Literacy in vocational education and training: scenario-based reading and writing education

Abstract

Many students in vocational education and training (VET) have difficulties with reading and writing. To date, there is little research on whether and how the development of VET students’ writing skills may benefit from teaching approaches that integrate reading and writing. This study reports results from a semester-long intervention study conducted in Switzerland in 2018/19 (N = 285) in which we investigated the impact of a scenario-based integration of reading-to-write-tasks on the development of VET students’ text quality. In the approach, problem-solving processes are set in motion by scenarios representing real- or work-life situations. Reading-to-write tasks form part of the student-initiated problem-solving process, and result in situated argumentative writing. A small experimental intervention effect was found where text quality developed significantly better in the experimental group than in a matched control group (F1,178 = 7.40, p < .01, Cohen’s f = 0.20), as measured in a writing test before and after exposure to the teaching method. Outcomes suggest tangible benefits may result when applying this approach to literacy education in VET, particularly for academically weaker students. We discuss the consequences and implications of these findings, as well as open questions to be addressed by further research.

An analysis of the psychometric properties of the writing-specific cognitive strategies questionnaire for undergraduate students

“…Knowing students' writing strategies will allow teachers to propose writing-tolearn tasks tailored to students' abilities, which may help reduce the cognitive load of writing and may therefore have a positive impact on students' domain learning (Torrance and Galbraith, 2006;Kieft et al, 2008). In addition, evaluating undergraduates' writing strategies will allow identification of poor or poorly defined strategic profiles, which may underlie some students' writing difficulties (Kieft et al, 2006;Boscolo et al, 2007;Mateos and Solé, 2009;Cumming et al, 2016;Konstantinidou et al, 2023) and complicate how they cope with and succeed in writing tasks. In turn, this will guide the design and implementation of instructional programs that promote students' strategic writing development (MacArthur et al, 2015;Graham and Harris, 2018;MacArthur and Philippakos, 2022).…”

“…This complicates their ability to successfully cope with the writing tasks required at this educational stage, and in consequence, many undergraduates have difficulties with writing. This may have an impact on their academic achievement, professional career, and overall participation in society (Boscolo et al, 2007;Mateos and Solé, 2009;Cumming et al, 2016;Konstantinidou et al, 2023). These students require specific, explicit instruction in written composition to help them acquire-or refine and adapt their own-strategies in order to effectively deal with academic, scientific, and professional writing tasks (MacArthur et al, 2015;Wischgoll, 2017;Graham and Harris, 2018;MacArthur and Philippakos, 2022).…”

Assessment of the Level of Formation of Graphomotor Skills of Preschool and Primary School Students Using Graphic Tablets

“…Методика «Рисуем узор» применялась для выявления таких параметров, как навык владения карандашом, графические навыки, ориентировка в пространстве, ориентировка на листе бумаги [5][6][7]. Методика изучения состояния пальцев ведущей руки, переключаемость с одного действия на другое, точность реализации задания [8,9]. Для разработки оптимального плана экспериментальной работы важно использовать совокупность диагностик, составляющих основу развития графомоторных навыков.…”