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The effects of portfolio-based advice on the development of self-directed learning skills in secondary vocational education

Educational Technology Research and Development volume 57, pages 439–460 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

This experimental study was designed to investigate whether supervision meetings, in which students receive specific advice on how to use a development portfolio to monitor their progress and plan their future learning, helps them to develop self-directed learning skills and improve their learning in the domain. In the first year of a hairdressing program in vocational education, supervision meetings were used to provide students with either specific advice or not. Students in the advice group (n = 21) formulated better learning needs, selected more suitable learning tasks, completed more practical assignments, and acquired more certificates than students in the feedback-only group (n = 22). Interviews also showed that students in the advice group appreciated the supervision meeting more and perceived them as more effective than students in the feedback-only group. Guidelines are provided for the use of development portfolios and the organization of supervision meetings in on-demand vocational education.

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Acknowledgment

This research project is funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO, The Hague, project no. 411-03-202).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Learning Sciences and Technologies and Netherlands Laboratory for Lifelong Learning Open University of the Netherlands, P.O. Box 2960, 6401-DL, Heerlen, The Netherlands

    Wendy Kicken, Saskia Brand-Gruwel, Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer & Wim Slot

Authors
  1. Wendy Kicken
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  2. Saskia Brand-Gruwel
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  3. Jeroen J. G. van Merriënboer
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  4. Wim Slot
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Wendy Kicken.

Appendix

Appendix

Table 5 Protocols for supervision meetings in both conditions
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Kicken, W., Brand-Gruwel, S., van Merriënboer, J.J.G. et al. The effects of portfolio-based advice on the development of self-directed learning skills in secondary vocational education. Education Tech Research Dev 57, 439–460 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-009-9111-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-009-9111-3

Keywords

  • Self-directed learning
  • Advice
  • Development portfolio
  • On-demand education
  • Secondary vocational education and training