Bridging the gap between work and education in vocational education and training. A study of Norwegian apprenticeship training offices and e-portfolio systems

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. (DIPF/orig.

Large scale studies of holistic professional competence in vocational education and training (VET): The case of Norway

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

Large scale studies of holistic professional competence in vocational education and training (VET). The case of Norway

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. (DIPF/Orig.

Reactivity beyond contamination. An integrative literature review of video studies in educational research

The growing interest in video research and new technologies for recording human interaction has stirred debates about intrusiveness and ‘reactivity’ understood as researcher-derived changes in subjects. In addition to a plethora of concepts referring to such effects in extant literature, different ontological and epistemological positions provide contrasting frameworks for interpreting and deciding on methodological guidelines. In this article we discuss these elements, that we have called ‘meta-methodological’, from the standpoints of experimental research, social-constructivism and scientific realism. We combine conceptual analysis and a literature review of video-studies in teaching in order to identify both possible traces of contesting beliefs and to provide a glance at different aspects of ‘reactivity’ that needs to be systematized in the ongoing debates. Whereas the methodological literature underline the importance of such effects, these are rarely reported in the reviewed video studies. Moreover, reactivity is seen as a minor problem in the latter, and we found few instances that validated the effects on the field and on the empirical conclusions. Our article ask for more transparency in field researchers’ judgment about reactivity and mitigating measures

Bridging the Gap between Work and Education in Vocational Education and Training. A study of Norwegian Apprenticeship Training Offices and E-Portfolio Systems

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

Frameworking vocational teachers’ digital competences: An integrative literature review and synthesis

Two decades of international research on digital competence of teachers have provided a number of frameworks for empirical studies and curriculum development. However, research publications addressing the needed digital competence of vocational (VET-) teachers are scarce. In this article we ask to what extent leading conceptual frameworks on digital competence are fruitful templates for studying such competences in the case of VET-teachers’ professional development, and what could be alternative conceptual models that fit this professional category. A synthesis is made of relevant literature based on a theoretical platform in vocational didactics and digitalization that highlights the diversity of international VET-systems and the connectivity between work and school. We adopt an integrative literature research approach that combines systematic procedures and supplementary searches in an iterative way. Our descriptive analysis of the literature indicated that the international research on VET-teachers digital competence had in general a narrow focus on technical skills with a lack of perspective on key issues about their digital competences such as connectivity school / work, subject-specificity, and adaptive pedagogy. The articles tended to leave out contextual issues, for example the changing professional work of vocational teachers and background information about the national VET-systems. However, part of the literature pointed to the need for more “grounded” research starting from case-studies and qualitative data / mixed-methods research. Our synthesis of the literature in light of our theoretical framing identified four main topics for further research on VET-teachers’ digital competence that were incorporated in a working model or a “frameworking” that needs to be further developed in order to provide a rich and validated basis for constructing professional programs. &nbsp

Mandatory periodic training for professional drivers: A Norwegian study of implementation and effects

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