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"Students"

To assess the short-term effectiveness of the Shell Technology Enterprise Programme (STEP), students and “host” employers who participated in the programme in 1994 were interviewed prior to and 12 months after completing the programme. The short-term benefits of the programme for participating undergraduate students and independent “host” businesses are highlighted. The long-term implications for Shell UK Limited and the wider policy community are discussed. © 1998, MCB UP Limited

The National Council for Vocational Qualifications established assessment procedures for qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which portfolios play a central role. The relevant qualifications (National Vocational Qualifications and General National Vocational Qualifications) have been taken by large numbers of young people in upper secondary schooling, and young people and adults in work or in government training schemes; and are intended to have labour market currency and to provide routes into further and higher education. The use of portfolios derives from a commitment to direct and comprehensive assessment of the whole ‘syllabus’, but also from a belief in certain pedagogical approaches and in enhancing students' independence and initiative. There is evidence that the approach has affected learning styles, but major problems have arisen relating to the manageability of the approach and the reliability of assessor judgements. © 1998, Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

This paper addresses issues arising out of a small, naturalistic study involving young women in a competency-based training (CBT) course in Office Administration. The study, conducted in Victoria, Australia, was designed to explore how Technical and Further Education (TAFE) student groups, differing in ethnicity and social class backgrounds, responded to certain aspects of a CBT programme. From a socio-cultural perspective, it appears that this programme presents students with many dilemmas about learning, for example, how to obtain a comfortable degree of teacher assistance during learning sessions, methods of resolution of these dilemmas through the improvisation of new group practices appearing to differ along cultural lines. Importantly, some of these practices are likely to interfere with the development of proficiency, thus potentially leading to further educational disadvantage related to ethnic origin and social class. Practical implications for VET practitioners are explored. © 1998 Journal of Vocational Education and Training. All right reserved.

The transition to mass participation in post-16 education, which had occurred considerably earlier in other European countries, has finally taken place in England. However, high drop-out and failure rates persist, particularly on vocational qualification routes. Our hypothesis is that an important factor is the lack of basic competence of lower-achieving English students in the key skills - English language and mathematics - required for success in further study. Our research addresses the validity of the argument by investigating whether any significant difference can be detected between the skills of English students entering post-compulsory education and those of students in countries where drop-out and failure rates are low. The country investigated in this study was Sweden where participation of 16 year olds in post-compulsory upper-secondary education is currently over 90%; and where some 90% of those enrolling normally obtain an academic or vocational qualification. Some General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) mathematics questions were incorporated into the national test taken by Swedish 16 year olds at the end of compulsory schooling; and significant differences were found in the scores of the lower 40% of the cohort in the two countries. The results are consistent with the hypothesis; and also go beyond previous Swedish-English comparisons, which reflect the general emphasis in international studies on younger age groups (typically 9 and 13 year olds).

This article takes the passage of the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 as the starting point for a conversation about the readiness of the United States for a structured school-to-work transition system. It examines evidence and issues pertaining to the youth labor market and the need to ensure that an economic imperative does not supersede democratic principles of schooling in visioning the beyond-school experiences of students.

This study examined predictors of postsecondary school success by analyzing a 5-year database of 2,258 students with disabilities participating in the Marriott Foundation's "Bridges...from school to work" internship programs at 6 national sites. Discriminant analysis revealed that acceptance of a job offer was predicted by internship completion, numbers of hours worked, and days absent during the internship. Internship completion and acceptance of a job offer were predictive of follow-up employment status. The implications of these findings for future research and practice with work-bound students with disablilities are considered.

Programs that incorporate work-based learning (WBL) experiences in connection with school activities are proliferating, yet we know very little about their quality as learning experiences for young people or the costs associated with participating in them. This article examines two programs operating in the same school district, where students receive course credit for participating in WBL. One program provides unpaid internships each year of high school; the other provides paid work experience for one semester. We contrast the kinds of learning opportunities each offers to students, as measured by a student survey and a case study of program operations. We focus on two issues: the quality of students' work experiences in these programs and the relationship between program participation and school learning, including effects on school work and social experiences. We find that students perceive the quality of their work experiences to be very similar across the programs despite differences in the type of work involved and in several structural features of the programs. We find that both programs have weaknesses in establishing connections between school and work and that the number of hours students work negatively affects some aspects of school performance, such as having time to do homework and the desire to stay in school. Our findings raise questions about the value added of WBL, given costs associated with the program design and delivery and, in some cases, with participation.

Work-based learning (WBL) of the "learn-and-stay" variety prepares for specific occupations or industries, whereas "learn-and-go" WBL develops more broadly transferable knowledge and skills. Census data from California show that from the ages of 16 to 34, many workers move from industries with lower earning prospects to industries with higher ones. This natural flow might be facilitated by more learn-and-go WBL in low-wage industries and more learn-and-stay in high-wage industries. School-sponsored enterprises could play an important role in delivering additional WBL.

Traditional models of clinical placements for students in speech and language therapy (SLT) are often based on a one-to-one model where the structure of the learning process is: theory, observation and practice. Literature relating to adult learning and professional education suggests alternative approaches to clinical training which may be relevant to SLT. Work in progress is discussed where alternative approaches to placements and student learning in a range of placement settings are being developed. © 1998 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.

The aim of this pilot study was to employ a qualitative research methodology to explore students' perceptions of learning and assessment of that learning whilst on clinical placement. The students' perceptions were sampled by questionnaire both pre- and post-placement (ten weeks block placement). The analysis of the data was undertaken using principles from Grounded Theory (Strauss and Corbin 1990). The analysis yielded a number of categories and bipolar paradigms relating to learning and assessment. However little change was seen between comments made pre and post-placement. The implications of this analysis are discussed. © 1998 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.