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"Teaching"

The process of designing a pedagogic model for work-based learning within a virtual university is not a simple matter of using 'off the shelf' good practice. Instead, it can be characterised as an evolutionary process that reflects the backgrounds, skills and experiences of the project partners. Within the context of a large-scale project that was building a virtual university for work-based learners, an ambitious goal was set: To base the development of learning materials on a pedagogic model that would be adopted across the project. However, the reality proved to be far more complex than simply putting together an appropriate model from existing research evidence. Instead, the project progressed through a series of redevelopments, each of which was pre-empted by the involvement of a different team from within the project consortium. The pedagogicmodels that evolved as part of the project will be outlined, and the reasons for rejecting each will be given. They moved from a simple model, relying on core computer-based materials (assessed by multiple choice questions with optional work-based learning), to a more sophisticated model that integrated different forms of learning. The challenges that were addressed included making learning flexible and suitable for work-based learning, the coherence of accreditation pathways, the appropriate use of the opportunities provided by online learning and the learning curves and training needs of the different project teams. Although some of these issues were project-specific (being influenced by the needs of the learners, the aims of the project and the partners involved), the evolutionary process described in this case study illustrates that there can be a steep learning curve for the different collaborating groups within the project team. Whilst this example focuses on work-based learning, the process and the lessons may equally be applicable to a range of learning scenarios. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.

Dental education is currently under scrutiny in order to most appropriately address community needs for the new millennium. Educational outcomes need to include a commitment to life-long learning, and an emphasis on professional ethics and moral responsibility. These needs are supported by new forms of information delivery with a focus on the electronic media, by student centred and self-directed coursework, and by clinical stimulation. Additionally, at the University of Sydney, selection will follow a first degree. This will allow candidates time for an informed decision to be made for their future professional career and for a period of experience in the tertiary education system.

Objective: To examine pre-service teachers' perceived confidence in teaching violence prevention and the potential effect of violence-prevention training on preservice teachers' confidence in teaching violence prevention. Methods: Six Ohio universities participated in the study. More than 800 undergraduate and graduate students completed surveys. Results: Violence-prevention training, area of certification, and location of student-teaching placement significantly influenced preservice teachers' perceived confidence in teaching violence prevention. Conclusion: Violence-prevention training positively influences preservice teachers' confidence in teaching violence prevention. The results suggest that such training should be considered as a requirement for teacher preparation programs.

The article focusses on the system of further vocational education for Japanese teachers which is to the greater part based on a network of cooperation among colleagues. It is shown in what way the Japanese conception of teaching as a craft determines the professional career of teachers in the field of primary and secondary schooling. In Japan, the highly developed form of further education accompanying the professional practice has led to a professional culture in which knowledge relating to pedagogical action is continuously submitted to a process of reformulation and change. This dynamism has to be balanced against the disadvantageous fact that further professional education for teachers is only possible within the framework of the existing culture of instruction and draws not enough on either the universities or educational research on teaching.

While there is increasing emphasis on the idea that vocational education should equip students to think well, very little attention is paid in course design to messages from cognitive research that the quality of people’s subject knowledge influences their thinking about problems. The overall aim of the study was to evaluate the usefulness of ideas from cognitive research and from the ‘meta-cognitive movement’ in designing instruction intended to improve students’ ability to deal with simple accounting problems. A new ‘cognitive’ approach to teaching an existing basic accounting module was implemented by further education lecturers and evaluated using an experimental/control design. The results indicate that the ‘cognitive’ instruction significantly improved students’ scores on non-routine accounting tasks. The authors interpret the results as consistent with their view that the emphasis on understanding and thinking in this study may be more vocationally relevant than is commonly supposed. © 2001 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

We have carried out case based comparative studies in Japan, US and Korea with special reference to the medical education programme using standardized patients (SPs). The schools in US we have visited are still in the process further reforming interactive medical education. In Daegu, Korea, five medical schools have jointly started a working group for the betterment of medical education on a regular basis from the year 1999. The emphasis is on cooperative research on standardized patient training and its application. In Japan, the substantial activities for training and implementing SPs were later followed by several citizens who are active in training and providing SPs to medical schools and hospitals in need. In comparison to the established research oriented framework and flexible application of SPs in US and new & dynamic developmental discussions of SPs in Korea, the Japanese reality is a bit behind with less opportunity for research oriented trials.

Action research with international Masters in Business Administration students reported here builds on action research carried out at Anglia Polytechnic University to better enable international postgraduate students develop learning and research strategies and research methods to succeed in their study. The Reflection on Learning Inventory (Meyer and Boulton-Lewis, 1997) and IELTS (International English Language Testing System) examination, which tests competence in reading, writing, listening and speaking skills, 1 identify student learning styles and language levels from which conclusions about teaching and learning needs are deduced. A programme of academic-oriented language support, including both the APU-originated CD-ROM Excel at Academic English and specific workshop sessions, has been developed. This programme is piloted with the 2000-2001 cohort, and accompanied by action research which includes focus group interviews and mid-year evaluation of the support and development programme. It has led to radical overhaul of elements of the course itself, with widespread implications for support and development for international postgraduates studying at APU.

Two multiple baseline designs were used to evaluate a two-stage model for training four young adults with visual and cognitive impairments to shop for groceries. General case methods of choosing training exemplars and canvassing the skill performance of individuals without disabilities were the bases of a task-analytical flow chart of the behavioral skills involved in grocery shopping. The four young adults improved both the number of skills steps completed and the number of correct items purchased and maintained their skills at the 3-, 9-, and 12week follow-ups.

Learning journals are used to help advanced-level undergraduate students construct a personal understanding of Gaia Theory. In this context, students like the journal technique and consider it appropriate to the course. They also agree that writing journals contributes to promoting subject learning, introspection and self-awareness of their own learning processes. For the instructor, the journals provide detailed insight into the development of student learning and students' interactions with the other components of the curriculum. The journals highlight which instructional devices work, which have problems, who is affected and what learning strategies they adopt. They provide a better perspective on the extent of students' reading and reflection than is obtainable from more formal scripts. The chief problem in the use of learning journals is their bulk and the time required for assessment and analysis. The journal technique has also helped demonstrate how the Gaia Theory may provide an appropriate curriculum for the practice of constructive learning. The unorthodox ideas and contradictions of Gaia Theory successfully challenge students to think deeply, critically and self-consciously about their prior understanding of the world.

The main forces influencing vocational education and training (VET) systems are broadly the same in all countries. Based on interviews with heads of institutions, this article compares these forces and their possible consequences as they affect the development of further education (FE) colleges in England and technical and further education (TAFE) institutes in Australia over the next 10–15 years. Despite the fact that FE colleges and TAFE institutes are embedded in different systems of organisation and management, centralisation of planning and policy making has been a feature in both countries. Recent reforms have sought to emphasise greater efficiency, higher participation rates and more effective responses to market forces. The future is likely to be dominated by a continuation of these trends and institutional agendas will need to reflect this. In particular, we can expect to see further restructuring and rationalisation of provision, the emergence of funding regimes which channel assistance through individual learners and a steady decline in the use of face to face teaching. FE colleges and TAFE institutes will continue to have an important role to play as part of an extensive network of outlets for flexible learning, support and guidance, but it is doubtful whether FE and TAFE systems will survive in their present form. © 2000 Journal of Vocational Education and Trainin. All rights reserved.