VET research is a very broad area, with interest spanning the policies that shape the VET sector through to important questions about learning and assessment. Increasingly, the role of VET applied research in contributing to industry innovation is part of the VET research ecosystem. 

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.

Current debates about VET often centre on topics including industry leadership, graduate employability, and contribution to the economy. Yet we know VET and the role it plays is also about the contribution of, and for, communities and individuals and their social and technical skills development. 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. Research into these areas is needed to expand our understanding of VET beyond the kind of data often seen in major reports and utilised to inform funding and policy decisions. 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 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. 

Trades and apprenticeships are an example of types of students and related settings that are researched to show the complexity of VET student experiences. Research about VET students can also reveal strengths and weakness of systems by relating measures of learning to policies and interventions. 

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

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 with such a range of methods available, most researchers are continuously learning about techniques that can assist them. The value of VET research is increasingly appreciated by major players in the sector and there is a growing research community drawing on cross and inter-disciplinarity within their VET and training research. For instance, ASQA’s new regulatory self-assurance model brings institutional research and continuous improvement in RTOs to the fore. The question of what makes for good VET research has never been more vital. Presenters will share challenges, discoveries and designs that they have encountered along the path of researching VET.