Workplace delivery and tailored learning in the manufacturing sector
TAFE NSW VET Pedagogy Project, Part C of Phase 1
WORKPLACE LEARNING - ASSESSMENT CASE STUDIES | Ken Fraser, Manager Food Processing TAFE NSW - Western Sydney Institute
Given that we are assessing about ‘competent performance in the workplace’ according to the Training Packages, we need to make more use of evidence from workplaces of actual performance.
Ken Fraser
Training Packages
Food Processing Industry (FDF03)
Learning Environment
Workplace delivery for food processing employees in the manufacturing sector incorporating “up-front” assessment of student needs and tailored learning programs.
Teaching Approach
Ken’s teaching approach has changed significantly since he has been involved in workplace delivery. He has changed to consider much more strongly the skills that students bring to a course/subject, and uses an up-front assessment approach, followed by targeted training to cover the gaps. For students undertaking higher-level competencies, he and his team have developed work-based projects for students to identify their own learning needs, target what is required, and then produce evidence against a range of competencies.
Evaluation Methods
Evaluation occurs in a number of ways, including:
- individual student feedback,
- negotiation with company managers and supervisors to endorse the relevance of the work-based project, and
- by collaborating with teachers located in various companies to compare notes and ideas and to share assessment strategies.
To overcome the isolation that many teachers feel from working in different workplaces they rely on information and communications technologies (ICT) strategies such as email to maintain effective communication with each other.
Positive Difference to Learning
Ken notes that through his workplace delivery experience he is much more likely to accept workplace evidence of skills and knowledge than before and believes that many of these principles can and should be adopted with mainstream classes.
He and his team negotiate initially with company supervisors and managers as well as students to ensure the relevance of the chosen work-based projects. They (the supervisors and managers) particularly like this approach as they see benefits to the company as the students gain and apply new skills, including problem-solving strategies into the workplace.
See Also
Case
Studies Innovative and Excellent Practices in VET Teaching and
Learning 2003 (426 Kb) are also available as one
downloadable file.
