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The article presents a thematic review of the recent research on workplace learning. It is divided into two main sections. The first section asks what we know about learning at work, and states four propositions: (1) the nature of workplace learning is both different from and similar to school learning; (2) learning in the workplace can be described at different levels, ranging from the individual to the network and region; (3) workplace learning is both informal and formal; and (4) workplaces differ a lot in how they support learning. The second section focuses on workplace learning that is related to formal education. Different models of organising work experience for students and the challenges of creating partnerships between education and working life are described. It is concluded that the worlds of education and work are moving closer each other and that the integration of formal and informal learning is an essential prerequisite for developing the kinds of expertise needed in response to the changes taking place in working life. © 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The paper investigates the relationship between assessment and learning through an empirical study of apprenticeship training. The paper suggests that well-established modes of learning, which facilitate meaningful assessment in apprenticeship training, present an "antidote" to a traditional emphasis on assessment as selection and control. In contrast to rejection of apprenticeship modes of assessment as being inappropriate and obsolete at the present time, the paper suggests that the concept of apprenticeship assessment can be seen as a highly attractive and effective alternative to current assessment practices in both schools and workplaces. Taking a situated and relational perspective on knowledge and learning, we argue that assessment practices should focus on contextually-anchored reviews of the core competencies of the person. This contextual assessment contrasts with an emphasis on assessment as essentially controlling and selecting students for further education and, on the other hand, with assessment as a process of self-monitoring and self-reflection.

What is the competency? It will integrate the new technology and the career content into the basement of the vocational education. In addition, it also has to furthermore research to identify the content or rubric of competency (Hsu, 2006). The purpose of this study is conducting the competency rubric for fashion design students of technology institute, moreover, indicating the cognitive difference of the competency between the fields of industry and academic. The research will be a valuable reference for the development of fashion design department of technology institute in future. This study uses the Delphi Technique to develop the competency rubric, which includes 8 rubrics and 32 criteria, for fashion design students of technology institute. The research result indicates there are not the cognitive difference of the competency as well as the important order of the competency between the fields of industry and academic. Therefore, this study developed the competency rubric that includes human accomplishment, fashion sense, enterprise organization, marketing economics; design communication, design technique, foreign language and selflearning attempting were accepted by both experts of industry and academic.

The authors provide an overview of current policy in the 14-19 area. They cover changes to 14-19 education, diplomas, and work-based learning in the context of new developments. They provide a comprehensive and up-to-date account of the new 14-19 phase with a focus on A levels and GCSEs, the new 14-19 Diplomas vocational learning and institutional collaboration. Drawing on international and historical analysis, recent research and practice and interveiws with policy actors, the authors set out the case for a more unified and strongly collaborative approach to the organisation of upper secondary education in England. The book is intended for education practitioners, policy-makers and researchers. It is for PGCE students on new 14-19 courses, and for those following Masters level courses on 14-19 curriculum and training. The authros are both co-directors of the Nuffielld Review of 14-19 Education and Training in England and Wales, which is a six-year independent review of all aspects of 14-19 policy, research and practice funded by the Nuffield Foundation. The Review is based at the Department of Educational Studies, Oxford University. © Ann Hodgson and Ken Spours 2008.

Society for Engineering Education, 2008 The Center for Water Resource Studies and the Bowling Green Community College of Western Kentucky University has formed a partnership to address a Water & Wastewater Operator/Technician shortage anticipated over the next few years as "Baby Boomers" retire. The Water and Wastewater Technician Training Institute (WTTI, pronounced "witty"), is a partnership with the employment sector (a growing number of water & wastewater utilities/municipalities/districts), state primacy agencies and technical assistance/trade associations to refine an industry needs driven curriculum that utilizes on-line course delivery to provide options for both traditional & non-traditional students. The partnership is revitalizing an existing Associates Degree program entitled "Water Utilities Management" and integrating 4year transitions through formal articulation agreements. WTTI takes a pedagogical approach to elevating and transforming the water and wastewater operator positions from trades of last resort, to professions of choice, and integrates practitioners into the recruitment, retention and educational process to achieve a coupled education, training and capacity development environment. A gradual and strategic elevation of the perception, both internal and external, of the trades, through a combination of increased capacity, mobility and accountability will attract high school students whose interests and scholarly record fall between the traditional trades/vocations and academically-based professions, and through inappropriate choices limit their career advancement potential, and elevate skill levels in the critical environmental and public health functions of the water and wastewater utility sector. In order to limit the hurdles associated with integrating regulatory, trade association and academic principles into a single, functional, coherent framework, WTTI is initially focused on Kentucky and Tennessee. However, as a demonstrably functional framework is put in place, extrapolating to address other regional policy, academic discipline and industrial sector issues becomes a logistical rather than conceptual challenge. Partnering utilities and municipalities are developing internship and cooperative educational opportunities to ensure work-based experiences for students in the program, while the trade associations have committed to developing scholarship programs to lessen the financial disincentive for potential students. Academic content is provided by core university faculty, while practitioner oriented content is provided by qualified trade association and utility/municipality staff eligible for adjunct faculty status. Committed to the precept of open-knowledge, WTTI is extending and coupling an open-source hybrid practitioner cybercollaboratory (based on Drupal) with an open-source course management system (Moodle) to integrate the learning environment with practitioners and enhance retention of both students and the retiring practitioner knowledge-base. All instructors (academic and practitioner) involved in the program will undergo collaborative professional development to ensure that they are receptive to the unique structure of the program. All aspects of the program will be available through this on-line environment, allowing current practitioners to participate both as mentors, and as students pursuing career advancement goals. Experiential components of the program include on-line virtual activities, as well as opportunities provided by partnering utilities and municipalities local to the student. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2008.

In 1957, 12 years after the end of World War II, the Ministry of Education issued Circular 323 to promote the development of an element of ‘liberal studies’ in courses offered by technical and further education (FE) colleges in England. This was perceived to be in some ways a peculiar or uncharacteristic development. However, it lasted over 20 years, during which time most students on courses in FE colleges participated in what were termed General or Liberal Studies classes that complemented and/or contrasted with the technical content of their vocational programmes. By the end of the 1970s, these classes had changed in character, moving away from the concept of a ‘liberal education’ towards a prescribed diet of ‘communication studies’. The steady decline in apprenticeship numbers from the late 1960s onwards accelerated in the late 1970s, resulting in a new type of student (the state-funded ‘trainee’) into colleges whose curriculum would be prescribed by the Manpower Services Commission. This paper examines the Ministry’s thinking and charts the rise and fall of a curriculum phenomenon that became immortalised in the ‘Wilt’ novels of Tom Sharpe. The paper argues that the Ministry of Education’s concerns half a century ago are still relevant now, particularly as fresh calls are being made to raise the leaving age from compulsory education to 18, and in light of attempts in England to develop new vocational diplomas for full-time students in schools and colleges. © 2008 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

A questionnaire was distributed to the heads of graduate recruitment in 900 British firms querying the recipients’ views on (1) the main benefits alleged to accrue to students on vocational degrees who complete work experience periods; (2) the value for graduate employability of paid work undertaken during term time and vacations; and (3) the contributions to employability of academic group work within vocational degrees. A conjoint analysis examined the participants’ evaluations of the relative importance of a job applicant having graduated from a programme that included a work placement, compared with the candidate possessing a ‘good’ class of degree, a qualification from a pre-1992 university rather than a post-1992 institution, and a degree with substantial group-work content. It emerged that (despite the many changes in the British higher education environment occurring over the last couple of decades [top-up fees, widening participation, students engaging extensively in term-time employment, etc.]) most of the respondents held generally positive opinions regarding the usefulness of work placements. Sample members also tended to favour job applicants whose degrees had contained elements of group work. The class of degree a person had obtained and the type of university attended were seen as substantially less important for employability than whether the individual had completed a work placement. © 2008 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

In Germany, the group of young people with the most extended transition from school to work are those achieving higher education entrance qualifications (Abitur), then serving an apprenticeship in the German dual system and later pursuing higher education. On the basis of three Anglo-German comparative studies, this article highlights the factors influencing the young people’s choice to enter the dual system, such as strong social support by relevant persons (e.g. family members) and a distinct self-esteem and self-concept. It is pointed out that those entering the dual system are more risk-averse than other students with higher education entrance qualifications. It can be shown that many of those who start to study after the apprenticeship choose subjects based on the occupational field they have been trained in. © 2008 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd.

This exploratory descriptive study examined the utility of the social cognitive theory in assessing generalized perceived self-efficacy of agricultural students atRazi University. Two hundred college students majoring in agricultural extension, plant science, animal science, water engineering, and crop science participated in the descriptive survey. Agricultural students were efficacious in handling challenging tasks in diverse situations. Male students were more efficacious than the female students. There were no significant differences in general self-efficacy scores across student classifications and majors. Implications of gender differences are discussed.

This article discusses the pedagogical relevance of a research project into professional subtitling practices in Italy which is coordinated by the author at the University of Bologna. The key feature of this initiative relates to its collaborative dynamics: research is carried out by students writing their final dissertations, working together as a team and pooling their resources and findings. The author contends that taking part in this collective enquiry-based experience is as important for the students as the actual results of their investigation and discusses in detail the pedagogical benefits of this approach. The article begins by describing the inception stages of the project, conceived as an attempt to capitalize on the traditionally high weighting of the final dissertation within Italian degree programmes - and hence on the important amount of effort that students are likely to put into it. After describing the pedagogical and research tools used in the project, the paper goes on to present the results achieved in the first 2-3 years of the project's life; illustrate how the students' work has influenced the author's teaching practices as a subtitler trainer; and evaluate the implications of this experience for translator training in general. © St. Jerome Publishing, Manchester.