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For the past three years, a group of [vocational education and training] VET practitioners from the RMIT [Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology] School of International and Community Studies has worked collaboratively with industry in the delivery of the Certificate IV in Community Services (Disability Work) to staff currently employed in a major institutional facility for people with disabilities. The employment of action research in the planning, delivery and evaluation of competency based training has identified the importance of critical reflection and continual adjustment in workplace training provision. This process of constant reflection has revealed a complex web of interrelated and interdependent cultural mores that underpin not only the work environment, but also the learning context. This paper will report on how this knowledge has been used to reinvent training and assessment processes to workplace cultural specificities. The utilisation of narrative centred learning methodology to achieve successful learner driven outcomes will also be discussed.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

The terms 'training package', 'competency', 'AQTF [Australian Quality Training Framework] compliant' and the like have become very well known in the TAFE sector. Yet even today, some eight years after the implementation of training packages, there is a lack of knowledge and understanding by many [vocational education and training] VET practitioners around the practical application of these terms. This paper is about the journey experienced via an action research project, 'Support teachers in assessment of competency based training'. It covers the initial observations that spawned the idea for the project, the need to re-evaluate the project objectives and the establishment of a 'community of practice around competency based training in the electrotechnology program'. The paper also explores the challenges in establishing a community of practice in a work environment where staff are very much loaded to the maximum and have to offer their good will in order to engage.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

The Victorian Qualifications Authority (VQA) developed a draft Credit Matrix Model for recognising the complexity of learning units delivered across the three educational sectors in Victoria, namely senior secondary education, vocational education and training [VET] and the higher education sectors. This paper reports on the empirical validation of the complexity component of the model, in particular, the appropriateness of the domains and indicators of learning thought to capture increasing complexity. To examine the validity and reliability of the draft Complexity Model, the indicators for each domain were empirically tested and validated through survey techniques. Participants were requested to (a) supply background information about the unit of learning; (b) judge which of the indicators within each measure best captured the complexity of their unit; and (c) rate each measure on its perceived effectiveness in defining the true complexity of the unit. Two hundred and fifty four (n=254) people responded to the survey. Of these people, 31 per cent represented senior secondary education, 44 per cent represented the VET sector and 25 per cent represented higher education. Item Response Modelling was then used to evaluate the psychometric properties of the measures as well as to empirically develop and define levels of complexity within and across the measures. The data collected demonstrated the validity, accuracy and internal consistency of each Complexity Measure. The results also showed that the correlations among the five measures were significant, yet moderately positive, thus having direct implications for the factor structure that should underpin the Complexity Framework. Two variations of the framework were produced from this initial investigation: a six level structure and an eight level structure, each underpinned by the five domains: Application, Autonomy, Accountability, Problem Solving and Knowledge.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

This paper presents findings from an action research project conducted by the University of Ballarat, funded through the Australian Flexible Learning Framework, New Practices initiatives. The project was designed to help remove barriers to Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) through the development of a streamlined and culturally appropriate model for assessing the knowledge and skills of Indigenous workers intending to gain vocational qualifications. The project investigated and trialled the use of web-based voice applications for recording and transmitting oral evidence. The paper highlights challenges in traditional RPL assessment processes described as time-consuming and cumbersome by Kemmis (2004) and Bowman et al (2003). These challenges were encountered by experienced Indigenous workers who possessed a wealth of knowledge and experience in relation to their work, but had not, necessarily, collected the documents (certificates, logbooks, diaries) to demonstrate competence. These workers preferred to demonstrate their knowledge orally, through discussion, conversation and/or narrative. They were geographically isolated, which meant that face to face interview methods proved a costly option. Initial trials suggested that online voice technology might provide an alternative method for the confidential and secure capture and transmission of evidence of competence.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

This paper reports on a PhD research project being undertaken through the Faculty of Education, Deakin University. Training Packages and the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) form part of the ruling relations of VET [vocational education and training], but how do they operate in practice? Do they provide frameworks within which training professionals are free to use judgement and respond in innovative ways to local learning and assessment contexts? Do they impose rigid 'guidelines' within which the decision-making authority of practitioners over appropriate practices is displaced by that of auditors, constraining creativity and creating pressures towards conformity? Or does their impact vary, depending on how they are interpreted and who is doing the interpreting? My PhD research explores issues relating to the use of Training Packages in workbased learning. Interview data suggests that, in practice, different training organisations respond very differently to a regulatory framework that aims to achieve national consistency. Some practitioners describe working in a compliance-driven environment, in which their ability to meet the needs of learners is stifled by standardised training and assessment practices imposed by Training Packages and the AQTF. This view is reflected in phrases such as 'you're not allowed to…', and 'you always feel uneasy because you've got AQTF compliance, inspections, auditors'. In contrast, other practitioners talk about having freedom to design learning and assessment programs for their particular target group and context, providing they stay within broad guidelines that guarantee national recognition of qualifications they issue. This view is reflected in comments such as 'it just leaves it open to be as creative and flexible as you like', and 'it just gives us freedom'. This paper explores the proposition that the impact of these abstract and generalised texts is influenced by local interpretations, and it considers the role that organisational culture plays in determining these interpretations.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less