scholarly journals Big Five Personality Traits Predict Successful Transitions From School to Vocational Education and Training: A Large-Scale Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Désirée Nießen ◽  
Daniel Danner ◽  
Marion Spengler ◽  
Clemens M. Lechner
Author(s):  
Leif Christian Lahn ◽  
Hæge Nore

Context: In this paper, we review and discuss the piloting in Norway of a German methodology for competence diagnostics in vocational education and training: the Competence Development and Assessment in TVET (COMET) project. Our overarching theme is determining to what extent such large-scale assessment systems are valid for international comparisons in this sector. Method: We present the theoretical underpinnings of the COMET model and position our discussion within the broader context of the concept of “professional competence” (berufliche Kompetenz) and methodological guidelines for its measurement. Terminology from psychometrics on “measurement equivalence” is described and serves as a template for identifying challenges in using the Norwegian data for comparative purposes. Our pilot included students and apprentices in health care, industrial mechanics and electricians and was designed as a three-year follow-up study from the second year of upper secondary school through two years of apprenticeship. Each year, a test on professional competence and a context survey were administered. Similar studies have been conducted in Germany, China and South Africa.Results: In line with the results from these countries, the Norwegian participants had low scores, particularly the electricians. However, the diagnostic instrument was sensitive to the development of professional competence, and progress on the assessment was influenced by the quality of the learning support in the companies, as reported by apprentices in the context survey.Conclusions: The COMET platform may be a viable prototype for the development of diagnostic tools, which may support the monitoring of quality factors at different levels and inspire local improvement projects in schools, companies and training offices. Such an objective would be in line with the latest summaries of the COMET project, in which its contribution to a model for international large-scale assessment is toned down and replaced by a stronger emphasis on its potential for measuring competence development, evaluating contextual factors and generating data for didactic innovations.


Author(s):  
Ellen Beate Hellne-Halvorsen ◽  
Leif Christian Lahn ◽  
Hæge Nore

AbstractThis article analyzes the writing competence of Norwegian students and apprentices in three professions: Healthcare, industrial mechanics and electricians. The research forms part of a large-scale assessment project in vocational education and training (VET). A subset of 108 written test-answers were subjected to an explorative analysis focusing on generic and professional writing competencies. A more text-based and trans-contextual working life for many professions requires not only profession-specific communicative competency, but also a stronger engagement in generic literacy practices. The need for written communication with customers, clients and colleagues across workplaces and countries has increased and the use of understandable language when communicating with non-peers is required. In the study, we found that the generic writing competency declined during apprenticeship, but on the other hand that the use of professional-specific terminology increased. We also found that writing competence seemed to be contextualized according to different traditions, text cultures and discourses across the three professions. The article questions the prevalence of text-based examinations in VET and analytical categories for measuring writing competence that do not take into account a multimodal character of professional communication.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 124-132
Author(s):  
Marc-André Bédard ◽  
Yann Le Corff

Abstract. This replication and extension of DeYoung, Quilty, Peterson, and Gray’s (2014) study aimed to assess the unique variance of each of the 10 aspects of the Big Five personality traits ( DeYoung, Quilty, & Peterson, 2007 ) associated with intelligence and its dimensions. Personality aspects and intelligence were assessed in a sample of French-Canadian adults from real-life assessment settings ( n = 213). Results showed that the Intellect aspect was independently associated with g, verbal, and nonverbal intelligence while its counterpart Openness was independently related to verbal intelligence only, thus replicating the results of the original study. Independent associations were also found between Withdrawal, Industriousness and Assertiveness aspects and verbal intelligence, as well as between Withdrawal and Politeness aspects and nonverbal intelligence. Possible explanations for these associations are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Dionigi

Abstract. In recent years, both professional and volunteer clowns have become familiar in health settings. The clown represents a peculiar humorist’s character, strictly associated with the performer’s own personality. In this study, the Big Five personality traits (BFI) of 155 Italian clown doctors (130 volunteers and 25 professionals) were compared to published data for the normal population. This study highlighted specific differences between clown doctors and the general population: Clown doctors showed higher agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness, and extraversion, as well as lower neuroticism compared to other people. Moreover, specific differences emerged comparing volunteers and professionals: Professional clowns showed significantly lower in agreeableness compared to their unpaid colleagues. The results are also discussed with reference to previous studies conducted on groups of humorists. Clowns’ personalities showed some peculiarities that can help to explain the facility for their performances in the health setting and that are different than those of other groups of humorists.


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