PROCESAMIENTO Y DISCUSIÓN DE RESULTADOS

In Australia, although CBE/T has had an enormous impact in the VET sector, it has had little impact in the HE sector. However, CBE/T has impacted on the HE sector in the area of articulation or cross-sectoral linkages. When students have VET level qualifications that are task-oriented and assessment-focused, they often find difficulty in seeking academic recognition of previous study or recognition for prior learning in a practical environment. Similarly, HE graduates may also find difficulty in having their study recognized in the VET sector.

One of the fundamental problems associated with implementing CBE/T into the HE sector is that CBE/T is often judged on the merits or otherwise of the model produced by the National Training Board and later by the Australian National Training Authority in the form of National Training Packages. The model followed in these Training Packages has tended to become a focus through which all

competency-based learning is judged and appraised. However, this model should not be regarded as the only means by which CBE/T can be implemented and delivered. The introduction of National Training Packages allowed individual curriculum designers a great deal of flexibility in method of delivery, and included a shift in emphasis from content, training and assessment to assessment of prescribed tasks. However, Leahy and Gabb (1999) point out that one of the implications of National Training Packages impinging on the HE sector is the area of credit transfer and articulation agreements. The packages also suggest that automatic credit transfer arrangements based on qualifications be replaced by individual articulation arrangements with providers. However, this varying, individual approach to the method of delivery and amount of underpinning knowledge produces considerable difficulty when considering credit transfer or articulation.

An example of these articulation difficulties can be seen in the Advanced Diploma of Myotherapy program which originated as a VET program delivered at the MBDS. As previously mentioned, the curriculum for this diploma was developed prior to the introduction of National Training Packages. Each unit or subject within the program had a relationship with one or more of the competency standards required for Myotherapists. The subject outlines, structure and content of these units were similar to units in related courses in the HE sector. This provided for relatively straight forward comparisons of subject content when considering credit transfer or articulation with related courses in the HE sector. In fact, the Advanced Diploma of Myotherapy had a formal agreement with the Bachelor of Health Science (Human Movement) which allowed credit transfer in a number of subject areas.

The replacement course, the Advanced Diploma of Remedial Massage (Myotherapy), developed in a similar fashion to a National Training Package which comprised a number of units - all of which were competency-based. However, their content had little in common with subjects in the degree program. The units of competency acted merely as a guideline for the individual curriculum designers at institutions wishing to deliver all or part of the course. This allowed for a variety of delivery and assessment methods and created barriers to developing a uniform articulation policy and requires separate agreements between individual institutions.

In competency-based learning programs such as those in the VET sector, assessment is based on a set of criteria which is used as a reference to assess competency. This assessment process is based on output and performance rather than process and knowledge. This creates problems in articulation in both directions, as both the HE and VET sectors are required to consider granting credits for each other’s learning programs when the assessment criteria do not match. This method of assessment has largely been accompanied by the introduction of a binary approach to grading in which the learner is considered either ‘competent’ or ‘not-yet-competent’, without grading the level of competency. Smith, Lowrie, Hill, Bush and Lobegeier (1997, p. 9) state that “the trend towards non-graded assessment in the VET sector accompanied the introduction of CBE/T in the VET sector and by 1996 over half the TAFE courses were using non-graded assessment”.

With the introduction of CBE/T it was often wrongly assumed that that these programs had to include un-graded assessment. However, it should be noted that there is no clear national policy on whether grading should be used. Wolf (1993), and Williams and Bateman (2003, p. 8) have suggested that the criterion-referenced assessment used in competency-based learning programs does not necessarily imply a simple pass/fail system of grading. Smith et al. (1997) consider that a non-grading assessment may work well when the assessment is addressing a learner’s competency in a predominantly manual task that requires little underpinning knowledge. This approach might be considered much less satisfactory when the assessment is addressing competency in a task that is predominantly cognitive or requires a much greater degree of underpinning knowledge. Concern has also been expressed that this approach will lead to commonality of ‘adequacy’ rather than encouragement to strive for excellence. Studies from Choy (1996) and Lundberg (1996) indicate that many students feel that lack of grading provides no reward for effort. Smith et al. (1997, p. 9) suggests that this may explain why the non-grading system appears to be reverting to a graded system in different states and institutions.

The implementation of National Training Packages have caused concerns regarding articulation between the VET and HE sectors. This is emphasised by Carnegie (2000), who suggests that some universities may not accept Training Packages for articulation purposes. Similar concerns are expressed by Watson (2006, p. 7), who

stated that “Although there is no nationally agreed position on graded assessment in VET some of the HE course conveners we interviewed said they require applicants with VET Diplomas to have graded assessments or to sit an entry test”. In a Research Project Report for the Department of Human Services (Victoria) on the articulation between the VET and HE sectors, Spencer (2005) states that:

….. a primary difficulty was found to be that training packages in the VET sector specify graduate outcomes in terms of industry competency standards whereas HE specifies graduate outcomes in terms of learning outcomes and curriculum (p. 4).

If the concerns of articulation are to be resolved, then the problems arising from the methodology used in assessment and grading will require a reciprocal approach by both sectors. This may allow for the acceptance and introduction of a more integrated approach to competency-based education and training which facilitates an interface of understanding to develop, and at the same time ease, some of the problems associated with articulation between the educational sectors.

This thesis asks: Is there a place for a competency-based approach to be formally integrated into the procedural or task-oriented units of a HE curriculum?

This chapter has discussed a wide-ranging cross-section of national and international literature pertaining to the development, introduction and delivery of CBE/T in Australia. The views expressed in the literature provide us with an insight into the contentious nature of the development delivery of CBE/T in Australia. CBE/T was swiftly implemented in the vocational education sector but reticence as to its acceptance has been displayed in higher education. This raised the question as to whether there is a difference in the aims of educational outcomes in the vocational education and HE sectors. In considering the concept of CBE/T in Australia through the experiences of the participants in this research, it has been important to provide this review of relevant literature to provide a basis for the investigative interviews conducted with these participants.

The research methodology used in this thesis and the means by which data was collected, collated, coded and analysed, in order to identify relevant categories and themes is presented in Chapter Four which also includes a brief description of the participants is also provided as an indication of their backgrounds and familiarity with the research subject.

CHAPTER FOUR