Article Gold Open Access 2014

VET workers' problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments: European approach

International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training
Journal · Vol. 1 · Issue 1 · pp. 57-79
Abstract

The European workplace is challenging VET adults' problem-solving skills in technology-rich environments (TREs). So far, no international large-scale assessment data has been available for VET. The PIAAC data comprise the most comprehensive source of information on adults' skills to date. The present study (N=50 369) focuses on gaining insight into the problem-solving skills in TREs of adults with a VET background. When examining the similarities and differences in VET adults' problem-solving skills in TREs across 11 European countries, two main trends can be observed. First, our results show that only a minority of VET adults perform at a high level. Second, there seems to be substantial variation between countries with respect to the proportion of VET adults that can be identified as “at-risk” or “weak” performers. For the future, our findings indicate the variations that can be used as a starting point to identify beneficial VET approaches. © 2014 European Research Network Vocational Education and Training. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Problem-solving PIAAC Large-scale assessment Workplace skills technology-rich environments Adults with vocational education and training

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations
University of Jyväskylä, Jyvaskyla, Central Finland, Finland
Department of Educational Studies, Universiteit Gent, Ghent, VOV, Belgium
Funding & Acknowledgements
No funding information
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