EXPERIENCES WITH USE OF ACTIVITY BASED TRAINING IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Abstract This paper aims at describing the experiences after using Activity Based Training (ABT) environment in plastic welding, which follows the industrial production process in a number of European Countries. ABT offers flexible and pedagogical delivery of level specific manufacturing industry process training to Vocational Education and Training (VET) schools and SME organizations. It disseminates new methods for delivering in-company skills upgrading processes, and enhances production competence and know-how transfer to VET schools Keywords: Online Student Response Systems, SRS, Activity Based Training, Plastic welding, Peer Learning Assessment Systems. ACTIVITY BASED TRAINING IN PLASTIC WELDING ABT follows the industrial production process and the students always produce a product during a course. The ABT method has some key characteristics • Specification of a product that is delivered to the students as an order • A pedagogical tool that utilizes ABT to produce a product by following the industrial production flow of an object in such a way that theoretical training is directly connected to practice. • Onsite training. • Self paced on-line education, and high quality instructional video of learning material to institutes, SME and VET schools. The training method promotes the use of modern learning tools in quality assurance and quality management training. • Coordinated use of video technology • Industrial quality assurance management where students exchange their products during a course. It is important to address an general issue within upgrading of skills in lifelong learning processes: How to efficiently transfer advanced production process knowledge to students who are looking for a profession, which to a large extent has required practical training with a minimum of theoretical education and where the students have limited knowledge of theory? This is of particular importance in the plastic welding industry where failures related to incorrect operating procedures result in complex repairs and increasing life cycle costs. • The ABT methodology uses an alternative pedagogical approach to education and training of personnel in industry. ABT utilizes learning methods that mix and merge the following components into one competence transfer model: • A pedagogical tool that utilizes ABT to produce a product by following the industrial production flow of an object in such a way that theoretical training is directly connected to practice. • Onsite training where theoretical education is immediately followed up by practical training • Self paced on-line education, and high quality instructional video of learning material to institutes, SME and VET schools. The training method promotes the use of modern learning tools in vocational education and training of plastic welders. The core idea behind the ABT A typical mechanical industry fabrication process is often given as an order, which is divided into a number of work packages (se the boxes in • Work drawing(s) showing the structure of the final fabricated object, i.e. specific details and information for the tasks. • Work description(s) covering how to do the job and which methods that are going to be used in the production. This includes work process description(s) containing the pre required knowledge, the working processes needed in order to produce the final product, and work package description(s) covering all the work that is going to be done. • The quality requirements for the product to be produced and delivered. This includes quality assurance requirements for the ingoing elements, and quality assurance descriptions EMERGING PEER LEARNING ASSESSMENT SYSTEMS Work packages consist of separate activities, which may include transfer of specific knowledge and training, as indicated in It should be noticed that local industry needs can be used to define the products, or local community needs for products could be utilized in the training process. For instance, a school could cooperate with local industries as subcontractors if the production is relevant for their education and training. Usually, the ABT course is organized in a number of work orders. The training method focuses on what is learnt at the end of the learning process, while at the same time it utilize a process oriented syllabus by focusing at the industrial production process through task based learning. Thus, the training regulations include demand for process-oriented implementation of training. The work order is created on the basis of an industrial order or contract, which in detail describe the product and the delivery condition. Thus, the work order is the basis for the education and training 1702 schedules, and for the planning of the training activities. For an ABT course the work order needs to contain a minimum of relevant documents like

Evaluation of a global blended learning MBA programme

This paper evaluates the design and implementation of a UK university’s global blended learning MBA programme which combines e-learning with face-to-face teaching. The primary aim of the research was to investigate the learning experience and perceptions of the students, and to use the findings to evaluate the effectiveness of the course design and delivery system. Action research was used, with longitudinal data collected over a threeyear period (2008–2010). Three survey rounds were conducted focussing on Oman, one of the UK University’s main overseas learning collaborating centres. The three rounds yielded 116 valid responses in total. The first survey showed a fairly high level of student satisfaction with the programme but also indicated areas that needed further improvement. The impacts of subsequent changes in the programme were investigated in the second and third surveys. Feedback from these helped develop further changes in the learning content and delivery approach of the programme. The study contributes to a better understanding of global blended learning initiatives, and offers insights to managers on improving course management, enriching learning content, enhancing teaching quality, and improving students’ satisfaction levels