Search Results for
"learning"

This article reports on a series of interviews held with individuals in the middle of a Foundation Degree, during which they were asked for their views of studying for this qualification. It draws on a research project conducted with part-time students involved in work-based learning. The research into their ‘learning journeys’ aimed to explore the process of becoming and being a student. Findings suggested that individuals had embarked on a Foundation Degree for career-related reasons, although they also noted that their course returned secondary benefits, such as an increase in self-confidence and additional life skills. Interviewees found it difficult to juggle competing demands on their time, and needed emotional and practical support from those around them to do so. Other areas of concern were the lack of adequate assistance from tutors that some students felt when it came to writing assignments and the financial hardship that undertaking such a vocational qualification could bring. Results from this study highlight facets of Foundation Degrees that need to be considered by those delivering such courses. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Policy making in the English-speaking world has been increasingly bedevilled by the unrealistic expansion of the meaning of ‘skill’. In this process generic skills have emerged as of considerable importance, while the concept of lifelong learning has become a policy mantra. The current focus upon generic skills by policy makers is important and worthwhile, but serious weaknesses in understanding their nature and how to attain them is evident. Three central issues of transfer of learning, framing and classification appear not to be well understood by policy makers, with transfer of learning essential for the development of generic skills. Recent changes in thinking about transfer of learning that have occurred over approximately the last 15 years are reviewed. Australia, which has pursued issues of generic skills with some vigour, is used as an example of the inconsistencies and problems that can develop because of the failure of policy makers to understand the complexity of the issues, and the importance of transfer and effective teaching. Recommendations are made on the need for policy makers to understand learning and transfer, and reconfigure a central place for these in policy focused upon implementation and realistic outcomes. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Increasingly the importance of developing an appropriate learning environment in order to foster workplace learning is dominating organizational agendas. Yet much of the literature often lacks empirical support to underpin those conditions suggested as comprising an effective learning climate or suffers conceptually from failing to specify more clearly the nature of workplace learning. As a result, it is difficult to explain how or why differing aspects of an organization's learning environment should influence particular learning outcomes. Findings presented here demonstrate that (1) a supportive training and development infrastructure, (2) empowerment and effective communication, (3) opportunities for reflection and job challenge and (4) opportunities for formal and informal learning are associated with different types of learning outcomes associated with either workplace learning or training. The results suggest that, dependent on the types of learning outcomes desired by organizations, different aspects of the workplace environment are likely to be important in fostering an effective learning climate. © 2005 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Based on interviews with youth in Canada participating in a high school based apprenticeship programme, this article investigates the extent to which such programmes affect stated policy goals of facilitating school-work transitions and developing workplace skills. Although embedded in very different education and labour market structures, Germany's dual system is often discussed as a successful model for youth apprenticeship programmes, A comparison between Canadian and German youth apprentices therefore provides a rare critical look at how these differences shape individual experiences in apprenticeships, but also how they affect the accomplishment of policy goals. Findings show that the study participants themselves viewed their apprenticeships as positive and meaningful experiences, Yet the Canadian apprentices had only a cursory knowledge of apprenticeship regulations and career paths, and the German apprentices were restricted in their choices by the early streaming processes in Germany's education system, Skill development in Canada was limited by a focus on workplace-readiness skills and a lack of integration of what participants did at work and what they learned at school, Rather than gaining an understanding of their rights and responsibilities in the workplace, they were learning to accept their underprivileged place in it. Copyright © 2005 BSA Publications Ltd.

Online MBA programs have seen a rapid rise in student enrollments in recent years and institutions of higher education have keen interests in offering quality online MBA programs to meet the demands. The present study reports the results of a case study in which over 100 students enrolled in a top-ranked online MBA program were interviewed and surveyed to investigate their perceptions of the benefits and challenges in online learning and their suggestions for improving the quality of the online MBA program. It was found that virtual teaming was a major factor that influenced the students' online learning experience; they viewed virtual teaming experiences as valuable for preparing them for the increasingly global business environment; at the same time, it also served as a key challenge to their learning in the online environment. Students' suggestions for improving the quality of online MBA program are discussed as well. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

This article uses the reports from 1,001 home-based interviews, with adults living in the United Kingdom, to describe their varying patterns of participation in lifelong, learning. It finds that 37% of all adults report no further education or training of any kind after reaching compulsory school-leaving age. This proportion declines in each age cohort but is largely replaced by a pattern of lengthening initial education and still reporting no further education or training of any kind after leaving. The actual patterns of participation are predictable to a large extent from regression analysis using a life order model of determining variables. The key variables are age, ethnicity, sex, family background, and initial schooling, all of which are set very early in life. This suggests that universal theories to describe participation, such as simple human capital theory, are incorrect in several respects. Where individuals create, for themselves and through their early experiences, a "learner identity" inimical to further study, then the prospect of learning can become a burden rather than an investment. This has implications for the notion of overcoming barriers to access, such as those involving technology. Copyright © by Teachers College, Columbia University.

Indigenous students complete secondary education at about half the rate of non-Indigenous students, yet are twice as likely to participate in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools subjects. This paper explores the reasons for this phenomenon. It draws on data from two national studies: a survey of 20 000 young people and their experience of vocational learning, and a qualitative study that included interviews with 118 Indigenous VET in Schools students and 160 school staff and other stakeholders. It discusses the role of VET in addressing the needs and aspirations of Indigenous students, and identifies key aspects of good practice in the provision of VET for Indigenous students.The paper argues that VET in Schools cannot succeed as a 'stand alone' solution to the problem of Indigenous educational disadvantage, but must be offered within the context of educational provision that accommodates the diverse educational needs and aspirations of Indigenous students.

This paper discusses the formation, character and contradictions of social partnerships. We report on a specific initiative, the Local learning and Employment Networks (LLEN) established by the Victorian Government in Australia in 2001, documenting the nature of this initiative and how it is playing out. We draw attention to some of the tensions that exist between different agencies, including different agencies within government. Through this detailed case study it is possible to identify parallels between LLEN and other social partnership initiatives developing in other parts of the world. This process of situating a specific Australian partnership within the wider trend to social partnerships permits a more contextualised analysis. It shows the way social partnerships are developing as a consequence of education reform shaped by neo-liberal governance and various patterns of compliance and resistance to this political rationality.

An introduction to problem-based learning (PBL) is presented and comparisons among three different types of instructional methods are described. The three methods include: fully traditional content based learning, a combination of lecture-type instruction and PBL instruction, and full PBL instructional methodology with a partial use of Lego RCX System. The Lego RCX System demonstrated its superiority as an identical platform in designing real-life problems in measurement and control, in controlling the problem difficulties and is inspiring student's interest in classes. The results indicate that PBL method significantly improves important skills in analyzing and solving open-ended, real-world problems.

This study investigates the influence of teacher perceived administration of self-regulated learning on students' motivation and information-processing over time. This was done in the context of the Interactive learning group System (ILS®): a large-scale innovation program in Dutch vocational schools. A total of 185 students were grouped post facto over contrasting groups, which differed in the adherence of teachers to vital, instructional principles based on self-regulated learning. Differences over time in student motivation and information-processing between these contrasting groups were explored. Mean differences as well as striking differences in relations between variables over time were found. Strong teacher adherence to the instructional principles of ILS was associated with a significant increase in deep-level processing and a positive relation between motivation and deep-level processing strategies over time. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.