Study On The Development Of A Work-Integrated Learning Curriculum

It has always been a common goal for countries around the world to match talents cultivation in vocational schools with requirements of industries and enterprises in the hope of equipping graduates with the capabilities to serve economic and social development.A key approach employed by most countries to realize that goal is to begin with curriculum reform and to focus on curriculum development and its application.Therefore,three curriculum models were introduced to vocational education in China,and for the past 30 years,researchers in that area have been studying and adjusting the models to meet local needs.The three models are “Modules of Employable Skills(MES)” of the International Labour Organization,“Competency-based Education(CBE)” in Canada and other North America countries,and “Learning Fields” in German.The research and application of those models reveals some findings.MES is primarily aimed at vocational training.CBE analyzes the content of competency rather than the forming of competency.“Learning Fields” specifies the integration of theories and practices to master knowledge in the working process;however,being a model coined under the context of the “dual system” of vocational education and training in German,it should be improved to suite China's conditions,instead of being borrowed directly,when a functioning system of school-enterprise cooperation has not yet formed in China.The curriculum reform in technical schools is deeply influenced by the pilot reform program of “work-integrated learning curriculums and teaching” led by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security(MOHRSS)in 2009,in which 30 technical schools chosen to participate.Upon the completion of the program in 2013,MOHRSS stipulated and issued two documents,“A National Guide for the Compilation of the Standards of Skilled Talents Cultivation” and “Technical regulations on the standardized development of integrated curriculums(trial)”,along with a technical path to the development of work-integrated learning curriculums.Those documents accord with the requirements of skilled talents cultivation and the features of technical school management.However,after a careful reading of the above documents,the author found that,although under the guidance of the technical path mentioned in the documents technical schools nationwide can develop integrated curriculums for different majors,details about compilation requirements,development process and development technology are not provided.Concrete methods and technical keys concerning some critical steps in the process(including industry and corporation surveys,interviews with experts in industrial practice,selection of work-tasks and typical ones,descriptions of typical work tasks,transition into a work-integrated learning curriculum,the compilation of the standards of integrated curriculums,and assessment and evaluation)are not mentioned.In addition,the outcome from each step is not identified.All these issues lead to difficulties in developing a work-integrated learning curriculum for computer networking major.When the difficulties concerning main technical keys are tackled with,the development process will be carried out smoothly,and the outcome of the development will conform to the career development patterns of skilled talents,and those talents will also develop comprehensive vocational competency.Thus,talents cultivation will match the requirements of industries and enterprises.Under the guidance of the technical path in the documents issued by MOHRSS,through the practice in the development of a work-integrated learning curriculum for computer networking major and on the basis of the wildly-utilized design-based research paradigm,this research completes the technical path to the development of work-integrated learning curriculums and defines technical keys to critical steps in the process of curriculum development,by advancing a theory based on the experience in the practice.In addition to the chapters of introduction,research conclusions and further studies,there are five chapters in the body of this dissertation.The first chapter is a literature review of relevant studies both home and abroad and an analysis of the application of the three curriculum models in China over the past 30 years.The second chapter introduces a theoretical framework for the development of a work-integrated learning curriculum,along with the theoretical foundation of curriculum development,which include action-oriented teaching,constructivism learning,vocational education curriculum and teaching.The third chapter presents a contrast between typical curriculum models and their development technology,analyzing the model of a work-integrated learning curriculum and a technical path to make it meet the requirements of talents cultivation in technical schools.The development process of a work-integrated learning curriculum is included in the fourth chapter,with the practice of the curriculum development for computer networking major as a case study,in the hope of finding solutions to difficulties in the critical steps of the process.The fifth chapter concludes the research on the development technology of a work-integrated learning curriculum,and summarizes the technical keys to the critical steps in the process of curriculum development.In the conclusions,this research has presented two findings.First,a work-integrated learning curriculum for the computer networking major is proposed,including an overall objective for talents cultivation,an objective for the cultivation of talents of various levels,a list of courses and learning tasks,teaching plans,curriculum standards,suggestions for curriculum implementation.This curriculum serves as a talents cultivation scheme for the computer networking major.Second,technical keys to the critical steps in the process of curriculum development are summarized,including the technical keys to industry and corporation surveys,interviews with experts in industrial practice,descriptions of typical work tasks,transition into a work-integrated learning curriculum and the compilation of the standards of an integrated curriculum.The path to skilled talents cultivation,and suggestions for assessment and evaluation are also put forward.The development of this curriculum can be of guidance for the curriculum development of other majors in technical schools.