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"Teaching"

The purposes of this paper are to survey Russian trainers to create a social portrait of the professional group and to identify features, which could be arranged as a foothold for transforming this group to a new level given the demands of the modern economy. This study integrates the use of quantitative and qualitative social research strategies to obtain, aggregate, and analyze data characterizing the professional group of trainers in the Russian vocational education and training (VET) system. The basic research was provided by questionnaires in all federal districts (as recognized by international law) of the Russian Federation. The quantitative poll of trainers was conducted by representative two-level sampling. A number of tables and charts provide a social portrait of the Russian trainer. The statistical data reveal the current level of trainers’ education as well as their length of service, distribution of vocations, and other significant features. The overall conclusion from these findings indicates that a typical representative of this professional group is a woman of average or slightly advanced age with a family, who has a VET or higher education, has served as a training officer for not less than 10 years, and who has either been recruited as a highly skilled worker or as a specialist. A typical representative feels the need to change something in the life and teaching of the young people that she knows. The research into trainers as a professional group was conducted first because of their uniformity, and secondly, their typicality as a pedagogical group. In many respects, the main characteristics of the social portrait are similar to characteristics of other professional groups in the Russian education system, such as secondary and post-secondary school teachers, and VET teachers. The study is based on one country. It is the first and only survey of its type in the Russian Federation. The paper provides a unique analysis of the situation with trainers in the VET system of the Russian Federation. © 2016 Kopnov et al.

Learning through active participation and engagement in education and workplace settings is a prerequisite for effective professional competence development through Vocational Education and Training (VET). Equally important is that learning from multiple sites and sources needs to be purposefully connected and integrated to construct meaningful knowledge and understandings. The quality of connectivity and learning outcomes is influenced by conceptions of the different actors. The aim of the research reported in this article was to gain an understanding of key stakeholders’ (learners, teachers, trainers and managers/coordinators) conceptions of connections between school-based and work-based learnings which offer the main sources for developing vocational competence, and are the main sites for the enacted and engaged curriculum for VET. We identify and compare conceptions of vocational learning and teaching across education and workplace settings in Swiss and Australian VET actors. Differences and similarities are discussed and implications for VET research and development of teachers and trainers are outlined. © 2016 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to report the findings of a joint study carried out with groups of colleges in England and technical and further education (TAFE) institutes in Australia. It looks at the factors which promote the delivery of higher technical skills and the infrastructure arrangements that are needed for success. It relates these to the debate concerning the promotion of higher and degree apprenticeships (HAs and DAs) in England. Design/methodology/approach - The report is derived from a series of interviews with college and TAFE staff. A policy comparison is also included to provide context. Findings - The outcome of the study suggests that similar factors affect the decision to offer, pursue and contribute to the development of higher technical skills in both countries. HAs and DAs are an English construct and the experience of colleges involved in HAs adds a valuable contribution to discussions surrounding the marketing and delivery of DAs. The Australian decision not to pursue either structure encourages reflection on what it is that governments are trying to achieve and what lessons can be learned from their approach. Research limitations/implications - The study was carried out within the non-university sector in both countries. Colleges and TAFE institutes are more likely to offer practice-based higher education (HE), have teaching staff with industry backgrounds and have long-established engagement with employers that may be found within universities. The paper was therefore written from a distinctive environment. However, it is likely that the issues identified apply to universities and private providers of HE as much as to colleges and TAFEs. Practical implications - The findings suggest that developing HAs or DAs should not be seen merely as just another marketing opportunity. The hybrid nature of both structures requires a holistic approach to delivery on the part of institutional leaders that leads to significant overhaul of internal communications networks, quality assurance schemes and staff development. Originality/value - The paper is one of relatively few published documents which focus on the role of dual sector colleges and TAFE institutes in the delivery of HE and higher technical skills. It offers insight into how government pressure for a particular style of HE, deemed necessary for the national economic interest of both countries, can be made into a reality. By using the expertise that already exists within the college and TAFE sectors and their established links with employers, more effective changes can be made at a faster pace. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Objective The aim of the present study was to investigate how aged care workers prefer to learn and be supported in continuing education and training activities. Methods Fifty-one workers in aged care facilities from metropolitan and rural settings across two states of Australia participated in a survey and interviews. Survey responses were analysed for frequencies and interview data provided explanations to the survey findings. Results The three most common ways workers were currently learning and prefer to continue to learn are: (1) everyday learning through work individually; (2) everyday learning through work individually assisted by other workers; and (3) everyday learning plus group training courses at work from the employer. The three most common types of provisions that supported workers in their learning were: (1) working and sharing with another person on the job; (2) direct teaching in a group (e.g. a trainer in a classroom at work); and (3) direct teaching by a workplace expert. Conclusions A wholly practice-based continuing education and training model is best suited for aged care workers. Two variations of this model could be considered: (1) a wholly practice-based model for individual learning; and (2) a wholly practice-based model with guidance from coworkers or other experts. Although the model is preferred by workers and convenient for employers, it needs to be well resourced. What is known about the topic? Learning needs for aged care workers are increasing significantly because of an aging population that demands more care workers. Workforce development is largely 'episodic', based on organisational requirements rather than systematic life-long learning. This study is part of a larger 3-year Australian research to investigate models of continuing education training. What does this paper add? Based on an analysis of survey and interview data from 51 workers, the present study suggests effective models of workforce development for aged care workers. What are the implications for practitioners? The effectiveness of the suggested models necessitates a culture where aged care workers' advancement in the workplace is valued and supported. Those responsible for the development of these workers need to be adequately prepared for mentoring and coaching in the workplace.

Web-based learning is generally a solitary process without teachers' on-the-spot assistance. In this study, a quasi-experiment was conducted to explore the effects of various combinations of Web-Based Cognitive Apprenticeship (WBCA) and Time Management (TM) on the development of students' computing skills. Three class cohorts of 124 freshmen in a one-semester course titled 'Applied Information Technology: Data Processing' were chosen for the empirical study. They were divided into three groups: two experimental groups (G1, n=42; G2, n=40) and one control group (G3, n=42). The goal of this research is to examine the effects of WBCA, TM, and their combination on undergraduates' learning, and further develop appropriate course design and online teaching methods for both teachers and schools. The results show that students who received WBCA and TM had higher grades than those without. The authors further discuss the implications of the findings and results for online teachers and scholars. © © 2016, IGI Global.

We examine whether immigration into the labour market of the building and construction (BaC) industry affects enrolment in vocational programmes that teach the skills required in this industry. Results suggest that a higher supply of immigrant labour is associated with lower enrolment into programmes teaching BaC skills. The strength of this relationship increases according to the grades that the students achieved in lower secondary school. This finding indicates that the negative effect of immigration on educational recruitment is mainly caused by students who turn away from these programmes, rather than a reduction in apprenticeship positions offered by employers. © The editors of The Scandinavian Journal of Economics 2015.

This article concerns the literature review of interdisciplinarity as an approach used in teaching and learning. It not only includes contributions from different disciplines, but also focuses on theoretical as well as practical work from Physics and Physical Education. It is an attempt to cross the boundaries of the two disciplines involved. Future studies, based on this review, will consider the teaching and learning process between Physics and Physical Education in an attempt to examine how this method can be effective in student learning. © 2016, Univerzitet u Travniku. All rights reserved.

Across the international teacher education literature, the practicum appears time and again as a key component of initial teacher education programmes. Whatever terminology is used to describe it, the practicum continues to be viewed by the majority of pre-service teachers across a range of international contexts as the most important factor in preparing for the teaching profession. While the practicum remains highly valued, it is also highly scrutinised and contested, with different stakeholders weighing in to debates about the place of practice in philosophical, pedagogical, procedural, and policy terms. This chapter considers these international debates and explores the various implications for practice from different perspectives and approaches. Questions have long been posed by different stakeholders about the place of practice, for example: "At what stage of their teacher education programme should pre-service teachers engage in practicum or professional experiences in schools?"; "Which schools should they attend and for how long?"; "What should they do while they are there?"; "What will they learn?"; "How will they learn it?"; and, "Who will assess whether sufficient professional learning has been achieved and demonstrated?" This chapter presents a researched perspective on these questions, including rich descriptions of the different views, models and approaches that have emerged in response to the age old dilemma of how best to prepare teachers for diverse contexts and of the purpose and place of practicum within their initial teacher education. © Springer Science+Business Media Singapore 2016.

In the last two decades, new insights into the nature of teaching and learning have driven the development of a variety of constructivist approaches for providing flexible and powerful student-centered learning environments. Also, recent advances in technology and in ideology have unlocked entirely new directions for education research. At the center of this discussion is the flipped classroom. This paper presents an ongoing study on how to integrate MOOC courses with an on campus course, adopting both the flipped classroom and self-directed learning paradigms. The authors created and recorded four courses, 2D CAD, 2D CAD project, 3D CAD and 3D CAD project, on Coursera, a popular MOOC platform. The instructor proposed three learning environments, the "hard classroom", "hybrid classroom", and "soft classroom". The students rated the environments for favorability in the beginning of the semester and decided whether or not they would go to the classroom during the course hours listed on the syllabus and how their learning would be facilitated. The "soft classroom" was the students' first choice, over the "hybrid classroom" and "hard classroom." Therefore, they were not required to attend the classroom physically. In addition, the students were responsible for their own pace of learning, without their learning progress being regularly checked. The instructor and teaching assistants were still available in the classroom during the course hours to interact with students. To understand how the "soft classroom" worked and helped students to learn, the authors distributed a self-developed survey, followed by focus group interviews of the students to reflect students' attitudes toward classroom attendance and their learning efficacy under this innovative self-regulated learning. Three rounds of surveys were conducted to examine students' changes in attitude and preferences as well as their perceptions of their learning efficiency. Based on students' self-reports, the average rate of physical classroom attendance was 26%. More than 60% of the students preferred this "soft classroom" learning. In addition, they reported on how efficient this course was in response to this new learning environment. The results from the three rounds of surveys and focus group interview provided evidence of the success of the current case. Students exhibited positive attitudes toward the soft classroom and achieved better learning outcomes. Besides expressing a preference for this learning paradigm, students also benefitted from its effectiveness. The soft classroom is an innovative model of teaching that utilizes educational technology and active learning to positively influence the learning environment by providing students opportunities to decide on the ways they are learning. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2016.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use teaching and learning units specially devised for development of self-competencies and social competencies in the retail sector to explore how learners assess these units in relation to acceptance, quality and self-assessment of improvement in their own performance. Design/methodology/approach: The study focuses on Poland, Italy and Germany, with a total of 1,020 learners undergoing initial vocational training in the retail sector taking part. Findings: The findings point to high levels of acceptance by participants and to significant appreciation of the quality of the teaching and learning units. Learners also perceived a marked improvement in their performance after completing the units. Differences in outcomes between individual countries can be explained at least in part by the differing training framework in each country. Research limitations/implications: The approach did not enable the authors adequately to evaluate the increase in learners’ competencies: participants’ self-assessment is of only limited value for this purpose. Moreover, only three countries were involved in the study. This area in particular will require substantial further research if reliable methods for evaluating competencies are to be developed that improve on the current instruments. Originality/value: The pedagogical objective of the project was to develop teaching and learning materials that would accelerate the development of self- and social competencies in the retail sector. The aim was that the material should be capable of use right across a range of European countries and be evaluated in a proper way. The findings are based on a very high number of involved students. Also the results are positive and enable teachers in VET-courses to use well tested teaching materials. © 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.