Examining the Effectiveness of Simulated Interpreting Projects: Students’ Perspectives

The purpose of this article is to investigate the causes of inadequate employability competencies among vocational education and training (VET) graduates using a competency-based education and training (CBET) approach. The article identifies respondents' perspectives on the challenges of acquiring employability competencies during the civil artisans' training and learning process in VETIs under CBET and explores opinions for overcoming those challenges. Data were gathered from 126 respondents through semi-structured interviews with trainers and employers, an open-ended questionnaire for learners, and employee-focused group discussions. A qualitative exploratory approach research design was used. Thematic analysis was used to analyse documents and interview transcripts. The findings revealed that the acquisition of employability competencies is hampered by learner characteristics, insufficient training and learning resources, shortage of trainers, English language problems, training methods, and negative perception of parents and learners on VET programmes, all of which were identified in the conceptual framework and mentioned by all categories of respondents. It is likely that the challenges discovered were not novel, with the exception of a lack of internet and a scarcity of clean water and food, which were context-specific issues. As a result, the study recommends that government and VET stakeholders should ensure the availability of learning resources to enhance effective training and learning at VET. More serious English language instruction should begin in primary school, according to the government and VET stakeholders. VET trainers should improve field supervision exercises and expose trainees to the working environment where employability competencies can be imparted more easily than through classroom training alone. Trainers should also participate in workshops and industrial visits to gain skills and knowledge about labour market needs. This will improve trainers' and trainees' understanding of labour-market requirements.

Context. Recent studies recognise that the use of the School as a Learning Organisation (SLO) approach in educational management is the key factor ensuring a general education institution’s ability to effectively implement the education policy goals and adapt to change as the use of SLO. Although vocational education has different predominant goals and different target groups, likewise general education, it is exposed to dynamic change and new challenges.Purpose. Within the framework of the study, it was researched whether and how SLO can be applied in vocational education as the use of SLO facilitates a high level of professional competence of the management and academic staff, enhances common strategic vision, responsibility and autonomy, diverse collaboration, effective resource management, and the dissemination of knowledge and good practice, which are also important in vocational education.Methods. Using qualitative data analysis, the paper analyses the experience of EU and OECD countries in the implementation of SLO in vocational education and identifies, which dimensions of the SLO model are represented in the policy and practice of vocational education in Latvia. In the focus group interviews with representatives of vocational education institutions of Latvia, the characteristics of the SLO approach in vocational education were studied, challenges were described and solutions proposed for the targeted implementation of the SLO approach in vocational education in Latvia.Results. All 7 dimensions of the SLO can be found in the education policy documents of the EU and OECD countries and Latvia, as well as in the focus group interviews, which shows that there is a gradual progress towards the transformation of vocational education institutions into learning organisations.Conclusions. For education policy makers: Since the features of SLO are only partially visible in vocational education documents in Latvia, the framework should be improved to cover all dimensions of the SLO, and norms and agreements on collective understanding should be harmonised in policy documents. For school representatives: Raise awareness of the staff of vocational education institutions of the essence of the SLO and its role in improving the quality of education and ensure that all dimensions of SLO are understood and addressed appropriately. For entrepreneurs: Help define the diverse, varied manifestations of professions in the sector in order to engage the individual potential of learners as effectively as possible. For researchers: Help find ways to resolve controversies by identifying good practice and research.

As technical and vocational education and training (TVET) continue to occupy a prominent position in Africa’s development, addressing the growing concerns about young women’s under-participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related TVET has become urgent. This paper draws on the critical capability approach of vocational education and training (CCA-VET) to critique the TVET policy discourse on the participation of girls and women in STEM-related TVET. The paper employed the practical argumentation approach, a critical discourse analysis approach to achieve the paper’s aims. The paper’s central thesis is that for education policies to transform young women’s under-participation in STEM-related TVET, it is urgent to move beyond human rights-based, and human capital approaches to adopt a comprehensive theoretical approach, such as the critical capabilities approach. The paper concludes that breaking this hegemony of human rights and human capital approaches to TVET policy can be achieved by re-conceptualising TVET policy discourses. The re-conceptualisation of TVET policy discourses can be achieved by admitting the critiques of these dominant theories that underpin most TVET policies and then adopting the CCA-VET as a better alternative approach to framing TVET policies.

:This article emphasizes on the importance of skill- based training and multidisciplinary approach in the technical education. To ascertain the effectiveness of such concepts, the activities and projects carried out in IDEA (Idea, Development, Evaluation and Application) Lab established under AICTE-IDEA Lab Scheme are focused and discussed in this paper. After undergoing an experiential handson training on the machines and software's available, as the resources of IDEA Lab, eight interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary engineering projects were completed by the students under the facilitation of faculties called Technical Gurus. The methodology involved in carrying out two such projects are discussed in detail whilst the other projects are listed. From the accomplished projects, it is observed that the training imparted in IDEA Lab and the experiential learning certainly enhanced the acquisition of multidisciplinary skills in the students, which are essential in converting the Ideas into Prototypes. Keywords: IDEA Lab; skill-based training; multidisciplinary projects; ideas; prototyping.

The aim of this article is to investigate translation trainees’ perceived difficulties and benefits of a post-editing oriented neural machine translation (NMT) error annotation and quality evaluation task which was carried out for the language pair English-Turkish and for two separate text types and domains, i.e., environmental blogs and movie/TV reviews, within the scope of an MA course on translation quality standards. The data to be analyzed were collected through a semi-structured questionnaire which was given to the trainees attending the course after the completion of the task. The questionnaire was prepared with the aim of understanding perceived difficulties and benefits of the task. Analysis of the answers revealed that most of the trainees were in the opinion that the task was difficult. Majority of the trainees also believed that the task was beneficial and enabled them to feel empowered to make decisions on human translation quality evaluation of machine translation (MT) and to carry out error annotation and post-editing activities in the future. According to a significant number of trainees, error annotation facilitated their post-editing process and reduced the effort in post-editing. Enhanced understanding of MT error annotation and enhanced ability to perform post-editing were the significant benefits stated by the trainees. The difficulties were associated with being introduced and assigned to perform tasks they were not familiar with. Yet, as displayed in the answers to the questionnaire, a considerable majority of the trainees were positive about the learning experience. The results have also shown that integration of MT-related activities into translator training with a focus on the empowerment of the human translator has its difficulties and benefits also for translation trainers. While the difficulties for the trainers concern the decisions on the design, implementation, and planning of the task and the responsibility to carry out the task in constant interaction and collaboration with the trainees, the benefits are the sense of fulfillment and enrichment brought by positive feedback from the trainees and the discovery of the fact that the so-called ‘teaching experience’ becomes a ‘learning experience’ for trainers as well as trainees.

The debate on the further development of national vocational training traditions focuses principally on how to qualify the workforce for the intermediate skills sector (see Figure 5.1). In industrialised countries this segment accounts for 60 to 70 per cent of all employees (Tessaring, 1994; Grubb, 1999). This figure explains why the European Council in the Lisbon Declaration (2000) has attributed such a great economic relevance to vocational education and training (VET) and in the context of implementation why it pursued the strategic goal of ‘making the Union the most competitive and most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world’ by 2010. It was from these ideas that the European Ministers of Education formulated the far-reaching aim that ‘the systems of general and vocational education [in Europe] shall become a worldwide reference for quality’. As a consequence of this aim, the establishment of a common European area for vocational education and training by 2010 in accordance with the package of measures defined in the so-called Copenhagen Process, ranks high on the political agenda. This process includes:

<p>This research aims to determine the opinions of vocational high school teachers about the Powerful Learning Environment (PLE) approach in vocational and technical secondary education. This study, which was carried out with the qualitative research method, was designed with the phenomenological pattern. The participants of the research consist of 28 teachers. The data were obtained with a semi-structured interview form, and the descriptive analysis method was used in data analysis. According to the results of the research, the obstacles to creating a PLE in vocational and technical education are the theoretical weight of the course programs, work-orientedness in internship workplaces (rejection of the learning process) and outdated vocational field training program modules and workshop equipment. On the other hand, the suggestions for creating a PLE in vocational and technical education are using an on-the-job learning model and increasing the internship period, reducing the theoretical Intensity in the curriculum and emphasizing the practice and increasing teacher orientation, providing program, equipment and workshop materials suitable for technological development, constant communication and interaction between teacher-student-parent-internship employer, the establishment of commercial relations between vocational high schools and establishment of virtual companies in entrepreneurship clubs, meeting with industry representatives to adapt to the changing expectations of the post-pandemic industry and using the advantages of peer learning in vocational skills education.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0845/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

This study examines the pedagogical value of Event-Based Learning (EBL) in interpreter training, focusing on its impact on interpreting learners. Grounded in experiential and situated learning theories, it explores how structured communicative events such as mock conferences, talk shows, and company visits enhance interpreting competence. Twenty undergraduate students joined a four-week EBL program, taking roles as both event organizers and interpreters. A mixed-methods approach combined survey data, student reflections, and interviews with professional interpreters to ensure depth and triangulation. Findings show EBL significantly supports key interpreting skills, particularly listening comprehension (M = 3.40) and message processing (M = 3.35). Students reported greater fluency and engagement in realistic scenarios. However, limited improvement was seen in stress management, concentration, and self-monitoring, suggesting a need for more support in affective and metacognitive areas. Technology-enhanced activities aided preparation but offered minimal benefit during live interpretation. Professional interpreters validated these outcomes, stressing that EBL reflects real-world challenges and builds practical skills. However, they emphasized the need for guided reflection, emotional regulation, and adaptive decision-making, areas not fully developed through experiential learning alone. The study affirms EBL’s cognitive benefits while advocating for a more holistic, tech-integrated training approach.

Исследование связи креативности, жизнестойкости, стрессоустойчивости и совладающего поведения студентов связано с поиском личностных ресурсов, помогающих в преодолении негативных последствий стрессовых ситуаций, оптимизации процессов профессиональной подготовки. Эмпирическое исследование посвящено сравнительному анализу и выявлению связи показателей креативности, жизнестойкости, стрессо-устойчивости и совладающего поведения студентов разных направлений профессиональной подготовки. Обнаружены значимые различия по показателям жизнестойкости и стратегиям совладания со стрессом, которые выявили специфику как проявления вовлеченности, контроля и принятия риска, так и способов преодоления трудностей студентами разных направлений подготовки. Корреляционный анализ позволил выделить различия в структуре связей показателей креативности, совладающего поведения, жизнестойкости, стрессоустойчивости студентов разных направлений подготовки. Структура связей невербальной креативности с показателями жизнестойкости, стрессоустойчивости и совладающего поведения, аналогичная у студентов разных направлений подготовки, позволяет полагать, что высокий уровень креативности является важным ресурсом в борьбе со стрессом. The study of the connection of creativity, resilience, stress resistance and coping behavior of students is associated with the search for personal resources that help to overcome the negative consequences of stressful situations and optimize professional training processes. The empirical study is devoted to comparative analysis and identification of the connection of indicators of creativity, resilience, stress resistance and coping behavior of students of different areas of professional training. Significant differences were found in indicators of resilience and strategies for coping with stress, which revealed the specifics of both the manifestations of involvement, control and risk acceptance, and ways of overcoming difficulties by students in different areas of training. Correlation analysis made it possible to distinguish differences in the structure of the relationships of indicators of creativity, coping behavior, resilience, stress resistance of students in different areas of training. The structure of the links of nonverbal creativity with indicators of resilience, stress resistance and coping behavior, similar to students in different areas of training, suggests that a high level of creativity is an important resource in the fight against stress.

The present article investigates our proposed approach for subtitler training namely a Pedagogical Research-Based (PRB), defined as a professionally-oriented approach utilised in Audiovisual Translation (AVT) translator training to theoretically and practically strengthen the subtitling skills of trainees. The data of the present study is derived from an Egyptian television hard-edged drama entitled Firqit Naji Atallah (lit. Naji Atallah Team), Episode 1 (2012), subtitled by a sample of twenty MA translation students, ten of whom enrolled in the second semester for the academic year 2013/2014 and the rest (also totalling ten) did the same, a year later, namely for the school year 2014/2015. The article clearly reveals that before PRB approach is introduced in actual translation classroom, translator trainees (i.e. experimental group) are faced with tremendously difficult problems linguistically, culturally and technically which may hinder communication, thought to be crucial to retain for the target audience. The PRB approach is then introduced whereby the other translator trainees are equipped with some theoretical insights apropos of subtitling norms, well-envisaged in two scholarly AVT works by Karamitroglou (1998) and Schwarz (2002). Being aware of the PRB approach, the translator trainees could therefore do the translation task with minimal linguistic, cultural and technical problems. The study concludes with some pedagogical implications that will hopefully help translator trainees do translation tasks with minimal communication breakdown and maximal communicative thrust drawing on PRB.

This chapter addresses the application of computer games and simulations in order to explore reality in many educational areas. The Games-Based Learning (GBL) can improve the teaching and learning experience by training future professionals in real life scenarios and activities that enable them to apply problem-solving strategies by putting into use the correct technique stemming from their own skills. For that reason, GBL has been used in software engineering teaching. At Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, the authors have developed SimulES-W (Simulation in Software Engineering), a tool for teaching software engineering. SimulES-W is a collaborative software board game that simulates a software engineering process in which the player performs different roles such as software engineer, technical coordinator, project manager, and quality controller. The players can deal with budget, software engineer employment and dismissal, and construction of different software artifacts. The objective of this chapter is to describe the approach to teaching software engineering using SimulES-W and demonstrate how pedagogical methodology is applied in this teaching approach to improve software engineering education. The teaching experience and future improvements are also discussed.

This study’s aim is to examine vocational students’ perceptions of self-regulated learning in work-based settings regarding Finnish vocational education and training (VET). We examined the participants’ self-reported thoughts and experiences of VET learning and vocational development that were reflected against SRL theory. The interview data (N = 33) included apprentices (n = 15) in work-based and students in school-based VET (n = 18) in the fields of social and healthcare, business and administration, and construction. Overall, the results indicated that learning at work promoted vocational students’ cognitive engagement and motivation. The interviews also introduced certain SRL strategies that guided the participants’ efforts to learn. In particular, many of the vocational students had taken the initiative to set goals, done strategic planning, and monitored their own performance jointly with their teachers or co-workers. However, the self-reports also revealed some shortcomings in the students’ SRL behaviour. The importance and availability of social support and positive feedback from VET teachers and workplace trainers/co-workers to vocational students’ learning and self-efficacy were underlined in the self-reports.

French views on Technical Education may be said to demand attention ... we may well look to France for some light on a subject to which the state, in conjunction with the best authorities of the country has devoted close attention for more than 20 years. (C. C. Perry, 1898) As Britain faced economic competition from industrial rivals in the later nineteenth century so she looked inward to supposed defects of her own education as a cause of retardation. She also looked outward to other countries to learn from their educational arrangements. Germany was seen as the exemplar for technical and scientific education and America for business. Yet the educational relations with France have been much less emphasized.1 Unjustly, it may be argued, since the French experience has had a pervasive and sometimes decisive influence in the areas of technical, vocational, and managerial education in England.

This study identifies and analyzes the main research areas related to green technical and vocational education training (TVET). It focuses on evaluating the extent of its integration into TVET programs. The research explores the link between green TVET, environmental sustainability, and its impact on human development, drawing on research and data from the past decade (2013-2023). This paper aims to offer readers an in-depth insight into progress and prospective developments, with a specific emphasis on the pedagogical approach in Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and stakeholders' concerns in this domain. To achieve this goal, the study applied the Systematic Literature Network Analysis (SLNA) method, combining bibliometric analysis techniques with a systematic literature review (SLR) using the PRISMA approach. This integrated approach utilizes objective measurements and algorithms to discern emerging themes and subjects to gain a thorough understanding of the current state of green TVET and potential paths for further integration to address environmental issues and enhance human capacity. The paper finds that green TVET positively affects learners' knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors related to environmental sustainability, as well as their employability and career prospects in the green economy. It highlights challenges and gaps in implementing and evaluating green TVET, such as the lack of standardized definitions, indicators, and methodologies, insufficient integration of green competencies, and limited stakeholder involvement. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy and practice and directions for future research.

In order to keep pace with developments in the world, there are currently moves to make TVET a vehicle for meeting emerging needs in the livelihoods of young people and adults. To some extent, this will also benefit the national social and economic situation. Countries often hope that the potential of TVET and the impact of its contributions in achieving these aims can be fully realized not only by improving the quality of TVET programmes but also by promoting lifelong learning opportunities for every individual. This chapter therefore examines the importance of TVET in promoting vocational competencies as part of the lifelong learning process for all, and explores its dynamic in developing countries, with particular reference to the situation in Myanmar. The TVET system in Myanmar is based on shared responsibility by different ministries through a variety of forms of delivery, with the result that its curricula are highly diverse. Not many empirical studies have been conducted as yet to evaluate the effectiveness of TVET in Myanmar. As a result, there is very limited documentation on issues relevant to vocational policies and practices that focus on a competency-based lifelong-learning oriented approach. This implies that the availability of statistical information in the field of technical, agriculture and vocational education is a limiting factor. Therefore, the scope of this study focuses rather on secondary and post-secondary school-based vocational education and training programmes offered in the areas of technical, agricultural and vocational education by the different specialized ministries in Myanmar. These programmes aim to enable learners to cope with the emerging challenges relating to job opportunities in the various economic sectors. They also encourage lifelong learning for all through the creation of flexibility and accessibility to TVET.