The goal of this article is to advance an ecological theory of knowing, one that prioritizes engaged participation over knowledge acquisition. To this end, the authors begin by describing the environment in terms of affordance networks: functionally bound potentials extended in time that can be acted upon to realize particular goals. Although there may be socially agreed-upon trajectories specifying the necessary components of a network activated for realizing a particular goal, the particular network engaged by an individual is dependent on adopted intentions and available effectivity sets, the attunements and behaviors that an individual can enlist to realize an affordance network. Thus, to help clarify the challenges of connecting learners to ecological systems through which affordance networks are activated, the authors use the term life-world, which refers to the environment from the perspective of an individual. Building on their characterization of affordance networks, effectivity sets, and life-worlds, the authors offer an ecological focal point for curricular design.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight the contradictions in the current maritime education and training system (MET), which is based on competency‐based education, training and assessment, and to theorize the failure to make the training useful.Design/methodology/approachA case study of education and training in the international maritime domain was conducted. Data sources include historical documents, rules and regulations concerning MET, syllabi, handouts, sample questions, field notes, an ethnographic study in a maritime college and interviews conducted with experienced mariners and course lecturer.FindingsThere are contradictions in the education and training system that do not allow the targeted objectives to be fulfilled. Fundamentally, the assessment system has changed the objectives of the education and training practices from learning skills and knowledge required on‐board ships to passing competency examinations.Practical implicationsThe practical implication of this research is valuable for the International Maritime Organization, marine administration and maritime training institutes to think over the competency‐based system in practice today and how to improve the present maritime training and assessment system in order to achieve its authentic objectives.Originality/valueThis research identified and bridged the gap in literature and research of competency‐based training and assessment in the maritime domain and provides practical solutions for improving this system.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.