Search Results for
"Vocational education"

Does authentic assessment or the perception of it affect how students study and learn? Does practical experience affect how assessment authenticity is perceived? And does practical experience influence how an authentic assessment affects student learning? Mixed methods design yielded insight into the answers to these questions. This article presents the results of a study on the relationships between authenticity perceptions of different cohorts of students, who differed in the amount of practical experience, their study approach and their perceived degree of professional skill development. The results showed some salient differences in how freshman- and senior-student groups perceive the same authentic assessment and how this assessment influences their learning. These results suggest possible guidelines for developing and using authentic assessments during a curriculum in which learning and working are intertwined. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper reviews empirical evidence, especially from Europe, on how education and training policies can be designed to advance both efficiency and equity. Returns to educational investments tend to decrease over the life cycle. Moreover, they are the highest for disadvantaged children at early stages and for the well-off at late stages of the life cycle. This creates complementarities between efficiency and equity at early stages and trade-offs at late stages. The paper discusses specific policies for efficiency and equity at each educational stage, ranging from early childhood education and schools over vocational and higher education to training and lifelong learning. The available evidence suggests that both efficiency and equity can be enhanced by output-oriented reforms properly designed to each stage, where the state generally sets a regulatory framework that ensures accountability and funding, and uses the forces of choice and competition to deliver best results. Designed this way, education and training systems can advance efficiency and equity at the same time. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Background. The State of Victoria in Australia introduced Chinese medicine practitioner registration in 2000 and issued its education guidelines in late 2002 for introduction in 2005. This study obtained practitioners' views on desired capabilities for competent Chinese medicine practice and to identify professional development needs. Methods. A questionnaire, consisting of 28 predefined capabilities in four categories with a rating scale of importance from one to five, was developed and sent to all registered Chinese medicine practitioners in the State of Victoria, Australia in October, 2005. Results. Two hundreds and twenty eight completed questionnaires were returned which represented a response rate of 32.5%. Of the four categories of capabilities, technical capabilities were considered to be the most important for clinical practice. Specifically, the ability to perform acupuncture treatment and/or dispense an herbal prescription was ranked the highest. In contrast, research and information management capabilities were considered the least important. The educational background of practitioners appeared to be an important factor influencing their rating of capabilities. Significantly, nearly double the number of practitioners with Australian qualifications than practitioners trained overseas valued communication as an important capability. For continuing professional education, clinical skills courses were considered as a priority while research degree studies were not. Conclusion. Registered Chinese medicine practitioners viewed skills training as important but did not support the need for research and information management training. This represents a significant hurdle to developing Chinese medicine as a form of evidence-based healthcare. © 2008 Xue et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

Todays modern power plants can only be operated with a small number of staff if the different training stages are based on one another. The well-coordinated training concepts guarantee a safe and efficient plant operation, according to the requirements and present laws and regulations. Training young skilled labour who already have a sound initial qualification as a mechatronician is, in our opinion, a forward-looking concept. Today, mechatronicians are successful in many fields. The VGB Working Group "Job Training" recommends further training for the plant operator qualification. According to our experience, the step by step training to achieve the plant operator qualification Is both, successful and forward-looking. The training is based on a vocational education as an electrical or mechanical technician, or, as described in the following, a mechatronician. The training as shift supervisor, which is company-financed, has also proved successful. The employees are able to gain know-how during the step by step training within the company. On the other hand, the company can assess them and choose candidates for this highly responsible position. Two years ago a guideline was passed restructuring the training as shift supervisor. It gives many answers how to train capable shift supervisors. Additional practical instructions improve the process control and leadership competence of the shift supervisor. In future it becomes even more essential to get best trainees in an increasingly competitive labour market. With a reliable and coordinated training concept the energy supply industry is prepared for the challenges of the future.

This paper contrasts the profiles of women who choose to pursue vocational training in either public institutions (community colleges) or private institutions (career colleges) in Canada with particular attention given to respondents' life-course positions. The study employs 1998 Adult education and Training Survey data. Correspondence analysis shows the relation between training choices of women, their individual characteristics and selected situational, dispositional, and institutional factors. The space topography determined by the correspondence between training choices and women profiles indicates that duration of training constitutes the primary institutional feature distinguishing choice. Older women who need to balance both work and family obligations tend to enroll in single courses and are attracted to the modular programming of the private colleges. In contrast, the traditional program-based vocational training offered by community colleges is the preferred option for younger women.