A review of vocational research in the UK 2002–2006: Measurement and accessibility issues

Johnson, Martin

doi:10.5172/ijtr.4.2.48

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This might contribute to a greater sense of group cohesion, undermining the motivation of individuals to compete against their peers. This issue is reflected in studies by Ecclestone (2004) and Johnson (2007), who found that grading using distinction criteria tended to have little effect on learners undertaking a General National Vocational Qualification and a Vocationally Related Diploma.…”

Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…factors that affect access to learning) in relation to qualifications available to 14-19-year-olds in the UK. A fuller explanation of the method used is described in Johnson (2006), but the main findings concluded: It is clear that there are coverage issues relating to recent research concerning vocational qualifications in the UK. The imbalance between measurement and access issues in recent UK literature is interesting when considered in the wider context of recent developments to systematically unify the UK qualifications system through linking general and vocational qualifications through the NQF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…This article emerged from a research review that synthesised the contemporary research literature concerning measurement and accessibility factors affecting vocational qualifications in the UK (Johnson 2006). That project adopted a 'semisystematic' review method to identify literature published between 2002 and 2006 which referred to issues of measurement (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Grading in competence‐based qualifications – is it desirable and how might it affect validity?

Johnson

2008

Journal of Further and Higher Education

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The UK educational assessment landscape is changing, characterised by attempts to create more flexible pathways through learning. This has led to attempts to formalise the comparative relationships between different general and vocational qualifications. The National Qualifications Framework (NQF), the Framework for Achievement and the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland all seek to explore the potential for comparing the value of different qualifications. These initiatives mirror other international trends, such as the implementation of the Australian Qualifications Framework.Grading is a potential enabling tool for comparing different qualifications. This is visible in the way that the NQF uses General Certificate of Secondary Education grades C and D to discriminate between Levels 2 and 3 of the framework. This article focuses on the challenges posed for competency-based qualifications in the light of such national and international moves towards developing unified qualifications frameworks. This is important given the strong traditional relationship between competency-based qualifications and binary (pass/fail or competent/not yet competent) reporting and its historically ambivalent relationship with grading techniques. The article also discusses some of the particular issues that are relevant when competency-based assessments are graded.

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Section: Motivationmentioning

confidence: 88%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Grading in competence‐based qualifications – is it desirable and how might it affect validity?

Johnson

2008

Journal of Further and Higher Education

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“…(2011,117) A consequence of this equivocal soft skills feedback is to undermine the potential for these skills to transfer across contexts. Johnson (2006) suggests that learning relationships are an aspect of schooled contexts that can undermine learning. In a review of research into vocational assessment and issues around access, Johnson reports evidence to suggest that pedagogic style can influence a learning culture, with less formal teacher-learner relationships sometimes improving levels of learner engagement.…”

Section: Hefa Learner Engagement and The Recognition And Assessment mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Can you dig it?’ Developing an approach to validly assessing diverse skills in an archaeological context

Johnson¹,

Lewis²

2013

Journal of Vocational Education & Training

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This paper outlines a case study of an assessment development process which contrasts with more recent 'top-down' trends in assessment which tend to leave assessment development processes opaque to users. This paper describes the processes of a collaborative, multi-agency project which set out to develop an assessment framework which would appropriately recognise the various skills present in the Higher Education Field Academy; a widening participation programme aiming to boost the educational aspirations, enthusiasm and attainment of secondary school students through their engagement in archaeological excavation. The case study describes the stages of building an assessment framework that was sympathetic to the intentions of a learning programme whilst providing robust observation-based outcomes that avoided heavy assessment processes that could corrupt learning relationships. The challenges involved in this development process have important parallels with vocational assessment; not least in providing an example of a localised development of an observation-based assessment model which can be used in diverse settings. The insights gained from this case study are useful for others who are engaged in localised assessment development processes. Keywords• assessment, Introduction: the HEFA courseThe higher education field academy (HEFA) is an outreach educational initiative run by the department of archaeology at the University of Cambridge and has been in operation since 2006. One aim of this initiative is to widen access to higher education amongst under-represented groups through allowing young people of secondary school age to develop the skills, confidence and inspiration that they will need in order to aspire to, and ultimately succeed in, higher education or as they move from formal education into the workplace.Although delivered via an archaeological context, the primary purpose of the programme is not to promote archaeology as a future aspiration for work or study for the young people involved. Instead, the HEFA programme uses the opportunities afforded by this particular context to facilitate the use, development and recognition of a range of 'soft' skills that are useful for later success in education or the workplace. Following an initial introductory and instruction session, teams work independently with support from supervising school and HEFA staff, and following written directions in a programme handbook. Over two days, the team members complete all elements of their project -measuring out, de-turfing, digging and sieving in pits, cleaning and recording finds, section drawing, sampling, backfilling and

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“…The workplace-based vocational assessment (WPVA) system may challenge the utility of traditional psychometric methods, however, since the assessment methods are less structured and standardised and assessment data is not customarily generated for the purpose of a reliability analysis (Vleuten, van Luyk, and Swanson 1988;Wass and Jolly 2001;Norcini et al 2003;Downing 2004;Kneebone et al 2005;Norcini 2010;Holsgrove 2010). A lack of reliability research in this area means that, at present, there are no available strategies that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of these programmes (Johnson 2006;Crisp and Novakovic 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

On the reliability of vocational workplace-based certifications

Harth

Hemker

2013

Research Papers in Education

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The assessment of vocational workplace-based qualifications in England relies on human assessors (raters). These assessors observe naturally occurring, nonstandardised evidence, unique to each learner and evaluate the learner as competent/not yet competent against content standards. Whilst these are considered difficult to measure, this study aims to provide information on the operational reliability of assessor decisions for three workplace-based vocational qualifications in Hairdressing and Electrotechnical Engineering. It is shown how existing assessment records, typically generated locally by the training providers, were collected and used in a reliability study. A suitable methodology for estimating the inter-rater reliability and internal consistency was then used with this empirical data. In general, the reliability estimates measured may be considered high. This research study shows that it may be possible to measure reliability for these qualifications using commonly used measurement methods, although several characteristics of the assessment system should be considered in their interpretation.

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A review of vocational research in the UK 2002–2006: Measurement and accessibility issues

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

Grading in competence‐based qualifications – is it desirable and how might it affect validity?

Grading in competence‐based qualifications – is it desirable and how might it affect validity?

‘Can you dig it?’ Developing an approach to validly assessing diverse skills in an archaeological context

On the reliability of vocational workplace-based certifications

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