The school-life balance effect on acquiring cross-disciplinary competences in VET: disruption or continuity during COVID-19?

Abstract

Considering that teleworking and online training are on the rise following the pandemic, studying how school-life balance affects the development of VET competences in online learning during COVID-19 can provide relevant information to enhance educational equity in the future. A longitudinal study was conducted employing an on-line questionnaire to meet the following aims: to explore the development of cross-disciplinary competences in VET during COVID-19; to identify different students’ profiles according to their school-life balance during the pandemic; and, to analyse whether the school-life balance was affecting competency development and propose improvements to training as a result. Results show that cross-disciplinary competences did not undergo important changes between the pre-pandemic scenario and during it, except for a decrease in metacognitive self-regulation. Similarly, most students reported having spent the same time studying before and during the pandemic. However, three main profiles of students are revealed, highlighting certain school-life imbalances. While all agree that remote teaching was critical in coping with the situation, differences were found by age and gender, with some participants experiencing more challenging situations. These results provide a fertile context for VET designers and teachers to generate new learning scenarios that meet all students’ potential needs.

Content Learning in an Interprofessional Environment for Health and Social Care Students: The Role of Learning Activities and Group Work Appraisals

“…In interprofessional learning environments, students encounter diverse views, thoughts, and perspectives on knowledge from different disciplines and professions. As this may challenge cognitive processing and make greater demands on metacognitive regulation [31,32], effective teaching and learning should acknowledge and support regulation skills, especially in online learning situations [33].…”