Search Results for
"learning"

The German apprenticeship system is considered an exemplary school-to-work program for youth not intending to complete a baccalaureate degree. Yet the traditionally highly stratified system has been changing, with more students pursuing both general education and obtaining vocational certification. Using the German SocioEconomic Panel, this paper analyzes initial wage levels based on school quality and training track for two cohorts of non-university young adults, 1984 versus 1994. For the older cohort from the more stratified system, graduation from the lowest school track predicted lower initial wages which vocational certification did not ameliorate. Vocational certification did predict higher wages for youth from higher quality school tracks. In contrast, for the 1994 cohort among whom general education is becoming more prevalent, formal vocational certification is an important predictor of higher initial wages for both high and low quality school tracks. The earnings of the 1984 cohort are also compared five, ten and 13 years after labor market entry. Apprenticeship predicts higher changes in wages by the final period. Returns to specific vocational training manifest in higher initial wages, but the effect obsolesces quickly over time. This pattern of initial returns and obsolescence holds for subsequent vocational certification, suggesting support for lifelong learning. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

In the UK policy context, skills, education and learning are seen as a universal solution to a vast array of economic and social problems. In challenging this view, this paper argues that those educationalists calling for progressive reforms to the education system need to acknowledge the reality of the contemporary workplace and the institutional context of UK capitalism. When it comes to the question of how the UK might move towards a more inclusive high skills society, no matter where we start to look - be it the economy or a highly class-divided English education system - it all seems to add up badly. In challenging the current policy agenda, educationalists will need to insist that progressive educational reform cannot be separated from the struggle for broader political, social and economic change.

Universities are rarely structured to facilitate learning and when they are, it is often done so in a limited way. This book looks at the theory and practice of learning and how universities can improve their quality and competence. It tackles the past failure of the quality and competence movements and advocates a move towards 'Universities of learning'. The authors advocate an integration of elements that are often dealt with separately - theory and practice, teaching and research, and the levels of institution and individual - and handle these dimensions of integration in conjunction with each other. This new paperback edition will be essential reading for all those who are concerned with improving learning in higher education. It includes an updated preface that takes account of developments since the publication of the hardback edition. © 1998 John Bowden and Ference Marton. All rights reserved.

How can universities ensure that they are preparing their students for today's competitive job market? This book tackles the highly topical subject of graduate underemployment with insight and clarity. The authors argue the case for more sophisticated research into employability with passion and vision, discussing how employability-friendly curricula can be developed, even in subjects which have less obvious vocational relevance. The rapid growth of higher education over the past fifty years has seen expectations increase, and governments seeking to widen participation. There is now an urgent need for the Government and higher education institutions to address the issue of graduate employability. The authors of this timely book encourage a pro-active stance, offering a ground-breaking model that can be easily implemented in institutions to make low-cost, high-gain improvements to students' employability. Topics covered include: The challenge of employability. The study and careers of English graduates. The enhancement of practice. Assessing employability. The Skills Plus project. Based on a set of over 200 in-depth interviews with recent graduates, this book forms a unique account of the meanings of employability in the workplace. © 2004 Peter Knight and Mantz Yorke. All rights reserved.

Based on five years of research in high school and community college programs, this book explores the potential for using work-based learning as part of a broad education reform strategy. © 2004 by Thomas R.Bailey, Katherine L.Hughes, and David Thornton Moore. All rights reserved.

Presents a perspective on vocational learning that proposes that vocational competence is dependent upon dispositional development, which in turn, results in moves towards maturation. Reports research with unemployed adults engaging in vocational training and resulting in four findings. First, while training packages describe assessable outcomes in competency-referenced terms, trainees describe learning outcomes in non-competency referenced terms. Second, vocational trainees describe their learning in terms of dispositional outcomes; that is, in terms of values, interests and attitudes. Third, dispositions can be categorised in terms of maturational concepts. Fourth, trainees made moves towards maturation as a result of CBT/NEIS training over the six-week period of the course. The findings have important ramifications for all future VET/CBT trainees since it is the researcher's formative theory that maturation is a subset of competence in every vocational skill domain. © 2003, MCB UP Limited

Medical education has witnessed recently an accelerated and worldwide trend of change. The race is on for curricula that are relevant, appropriate and accountable. One of the consequences of this is the need for a drastic reassessment of how we devise curricula, and of what models, approaches, and strategies to adopt. Outcomes-based education is currently offered as an alternative to the content-based approach, which has been criticized by many educational experts in the past. Although this new approach has its detractors, it holds some promise of being able to improve on a current situation that is in deadlock with itself. There has been a great deal of interest in educational strategies in the last decade. This has been associated with the development of new concepts such as "problem-based learning", " student-centered learning", and "integrated teaching". Each school has to assess each of these strategies and adopt what ever will serve the aims of the curriculum. Similarly, the considerable progress that has taken place in the design and development of instructional materials and instructional technology should be appreciated. This includes, development in computer assisted learning, virtual reality, the use of simulated subjects, e learning, and the new concept of Reusable learning Objects (RLO's). Finally, it was realized, with the rapid development in medical education that medical education requires professional training. The assumption that any good medical practitioner has the ability to teach no longer holds and professional training is required.

Against a background of 'second-wave' lifelong learning in Aotearoa New Zealand a new framework for post-compulsory national qualifications was introduced. The resulting competency-based system was argued to present a number of benefits for mature women including flexibility in curriculum and delivery and portability across educational sectors. Competency-based education was to include provision for recognition of prior skills and knowledge gained in formal learning environments and the workplace as well as informal learning environments such as the home and the community. Such recognition was a significant factor in gaining support from women's groups given the potential to recognize and value the domestic labour of women and the skills and knowledge that flow from it. This article explores the rhetoric around recognition of prior learning and discusses approaches to realise its potential. It then draws on research undertaken in Aotearoa New Zealand to suggest that the potential of recognition of prior learning is yet to be realised.

The University of Ulster places a strong emphasis on vocational education and work-based learning. Furthermore, the Faculty of Informatics has recognised achievements in technology transfer and industrial collaboration. This paper outlines how the industrial partnerships forged and experiences gained through these ventures have been utilised in the design, delivery and assessment of an undergraduate module in entrepreneurship. Different models for incorporating entrepreneurial skills will be explored including: Classroom based teaching, learning and assessment; Support for students in industrial placement through the use of a Virtual learning Environment (WebCT); Development of a portfolio of professional competencies; highlighting the merits and problems associated with each.

The vocational education system in Germany is challenged by the wide range of societal demands made on it. The current organizational structure of the ‘Dual System’ of vocational education is too rigid. Teaching in vocational schools and the parallel company apprenticeships are too isolated from each other. Educational provision thus follows the systemic logic of this separation: there is inadequate and only superficial cooperation between school and firm. This paper recommends a change in approach from cooperation to networking. Based on the theoretical instrument of a ‘reflection step model’, an approach for bringing the two sectors together is developed. Examples are given of two research projects that indicate the potential of this approach. © 2002, © 2002 SAGE Publications.