The aim of the study was to draw together recent literature and examples of current practice to provide an overview of on-line delivery in education and training in Australia. The report summarises findings within seven key areas. This study points to future directions in on-line delivery.
The changes that have occurred in vocational education and training over the last decade have profound implications for the focus of evaluation. Funding is becoming tied to outputs rather than inputs; a transition is occurring from a supply-side system to one which has some demand-side characteristics; the range of training providers is more diverse than it was; and there has been a change in emphasis from external controls to quality assurance mechanisms. To ensure that future decisions on vocational education and training are well founded, a National Research and Evaluation Strategy has been developed which is administered by NCVER. This discussion paper is intended to inform the further development of the national strategy by strengthening its focus on evaluation.
This report compares the education and training outputs and outcomes of the Australian higher education and VET sectors. It identifies: which courses appear to have the best employment outcomes; the impact of students' prior education and employment backgrounds on outcomes; and specific social groups where outcomes vary between the sectors.
This report reviews the extensive literature on women and vocational education and training. It aims to provide material useful to policy-makers and practitioners in planning responses which are appropriate to the nature and scope of women's disadvantage in VET. It also aims to provide guidance to researchers and research funding bodies on gaps in the existing research and the direction for possible future research. The report covers the political landscape (economic reforms and social trends), insights on women's participation in VET and a discussion of social justice and approaches to equity within VET. It also includes an extensive bibliography.
Globalisation is impacting on most spheres of human endeavour - the economy, the society, politics and education. This publication addresses a world-wide view of globalisation and its potential impact on most areas of technical and vocational education and training. It is particularly relevant to policy-makers, planners, curriculum developers and industry partners in both formal and non-formal education for work.
This paper provides a history of the research effort in the sector and examines the roles it can and does play in policy formulation and critique, as well as informing practice.
This paper examines the progress that has been made in increasing the national VET research effort, together with mechanisms that have been, or are being, developed to increase the knowledge about and use of VET research results in order to improve the impact of VET research and evaluation work in Australia.
This publication provides an overview of research findings on the pathways young people take when they leave school. Also examined are data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics which track the labour market outcomes of young people.
This report documents an investigation of the ways in which VET students in the 1990s are combining both study and work in preparation for future long-term career paths.
The changing nature of indigenous involvement in vocational education and training (VET) over the past decade is one of the most remarkable transformations seen in Australia's educational history. The number of indigenous peoples in VET has grown from just a few thousand in the 1980s to almost 45 000 in 1998. Inequality between indigenous peoples and other Australians in overall participation in VET has now been eliminated. VET providers, particularly TAFE, have opened their doors to indigenous peoples. They have responded and are enrolling in VET courses in record numbers. They are staying in the programs and successfully completing them in greater numbers than ever before. However, there are still many issues that need to be addressed such as balancing representation across courses, improving pass rates and employment outcomes and reducing withdrawal rates. This study suggests strategies that focus on more appropriate provision of courses and improving the outcomes achieved by indigenous students.
This report has been prepared as part of the Indonesia Australia Partnership for Skills Development (IAPSD) Program as a reference document about the technical and vocational education and training situation in Indonesia and in Australia. The overall goal of the program is to assist in improving workforce skills, so that skill formation arrangements better meet the needs of Indonesian industry.
This Research at a glance explores early school leaving, who early school leavers are, why they leave school early, risk factors and likely outcomes of early school leaving, and the positives and negatives of retention. It examines what is being done for early school leavers through VET in school and post-school settings and identifies major issues and 'best practice' as well as possible directions.
The key problem explored by this research is whether initial vocational education and training and associated support services assist early school leavers to negotiate an effective transition from school to adult roles. The report also examines the gap between provision and demand for VET and associated services barriers, to full access and use of the available programs and services by the at-risk early school leavers.
This study has described contemporary policy relating to VET in Australia and has asked the question: to what extent do the current laws relating to VET support the development of a national system of vocational education and training? It concludes that while VET legislation is in a process of transition, it is broadly consistent in content and purpose across the range of jurisdictions. It can therefore be argued that the regulation of the provision of VET has been reasonably effective in supporting policy implementation in the sector.
This publication is made up of 17 case studies exploring the relationships between research and development and decision-making in vocational education and training.
This report presents a review and analysis of research on the internationalisation of vocational education and training and provides an assessment of other research that needs to be conducted in this area.
This study compared costs of delivering workplace and TAFE-based courses in three industries - retail, hospitality and automotive. The data that were gathered provide an insight into the comparative costs of training and how they are distributed across governments, employers and trainees.
This report provides a picture of adult and community education (ACE) provision of VET programs in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia and in so doing provides a broadly based picture of the ACE sector as a whole. The report provides evidence of the capacity of the ACE sector to effectively address learner needs and to help learners link together learning. It also notes that while ACE provides considerable benefits to disadvantaged groups, many people with substantial prior educational background also choose to make use of ACE.
This publication reports on a research project which set out to analyse recent research and policy documents on indigenous peoples' development needs and aspirations, and was aimed at assessing the extent to which current developments in vocational education and training research and policy were sufficiently informed by this separate but related body of literature. The report argues that current policy settings and research on the educational needs of indigenous Australians have been overly influenced by human capital theory and economic rationalist policy.
This title brings together what is known about workplace learning, examines it critically and proposes directions for future developments in both research and practice. The authors seek to provide frameworks for considering issues and new ways of representing the complexities of the field in an accessible form.