A technology of study applied in marketing education and supported by self-determination theory

The aim of this study is to assess whether universities are meeting the needs of marketing students in their specific university function of providing knowledge and knowledge processes. This viewpoint is not meant to overlook the university role as a civilizing agent in a constant search for truth (McKenna 2001), but the focus for this study (based as it is in a Faculty of Business and Law) is toward graduates entering the corporate world. Therefore, graduates with suitable discipline knowledge and reasoning skills, in this context, must be able to meet the needs of the corporate marketing sector. Extending this backward to the role of the university, this study is by default seeking to establish if universities are meeting the needs of the corporate sector. A comparison is made between marketing classes using a specific technology of study called an autarchic system, and those classes not using this method. As part of this analysis the study investigates the application of self-determination theory and psychological needs satisfaction. The basic needs scale, comprising of two constructs; Control and Caring was adapted and used to evaluate students' perception of subjects using autarchic study system and those not utilising this methodology.

Professional education and training for early career players in the Australian Football League: footy first, second and third

In this presentation we discuss some of the findings of a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL) titled: Getting the Balance Right: Professionalism, Performance, Prudentialism and Playstations in the Life of AFL Footballers. The research explored the following issues: the emergence and evolution of a ‘professional identity’ for AFL footballers – an identity that has many facets including the emerging ideas that a professional leads a balanced life, and has a prudent orientation to the future, to life after football. This ‘professional identity’ isn’t natural, and must be developed through a range of ‘professional development’ activities (a common link to all other ‘professions’). In the AFL at this time professional development has a focus on engaging players in a variety of education and training activities – TAFE & University courses, and workshops and seminars that the industry has put in place to educate players about issues that the industry sees as important.

The presentation will focus on our research with players we classified as Early Career players. For many of these 17 to 21 year old young men the later years of secondary schooling were compromised in their pursuit of an AFL career, and their subsequent drafting is followed by intense efforts to physically prepare them for football. In this context our research indicates that many Early Career players put football first, second and third – education and training, and industry expectations that they participate in this sort of professional development come further down their list of priorities.

An education and training framework for disaster risk management in banks

Banks are the most significant financial institutions operating within nation-state and the global financial system. These institutions are exposed to a wide range of operational risks. Disaster risk management is a critical component of the wider operational risk management. The Bank for International Settlements, in conjunction with nation-state prudential regulators, is introducing measures that will require banks to identify, measure and manage operational risks within the context of new capital adequacy requirements. An essential part of any risk management process is education and training. This paper presents a structured education and training framework that will support the achievement of banks’ disaster risk management objectives. The education and training framework comprises three specific programs: (1) an induction/awareness program targeted to all personnel, (2) a contingency planning program – a specialist program for disaster risk management personnel, and (3) an executive program designed for senior management, directors and strategic decision makers.

Studio - learning and teaching environment for multimedia

This paper is a case study of the introduction of a studio environment for the teaching of multimedia practice. This change is in the context of multimedia being placed within an information technology degree program, where the conventions and traditions of computer science prevail. The studio based teaching was accepted and now new studios are being built at the university and a research project is proposed with the Queensland University of Technology to explore further teaching and learning issues using studio
teaching methods.

Passion in Jamie's kitchen : the vital ingredient in education and training for young workers?

In this paper we will sketch out and briefly analyse a recurring and central theme throughout the reality TV series Jamie’s Kitchen – that of passion:

• Passion for food;
• Being passionate as you construct and present yourself;
• Being passionate about your work;
• Having a go, getting passionate in a training environment which compresses years of training into months of training.

In this series the high profile celebrity chef Jamie Oliver set out to transform a group of unemployed young Londoners into the enterprising, entrepreneurial, ideal worker of 21st century flexible capitalism. This series, and its figure of the entrepreneurial, risk taking, small businessman (who in this instance is also a global celebrity brand) seeking to develop similar dispositions and behaviours in a workforce that initially does not display such character features, illuminates, and provides a means to explore, key features of new work regimes. The emphasis on passion in the analysis – which draws on Foucault’s later work on the care of the self - allows us to connect to discussions about education and training that highlight the passionate/pleasure dimensions of pedagogy. These elements of education and training very rarely get discussed in a vocational education and training environment which is largely driven by modules/competencies/outcomes.

Flexible delivery in the Australian vocational education and training sector: Barrier to success identified in cases studies of four adult learners

Government policy in Australia is increasingly encouraging training organisations in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector to adopt flexible delivery approaches, but some researchers are sounding a note of caution. Evidence is emerging that Australian VET learners are not universally ready for flexible delivery, and this is reflected in high attrition rates and low pass rates. The literature on flexible delivery identifies a number of specific factors that can impact on the success of adult learners. However, there seems to be agreement that failure or dropout is not determined by a single factor, but by the interaction of a number of factors that build up over time. To understand these factors, we need to understand the learners - what their participation in education means to them, the context in which they are studying, and the numerous inter-connected factors that contribute to their failure to achieve a successful outcome. This paper discusses four case studies from a research project that followed up a small number of adult learners who enrolled in flexible delivery VET courses but did not achieve a successful outcome.

Student learning: "the heart of quality" in education and training

This paper surveys the development of various approaches to quality that are essentially learning-centred:

•In the Schools sector: a brief overview of the Victorian Quality in Schools project;

•In Higher Education: work in progress at two Australian universities (Victoria University of Technology and Swinburne Universities of Technology in Melbourne); and

•In Vocational Education and Training: work in progress in re-orienting the policy approach to Quality towards a more flexible and learning-centred model.

This paper will argue that when looked at from the perspective of the individual learner, there is a strong case for student learning to be placed at the very heart of Quality Systems in all sectors of education, and also therefore in related sectoral Quality Assurance programs and processes.

Working and learning in vocational education and training in the knowledge era : final report of the professional development for the future project

This Report summarises the outcomes of the phases of the Professional
Development for the Future Project and presents the implications of this research for professional development of staff in Vocational Education and Training (VET), as they become knowledge workers.

These shifts are occurring within the knowledge era. Distinguishing features of this era are summarised into four broad areas:
- the importance and value placed on knowledge in organisations
- the time span of discretion
- the complexity of relationships, and
- the ubiquitous nature of information and communication technology.

It is within this context that work is currently performed, and understanding this context provides the foundation for considering new capabilities required in the knowledge era.
Key capabilities required of knowledge workers to work effectively in the
knowledge era were drawn together from an analysis of the theoretical literature and the results of interviews with knowledge workers. The core capabilities identified include:
- adaptive problem solving – becoming designers as well as problem -
solvers
- rapid knowledge gathering and sharing with others
- discriminating between relevant and irrelevant information, and
- understanding and working effectively with the organisation’s culture.

Knowledge era characteristics and knowledge worker capabilities have been mapped to each other illustrating conceptual linkages between these two areas.

Professional development themes drawn from interviews with knowledge
workers are presented. While global trends in knowledge work have been well documented, the impact of these trends on the capabilities of workers, and the ways in which knowledge workers develop these capabilities is less well understood. Their learning methods challenge our current thinking in relation to the ways in which workers acquire skills and knowledge. Some of the professional development methods include seeking exposure to new ideas from a wide variety of sources, embracing intense learning opportunities, and using relationships to increase knowledge.

‘Thought pieces’ (see p17 ff) commissioned for this Project, as well as
subsequent interviews with the authors, provided further insights into the
professional development of knowledge workers. The implications of these insights are an extension of earlier themes and emphasise:
- the emergent nature of knowledge work
- the importance of relationships that facilitate knowledge sharing
- coherent conversations and dialogue
- collaborative work and generosity.

A key insight is the shift from thinking about knowledge work in terms of
borrowed knowledge to an emphasis on generated knowledge within a context.

Data from focus groups of the Project provide further insights for knowledge worker professional development. These augment the perspectives of the earlier data analysis but also add greater emphasis to:
- the clear and direct relationship between professional development and
work and career aspirations of knowledge workers,
- the relationship of professional development to the organisational
mission, and
- the issues of managing and leading knowledge workers and their
development.

As part of this analysis the defining features of organisational life in VET were reviewed in relation to effective professional development of knowledge workers.

The final section of the Report revisits the core dimensions of the Project.
Concise commentaries on working and learning in the knowledge era,
professional development in the knowledge era, and leadership and
management in the knowledge era are presented.

The Report concludes with a discussion of the enablers of professional
development for knowledge workers in VET. This discussion is introduced by a re-statement of the VET sector’s positioning in the knowledge era and the consequences of this for VET managers an d staff in terms of complexity, uncertainty and diminished prospects for accurate predictiveness. The enablers comprised:
- integration of information technology into socio -technical systems
- greater understanding of the organisation from within
- connecting staff to the organisation’s fundamental identity
- connecting to the work and career trajectories of workers
- establishing work structures which integrate the use of professional
development resources with knowledge work
- providing workers with the autonomy to design their own professional
development activities
- building professional development into the iterative nature of knowledge
work, and
- creating organisational contexts that value intuitive thinking and working.

Professional development needs to be thou ght of in a much broader context in the knowledge era. What each VET staff member knows and shares will become increasingly central to their work, and in that sense all VET workers require capabilities for knowledge work. This report accurately describes t he VET context, the capabilities required, and the organisational enablers that will promote ‘knowing’ and thus embed a new style of professional development within VET.

Traffic safety education and health promoting school : a metropolitan and rural pilot study

Traffic Safety Education (TSE) is an important part of a school's program; however, it competes with many other components of schooling such as literacy, numeracy and a number of health areas. Hence TSE provision in Victorian schools has been somewhat fragmented and haphazard in its delivery. This small pilot study involved two metropolitan and two rural schools which attempted to link TSE into mainstream school activities through the new Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) utilising the internationally accepted Health Promoting Schools (HPS) framework.
The findings of the pilot study showed that though schools face many demands, understanding and ownership of TSE is possible when administrative support, professional development and adequate planning time are made available. The report outlines several key recommendations to improve the delivery of Traffic Safety Education in Victorian schools.

Flexible delivery and student attrition in the vocational education and training sector: case studies of students who dropped out

Government policy in Australia is increasingly encouraging training organisations in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector to adopt flexible delivery approaches. This policy shift is supported by key VET stakeholders including Industry Training Advisory Boards. A recurring theme in VET policy documents is an apparent confidence that flexible delivery can meet the diverse needs of individual learners while at the same time providing cost savings. Yet evidence is emerging that Australian VET learners are not typically ready for flexible delivery, and this lack of readiness is reflected in high attrition rates and low pass rates in many flexibly delivered courses. One research project found that over 70% of learners in the Australian VET sector do not have the learning capabilities required to be ready for flexible delivery. A recent review of the module outcomes achieved by VET students nationally found that students studying by external/correspondence and self-paced unscheduled modes had lower module completion rates than students studying by other delivery strategies.

Research on student progress in flexible delivery within the Australian VET sector has largely been quantitative. That research provides useful statistical data on completion and attrition rates for various modes of delivery, but does not explore the reasons underlying the high attrition rates found in flexible delivery. The qualitative research that is available tends to focus on students who successfully complete their courses, not on those who withdraw. As a result, the Australian literature on flexible delivery in the VET sector is lacking in-depth qualitative information about students who enrol in courses but do not complete. In comparison, the broader literature on distance education and flexible delivery in other educational sectors offers some useful insights into student attrition, and can be can be used to inform research into attrition within the Australian VET sector.

This paper reports on aspects of a research project that followed up six adult learners who enrolled in VET courses but who either failed assessment or withdrew. The research project presented the students’ stories in the form of narrative case studies, focussing on the detailed examination of the barriers that each student experienced, and analysing these barriers in relation to issues raised in the literature. This paper reports on two particular themes that emerged from that research project. The literature on distance education and flexible delivery argues that:


· student dropout is often not determined by a single factor, but by the interaction of a number of factors that build up over time;

· students who experience difficulties when studying by flexible delivery can often be reluctant to access the support that is available to them.

This paper uses these themes as a point of reference in presenting the stories of some of the students who participated in the research project.
--Session data-->