Conference Agenda

As education in general and VET systems in particular are influenced by and responsive to external drivers as well as policy or ideological considerations, assessment practices are also influenced by various factors and trends, such as social, demographic, economic, environmental, and technological trends and developments. Assessment is in particular influenced by changes related to educational principles and practices. Some factors that potentially shape the evolution of assessment in VET include, for example, the broadening of the skills and competence base of VET with a strengthened emphasis on general subjects and an increased focus on transversal skills and competences as well as changes in the organisation and delivery of VET (such as an increased focus on work-based learning). Also the growing emphasis on accountability can influence how assessment is organised and shaped. Additional contributing factors include the vast technological developments and digitalisation as well as the upskilling and reskilling needs of adults that are gradually driving authorities and providers to open up to new groups of learners.
Examining assessment approaches in VET in different countries and how they have developed over time can provide important insights into how learners’ competences and achievement of intended learning outcomes are determined, how evidence on an individual’s progress and achievement of learning goals is collected and judged and for what purposes the results are used.

The key research question underpinning this paper therefore is as follows: Which are the prevalent assessment forms applied in initial VET in Europe, how have these evolved during the past 25 years and what future trends can be identified?

This research applies an analytical framework that builds on Cedefop's (2020) ‘Three Perspectives Model for VET’, which comprises an epistemological and pedagogical perspective, an education system perspective and a socioeconomic perspective. This model includes diachronic (referring to changes over history within a country) and synchronic (comparisons between countries) analyses of VET systems and the development of corresponding patterns or profiles based on the interplay of characteristics.

While the original model includes assessment as one of the features of the epistemological and pedagogical perspective, a more detailed analysis of assessment approaches and their evolvement requires further differentiation of this dimension. This paper therefore ‘zooms in on assessment’ and identifies the following key areas to be explored for gaining insights into the changes in assessment: (a) main purposes and functions of assessment, (b) scope, focus and content of assessment, (c) reference points and criteria for assessments, (d) methods, tools and context of assessment and stakeholders involved, (e) alignment between intended learning outcomes, delivery of programmes and assessment criteria, (f) key technical characteristics ensuring quality of assessment.

One of the earliest practical attempts in Germany towards the recognition of informally acquired competences was a sector specific one in the metal and electrical industry of the German state Baden Württemberg. Although the relevance of the formal VET system in Germany has often been highlighted there is a remarkable number of employees who do not have a formal qualification and cannot prove their competences (in Baden-Württemberg 13.65 % of all employees in 2020).

It is a generally shared assumption that many competences - and especially work-relevant competences - are acquired through learning in the process of work (Boreham et al. 2002, Fischer et al. 2004). However, informally, non-formally and formally acquired competences are difficult to distinguish from each other. The same competence, e.g. mastery of a certain machine, may have been acquired informally (e.g. by "copying" from colleagues), non-formally (e.g. in a course) or formally (e.g. in initial vocational training). And competences are also acquired informally in formal settings, e.g. teamwork skills when learning in groups, or foreign language skills in specialised training. Formal/informal/non-formal learning are therefore – in contrast to many definitions (CEDEFOP 2009, OECD 2006, BMBF not discrete categories that can be completely separated from each other, but attributes that have been assigned to learning by the state and society (Colley et al. 2003). It follows from this: If one wants to record informally acquired competences, one cannot exclude anything from the spectrum of relevant competences from the outset.

The task of recording competences of employees in the metal and electrical industry was posed in several projects funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and supported by the social partners. Against this background, an online tool was to be developed and then made available to any person interested in taking stock of their competences. Under such a premise, it quickly became apparent in an empirical study involving ten companies that employees in the metal and electrical industry have little use for the competence designations discussed in vocational education (Fischer et al. 2014) - at least as a means of self-assessment.

What people can give more information about are the tasks they perform or have performed and mastered in gainful employment. However, one encounters the fact that these tasks are described differently from person to person: What for one person means "maintaining machines and equipment" is for another "repair” and for a third "keeping the machines running". Therefore, task descriptions as a structure for classification and a framework for self-reflection must be presented in a generally understandable form so that people can express themselves in terms of "I can" or "I can't" and so that these statements can then be compared. This is done through so-called task inventories (Frieling et al. 2000), whereby work tasks in a professional field of activity are described and presented in a structured form. In the presentation it will be described how such task inventories were developed and transposed into an online tool, which is now freely available and translated into five languages. Advantages and disadvantages of using such a tool for the recognition of prior learning will be discussed in a final conclusion.

The renewal of the Norwegian curricula in 2020, named Knowledge Promotion 2020, aims to strengthen relevance in school subjects and with specific priorities and consequently “prepare the students for the future” (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2020). The Overall part of the curricula presents overarching aims related to student agency and highlights especially students` in-depth learning, critical thinking, and learning strategies, as a foundation for life-long learning (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2020). Similar skills, such as cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, critical and creative thinking, learning-to-learn and self-regulation, are presented in the OCED Learning Framework 2030 (2018) and the Conceptual Learning Framework (OECD, 2019), reflected in the Norwegian curricula. Reflection on learning, learn to formulate questions, seek answers, and express their understanding will lay ground for student agency and learning strategies (Norwegian Directorate for Education and Training, 2020). The overarching aims, values ​​and principles formulated in the Overall part of the curricula comprise primary school and upper secondary education, including vocational education and training (VET). VET in Norway is part of the formal upper secondary education system (age 16-19). In the main model, VET is organised as two years in school (including practice placement periods) and two years in apprenticeship, also denounced as the 2+2 model.

Along with the educational policies and aims for future education in many countries, inspired by OECD, there is an extensive body of research in self-regulation (SR) and learning strategies. Self-regulation, as a trait related to motivation and assessment for learning (Smith et al., 2016), is related to how the learner sets goals and learn to monitor, regulate, and control cognition, motivation, and behavior to reach their goals (Andrade, 2010; Smith et al., 2016). Zimmerman (2000) emphasise feedback from the self (self-assessment) and significant others as important for the development of SR skills, and an elaboration of the interplay and dialogue between self-regulation and feedback is also found in Hattie and Timperley’s` work (2007). In their feedback model, student’s agency and SR will be stimulated and supported by dialogues related to learning goals and specific and timely feedback during the learning process, including information about the next step. Feedback thus can be defined as information provided to the learner about performance and aiming to promote further learning (Hattie & Timperley, 2007; Shute, 2008). Such feedback functions formative if the student can use the feedback (Black & Wiliam, 1998; Wiliam, 2011).

Formative feedback is included in the assessment regulations since 2006 and have been implemented at all levels in the school system. In the renewal of the curricula 2020, student agency in assessment is emphasized and related to self-regulation and learning strategies.

However, the concepts of SR and formative feedback are not to a substantial extent contextualized in VET (Panadero, 2017; Panadero et al., 2018). In the Norwegian VET, interpretation and implementation of the overarching aims in the curricula and assessment regulations in upper secondary school is often dominated by the traditions and methods in the general study subjects, including assessment practices (Sandal, 2021). The study this paper report from therefore was established, aiming to investigate how VET student develop of SR through formative assessment. Research question: How do VET students perceive and experience formative feedback as promoting self-regulation skills? An underlying premise for the study is formative feedback as an approach to and potential for stimulating SR skills.