Abstract

Previous research on student learning in vocational education has suggested that one of the biggest constraints on students' learning is their lack of motivation (e.g. Mulder et al, 2006). Therefore findings concerning the new workplace learning system in Finnish VET are encouraging: studies have shown, from the pilots onwards, that vocational students have been very motivated to learn 'real work' during their workplace learning periods (Lasonen, 2001).

In the present study we will examine in more detail the factors on the background of motivational aspects and students' self-assessed success in students' workplace learning. Since the motivational processes play an essential role in student learning and study success (e.g. Pintrich, 2004; Tynjälä et al, 2005), we will study their manifestation among vocational students during their workplace learning. However, we don't examine motivation as a separate individual phenomenon but we relate it with contextual factors of the workplace. Recent studies on employees' learning at work have showed that learning through work is interdependent between the individuals' participation and workplace affordances (Billett, 2004). Therefore, we are searching explanations for students' experiences of workplace learning both from the social and individual elements of workplace learning. These include students' experiences of work communities and guidance as well as their motivational orientations. More specifically, we address the following research questions:

• 1. What kind of motivational orientations do vocational students show in workplace learning?
• 2. What kind of relationship there is between students' self-assessed success in school-based learning and work-based learning?
• 3. What factors explain students' self-assessed success in workplace learning?

Methods

In this study we are use data which were collected from two different research projects by Internet questionnaires in 2003-2004. The students (N = 3106) were final-year students from six fields of VET. In total, 1603 students (52 %) answered the questionnaires. The data are being analysed with quantitative methods.

Results

So far, the analyses have indicated that vocational students were very learning oriented and also achievement orientated in their workplace learning. Most of the students assessed their success to be better in work-based learning than in school-based learning. The cross tabulation between self-assessed success between school learning and workplace learning indicated that even 71 per cent of those students' who did not consider their success at school to be very good assessed their success at work good or excellent. The regression analysis showed that students' success in workplace learning can be explained both with individual and social factors. The findings show that students' perceived success in workplace learning is not only dependent on students' individual motivational factors but rather on the interplay between individual and social aspects of workplace learning.

Bibliography

• Billett, S. (2004) Learning through work. Workplace participatory practices. In H. Rainbird, A. Fuller & A. Munro (eds.) Workplace learning in context (pp. 109-125). London: Routledge.
• Lasonen, J. (2001). Työpaikat oppimisympäristöinä: työpaikkajohtajien, opiskelijoiden, työpaikkaohjaajien ja opettajien arviot Silta-hankkeen (2+1) kokeilun kokemuksista. [Workplaces as learning environments. Impact of on-the-job training on networking and students' learning in the Bridge project (2+1 Experiment).] Helsinki: Opetushallitus.
• Mulder, R., Kahmann, K., Laubenbacher, S., & Messmann, G. (2006, October). Characteristics of learning environments in secondary vocational education and the relation with work identity. Paper presented at the EARLI SIG Professional Learning and Development Conference, Heerlen, the Netherlands.
• Pintrich, P. (2004). A conceptual framework for assessing motivation and self-regulated learning in college students. Educational Psychology Review 16(4), 385-407.
• Tynjälä, P., Salminen, R..T., Sutela, T., Nuutinen, A., & Pitkänen, S. (2005). Factors related to study success in engineering education. European Journal of Engineering Education 30(2), 221-231.

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Päivi Tynjälä, University of JyväskyläPaper #383 - "Vocational students motivation and perceived success in workplace learning" - ECER 2008 session_7c