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"Teaching"

Effectively supporting apprentices in connecting what they learn at school and at the workplace still constitutes a challenge for most vocational education and training (VET) systems. To address this challenge, various efforts have been made in Switzerland, comprising a large investment in promoting effective cooperation between educational institutions and workplace settings as well as in designing integrated curricula and connective educational practices. In this chapter, the core aspects of the Swiss VET system are briefly described as an introduction to an interview study that aimed to explore which factors are perceived by VET actors as crucial for successfully connecting learning and teaching across schools and the workplace. The study is part of a large research project on school-workplace connectivity in VET from a sociocultural perspective. The study sample was comprised of ten vocational school teachers, eight in-company or intercompany trainers and eight apprentices involved in apprenticeship programmes in different vocational fields as well as four experts from vocational teacher training and VET research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and then examined using a thematic analysis. The findings of the study demonstrate that a multitude of factors contribute to the connections between learning at school and in workplace settings, including collaboration and communication disposals across learning locations as well as factors related to curriculum development and instructional arrangements. These findings are discussed in relation to the theoretical framework of the study, and implications for VET practice and research are examined. © 2018, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

The transition towards a sustainable economy has given a new term 'green competences'. Green competences build upon the foundation of core competences - including literacy, numeracy, communication, teamwork and problem solving - which along with awareness of environmental issues and entrepreneurship, facilitate lifelong learning and adaptability to environmental change (Marsden, Medhurst Irving, 2014) [1]. Organizing experiential learning activities is not new to the learning environment in higher education institutions in the world. However, it would be a new approach to some cultures, like Vietnam where most of students are not familiar with studying in proactive and experiential ways. Experiential learning activities provide students with opportunities to self - construct their competences from experience for sustainable development. So, this article describes a brief theoretical approach to core competence and experiential learning activities (Project-Based Learning, Learning Games) for developing core competencies (problem solving, teamwork) of technical students at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education (HCMUTE). In addition, qualitative (observation and interview) and quantitative methods were used to describe a progression of improving core competences of technical students. Finally, minor suggestions for teachers to develop core competences of technical students through organizing experiential learning activities by carefully considering a consistency of learning outcomes, teaching-learning activities and assessment according to the CDIO approach (Conceive, Design, Implement and Operation) were given. © 2018 IEEE.

In this chapter, the results of a questionnaire are analyzed to assess engineering students' satisfaction toward their courses, working conditions, and academic environment, as well as the flow of knowledge perception along the first three curricular years. With a sample of 654 students from four higher education institutions and two countries, the study focused in eleven items, concerning teachers' involvement perception, student-teacher interaction, course organization, and functioning, and overall satisfaction. Several research hypotheses were considered, and significant correlations were investigated. Results show that students, in average, are satisfied with the course and with student-teacher interaction, but perceive that teachers do not contextualize the contents in a professional perspective. The flow of knowledge is neither clearly understood. Two positive significant correlations exist between: students' overall satisfaction and their expectations; the way students assess their interaction with teachers and the way they assess teachers' involvement. No significant differences were found between the two countries. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018. All rights reserved.

[No abstract available]

The bid to transform education with the inclusion of 21st-century skills in the school system lays an emphasis on hands-on project-based learning and tinkering. Often such learning activities involve teaching children creation of artifacts that extend beyond lending personal meaning to themselves, as objects that are designed for use by others. It is imperative that making such objects is motivated by an empathetic understanding of the needs of the eventual users of these objects. This paper discusses the conduct of a workshop that teaches user-centered design principles to eighth graders by engaging in maker activities aiming to develop such an understanding of their users in children. The workshop engages the children in dialogue with users and teaches the children to create objects that fulfill the users' expressed needs. Furthermore, to engage them in collaborative-learning, the children were guided to create a boat by up-cycling waste plastic bottles. They then rowed it out in a pool to test it for its functionality. The workshop has led to an increased sense of general self-efficacy in the children that was measured by the conducted pre-workshop and post-workshop surveys. © 2018 IEEE.

Teachers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) play a pivotal role in ensuring skilled graduates with excellent personality. However, some TVET teachers in developing world face challenges in fulfilling this role. Thus, this study explored the challenges that are faced by vocational teachers (who are assigned to teach skills courses) from public skills training institutions in Malaysia. Using qualitative research design, this study conducted semi-structured interviews on 13 purposively selected participants from the Department of Skills Development and personnel under the Ministry of Human Resources and Ministry of Youth and Sports, which included six management staff and seven vocational teachers. Following the analysis using nVIVO, this study identified six core challenges faced by vocational teachers: (1) disinterest and lack of motivation in teaching the assigned skills subjects; (2) lack of skills qualifications and industrial experiences (which are necessary as vocational teachers; (3) meeting the needs of students with low academic grades which require extra teaching effort with high emotional intelligence; (4) difficulty in attending professional courses due to limited budget allocation, rotation system, and heavy workload; (5) difficulty in article writing task; and (6) difficulty in using English as the medium of instruction. These findings demonstrate the strong need to address the challenges faced by these vocational teachers, particularly for the teaching of programmes based on the National Occupational Skills Standard (NOSS), in the public skills training institutions to enhance the teaching and learning process in TVET. © 2018, Penerbit UTHM. All rights reserved.

Vocational education and training of human resources in tourism play an important role in the development of the tourism industry and hence in the national, regional and global economy. In this paper, we aimed to analyze the effective use of smart education in the teaching and learning process in tourism. The research was conducted over three academic years (2013-2014, 2014-2015, 2015-2016) in 12 high schools providing tourism specializations in Constanta County, Romania. The main method used was an experiment. Thus, we used information and communication technology (ICT) methods in the educational process (the independent variable) in order to compare students' results to those obtained in control classes, in which only traditional teaching methods were used. The results of our research confirmed our initial hypotheses, namely the fact that by using ICT methods within tourism classes, students understand and assimilate specialised knowledge faster and better, and they form and develop specific skills at a higher level than by using traditional teaching methods. This means that by using the latest technology in classes for teaching and learning disciplines in tourism, it is possible to develop, by the end of the superior cycle of high school, the future qualified human resources required for sustainable tourism. © 2018 by the author.

The effective implementation of the dual certificate system for tour guide specialty in higher vocational colleges is an effective guarantee to promote student employment and improve education teaching quality. Based on the analysis of the present situation and existing problems of the double certificate system for the professional tour guide in higher vocational colleges, this paper uses the method of questionnaire survey puts forward some effective ways and methods to implement the double certificate system for the professional tour guide in higher vocational colleges from the aspects of talent training mode, curriculum reform and the construction of the double-qualified teachers. It is hoped that this study can achieve the goal of "double certificates" for more students majoring in tour guide upon graduation and increase the employment rate. © Indian Pulp and Paper Technical Association. All rights reserved.

This paper describes an audit workplace simulation and investigates its effects on students’ perceptions of competences, required as important in the auditing industry. Within the competence-based teaching framework, this training activity involves cooperative learning as it combines first-undergraduate and senior students within one team. First, we explore how some key competences are initially appreciated by first-year students. Second, our research empirically assesses how the simulation modifies students’ awareness of those competences. Results of the pretest reveal that senior students’ awareness on key competences is higher than of first-undergraduate students. In particular, communication skills are initially not considered as relevant by the first-year students. Results of the posttest reveal that our intervention significantly improves first-undergraduates’ awareness of technical accounting knowledge and communication skills. © 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Context: Teachers in vocational education and training (VET teachers) have specific conditions for their continuing professional development (CPD). They have a background in an initial occupation, in which they now teach and train the next generation. Thus, as VET teachers, they are expected to master the knowledge and skills of that occupation, even if they have now crossed the boundary from the community of their initial occupation to the community of the school. This study explores the perceived values among VET teachers of different activities that may contribute to their CPD in teaching subjects/initial occupations. The study examines VET at the upper secondary level in Sweden. Here, the VET teachers have the main responsibility for students' vocational learning in the vocational subjects, including the work-based parts. In the latter parts, the teachers are supplemented by supervisors at the workplace. Approach: We argue for the duality of a VET teacher identity with a professional competence that comprises two intertwined parts - teaching skills, and knowledge of the teaching subjects based in the teachers' initial occupations. Our study is based on a situated learning perspective, and the empirical findings particularly concern values created from learning through participation and boundary crossing. CPD activities typically include some form of participation in and/or boundary crossing between school and work-life practices. In the analysis we also include the possible influence of institutional, situational, and dispositional drivers and barriers for participation in different activities. The research question was: what factors can explain the variation in perceived values created by participation in different CPD activities among VET teachers? The study was conducted as a survey of 886 Swedish VET teachers. Focus was put on the values created through different types of activity, values for the teachers' vocational knowledge, for networks in working life, and for teaching. The data were primarily analysed using logistic regression modelling. Findings: Dispositional drivers, the teacher's sex, and regular performance of the activity are important for the perceived value. The dispositional factor is the one most commonly retained, and it has a consistently positive effect. Factors such as educational background and vocational training have weaker influence, which suggests that individual driving factors are important when VET teachers assess the value of CPD activities. Conclusions: The study covers a general challenge for VET teachers, but is of particular relevance in systems with a high degree of school-based VET, full-time employed VET teachers, and VET teachers who are responsible for students' vocational learning. Here, the values for vocational knowledge, for networks, and for teaching that are created through different activities are important for the VET teacher identity. They are also interrelated, and together they provide professional development in relation to the initial occupation, and for the occupation as a vocational teacher. © 2018 European Research Network Vocational Education and Training. All rights reserved.