Students’ Learning Performance and Transitions in Different Learning Pathways to Higher Vocational Education

Abstract

To improve students' transitions between successive educational levels, continuing learning pathways are being designed and implemented in many countries. This study was carried out to examine the effects of the Green Lycea (GL) as critical cases of continuing learning pathways in vocational education in The Netherlands. The GL were compared with a traditional pathway (pre-vocational secondary education and secondary vocational education offered as separate programmes) in terms of students' learning performance and transitions. GL students and comparable students following the regular pathway yielded the same mean final exam scores for four core subjects in the first phase of their educational programmes, despite the fact that GL students took this exam one year earlier than regular students because of the acceleration of the learning trajectory in the GL programme. Regarding the students' transitions, the GL and the traditional pathway yielded comparable percentages of students who either did or did not obtain a pre-vocational secondary education diploma; For the GL, however, the percentage of students who proceeded in secondary vocational education was higher. To conclude, it seems to be possible to improve students' transitions between

Promoting Students’ Transitions to Successive VET Levels through Continuing Learning Pathways

“…This study can be considered as a follow-up study to our research described in the article BStudents' Learning Performance and Transitions in Different Learning Pathways to Higher Vocational Education^published earlier in Vocations and Learning (Biemans et al 2016). This previous article focused on the effects of this particular continuing learning pathway on students' learning performance at the VMBO level and their transitions to the MBO level (in other words, effects of the first phase of this learning pathway).…”

“…In this respect, the present study is a crucial followup study since it focuses on the effects at the end of the particular continuing learning pathway on students' study careers, and, thus, provides additional information on the value of such learning pathways with their underlying educational design principles as described in the section BThe Green Lyceum as Critical Example of a Continuing Learning Pathway^. First, however, theoretical background notions on students' transition problems in VET and continuing learning pathways as possible solutions will be presented building on the previous article (see also Biemans et al 2016). After describing the GL in terms of design characteristics and theoretical embedding, the results of previous research on effects of the GL will be summarized.…”

“…In many countries, such transition problems between successive (VET) levels resulting in high student drop-out rates have been reported (e.g., Bradley 2008;Harris and Rainey 2012;Hoelscher et al 2008;Catterall et al 2014). Possible causes for these transition problems have been discussed extensively by Biemans et al (2016) (see also the next section). A crucial issue in this regard is the lack of curriculum continuity and integration of successive educational levels.…”

“…This goal is regarded as crucial, both for individuals and for society as a whole, to be able to deal with future challenges. To reach this goal, it is preferable that students are able to proceed from one educational level to the next in seamless learning pathways and that there are no artificial barriers between successive levels of the particular educational system (in this study the Vocational Education and Training, or VET, system) that hamper students' transitions and their individual competence development (Biemans et al 2004(Biemans et al , 2009(Biemans et al , 2016.…”

“…To improve students' transitions and to prevent the high drop-out rates mentioned above, continuing learning pathways have been implemented in VET (and general education) systems around the world as curriculum design solutions (see Biemans et al 2016). Continuing learning pathways can be defined as sequential educational programmes combined into a new integrated learning trajectory (Biemans et al 2013).…”