document successful longer-term career outcomes of a selected sample of VET graduates. The sample was taken from the Youth Research Centre database of 29 000 Victorians who have completed their schooling in 1991. For the quantitative analysis a target group was chosen from the database comprising the 400-500 VET participants who indicated they had established themselves in full-time on-going employment or jobs that they considered to be career jobs. In addition the researchers interviewed over 200 young people with VET qualifications and analysed this data and also drew on interview transcripts from 80 interviews with young people. The data in this report cover such issues as how success in a career is defined, what percentage of young people are in jobs and what kind of jobs are they in three years after they completed their studies, how they assess their career success, how secure they feel in their career and the extent to which their studies have contributed to their success.
This review of research summarises the recent Australian VET research that relates to literacy and numeracy issues since 1990. The review concentrates on literacy and numeracy policy initiatives, impact of literacy/numeracy levels on participation in VET, approaches to delivery of literacy and numeracy support, professional development and teacher education.
'Training indicators' - current and future indicators of VET demand and supply that guide investment decisions in skill training - are increasingly important in the national, State and regional VET planning cycles. This report makes recommendations for good practice in the use of training indicators and for improvements in their range and their dissemination.
This study considers the status of validity in the context of the assessment of VET in Australia. The project has involved reviewing the literature, reporting the outcomes of case studies, presenting the key findings and developing a diagnostic tool to guide assessors.