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This article explores teachers and trainers didactical practices in different contexts in Norwegian [vocational education and training] VET: schools and workplaces. With the introduction of e-resources and e-portfolios in VET, learners as well as teachers and trainers experience a more hybrid learning-arena, which claims for a recontextualization of vocational didactics as well as re-defining roles and responsibilities of the actors. The article discuss[es] new forms of boundary crossing, dealing with e-portfolios as boundary objects, increasing learner autonomy, transformative learning outcomes, interaction between actors and designing learning processes in hybrid learning-arenas. Vocational didactics as understood in a teacher-training context are challenged by more actors and new forms of interactivity with technological tools crossing sites. The study is based on a longitudinal study in a national project on quality assessment, interviews with teachers and trainers as well as apprenticeship training offices supported by documentary evidence from three trades: sales, plumbing and industrial mechanics.

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This article explores the effect that the use of e-portfolios initiated and organized by apprenticeship training offices has had on the learning processes and assessment practices of apprentices in Norwegian vocational education and training. Although these intermediate structures have the potential to bridge the gap between work and education, they seem to maintain a system of two parallel learning arenas. However, the article summarizes the innovative effects of these transformations as supportive structures for expansive apprenticeship. The study is based on data from a national project on quality assessment, which is supported by documentary evidence from e-portfolios in three different trades: plumbing, industrial mechanics and sales.

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Context: In this paper, we review and discuss the piloting in Norway of a German methodology for competence diagnostics in vocational education and training: the Competence Development and Assessment in TVET (COMET) project. Our overarching theme is determining to what extent such large-scale assessment systems are valid for international comparisons in this sector. Method: We present the theoretical underpinnings of the COMET model and position our discussion within the broader context of the concept of 'professional competence' (berufliche Kompetenz) and methodological guidelines for its measurement. Terminology from psychometrics on 'measurement equivalence' is described and serves as a template for identifying challenges in using the Norwegian data for comparative purposes. Our pilot included students and apprentices in health care, industrial mechanics and electricians and was designed as a three-year follow-up study from the second year of upper secondary school through two years of apprenticeship. Each year, a test on professional competence and a context survey were administered. Similar studies have been conducted in Germany, China and South Africa.

Results: In line with the results from these countries, the Norwegian participants had low scores, particularly the electricians. However, the diagnostic instrument was sensitive to the development of professional competence, and progress on the assessment was influenced by the quality of the learning support in the companies, as reported by apprentices in the context survey. Conclusions: The COMET platform may be a viable prototype for the development of diagnostic tools, which may support the monitoring of quality factors at different levels and inspire local improvement projects in schools, companies and training offices. Such an objective would be in line with the latest summaries of the COMET project, in which its contribution to a model for international large-scale assessment is toned down and replaced by a stronger emphasis on its potential for measuring competence development, evaluating contextual factors and generating data for didactic innovations.

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The paper presents the trade or journeyman's examinations as the final quality control in [vocational education and training] VET, the certification to the world of work and, in the 21st century even a pathway to further education and training and life-long learning. Questions are raised whether there is a tension between the different objectives. Furthermore, the paper discuss validity of test tasks and assessments practices and different stakeholders' roles in trade examinations. The study is based on data from a national project on quality assessment. In the final phase of the project, our study focused on analyses of test tasks, assessment schemes and candidates' documentary evidence supported by stimulated recall interviews with examination board members. The study draws on examples from three different trades: plumbing, industrial mechanics and sales.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 123.477. Show less

This article analyzes the writing competence of Norwegian students and apprentices in three professions: healthcare, industrial mechanics and electricians. The research forms part of a large-scale assessment project in vocational education and training (VET). A subset of 108 written test-answers were subjected to an explorative analysis focusing on generic and professional writing competencies. A more text-based and trans-contextual working life for many professions requires not only profession-specific communicative competency, but also a stronger engagement in generic literacy practices. The need for written communication with customers, clients and colleagues across workplaces and countries has increased and the use of understandable language when communicating with non-peers is required. In the study, we found that the generic writing competency declined during apprenticeship, but on the other hand that the use of professional-specific terminology increased. We also found that writing competence seemed to be contextualized according to different traditions, text cultures and discourses across the three professions. The article questions the prevalence of text-based examinations in VET and analytical categories for measuring writing competence that do not take into account a multimodal character of professional communication.

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Work-based learning is an important part of vocational education and training in many countries. As such, trainers have responsibilities that go beyond instruction and include learning support and feedback, as apprentices need to reflect on their professional development and responsibilities. Different kinds of ePortfolios are designed to support learners and trainers in developmental processes, promote knowledge sharing and underpin transferable skills as part of a professional competence. In this paper, we will discuss the impact of different designs: developmental, accounting, assessment and management tools. We will link the discussion to the underlying understandings of what is competence or professional competence in the different types of tools. Finally, we will look into the learning potential in ePortfolios.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 138.635. Show less

This paper address[es] the development of vocational identity in the Norwegian vocational education and training [VET], with data from the [Measuring Competence Development in Vocational Education and Training] MECVET Project which is a large-scale empirical study of the development of vocational competences in three professions, healthcare, electronics and industrial mechanics. The following research question is explored: How do contextual frame factors of the Norwegian VET model influence the development of the vocational identity of VET students and apprentices in transitions from school to work? The empirical foundation for this comes from a context survey in which central findings are identified. Respondents with strong vocational identities show a substantial interest in the further development of their own professional competence in their chosen professions. The most substantial transformation in the vocational identity development took place in the transitions from school-based to work-based learning, with learner autonomy and increased professional judgement being key aspects, as well as particular traits in the Norwegian VET model, namely tripartite cooperation and high degree of skilled worker's autonomy.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 138.635. Show less