PROGRAM THEMES

POLICY, PRACTICE & INDUSTRY INNOVATION

This theme captures the wide scope of VET research, with presenters sharing completed, current or emerging research on:

• learning, teaching, training, assessment and program design
• government and organisation policies and their impact on VET
• applied research as a way to promote innovation.

COMMUNITY & INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT

Current debates about VET often centre on topics including industry leadership, graduate employability, and contribution to the economy. Yet important questions relate to disadvantage and access to the benefits of VET, the non-economic benefits of VET to individual wellbeing and identity, and the role of VET in nurturing communities. Presenters will share completed, current or emerging research investigating the lived realities of VET, or mixed-methods research that provides narratives to complement statistical analysis.

STUDENTS, APPRENTICES, TRAINEES & TRADES

Students are central to VET and they are extremely diverse, creating a rich challenge for researchers seeking to understand the world and learning of students. 

Research can shed light on different kinds of students and their needs and preferences, and often take into account different VET settings. 

Presenters will share completed, current or emerging research about VET students and their learning.

VET RESEARCH
METHODS

While VET research has distinctive subject matter, how the research is done is an important question. There is no best way to do VET research, but rather the topic of the research helps to determine what is appropriate. Since there is rarely an obvious choice of method, it is often a challenging task to design a research project and most researchers are continuously learning about techniques that can assist them. Presenters will share challenges, discoveries and designs that they have encountered along the path of researching VET.