For over two decades now, the application of Citizen Science to Education has been evolving, and fundamental topics, such as the drivers of motivation to participate in Citizen Science projects, are still under discussion. Some recent developments, though, like the use of Artificial Intelligence to support data collection and validation, seem to…

The mid-term evaluation of the Partnership for ODFL in the Pacific Project was commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning to examine the initial two years of the five-year activity. The evaluation was undertaken by Standard of Proof, the MFAT MERL panel, providing specialist services in monitoring, evaluation, measurement and research and…

This study analyses the theoretical cost-savings that might flow from a merger of three of Western Australia's five universities. The results of the study show that an amalgamation would not only reduce costs of operation, but also improve non-current asset use and accountability. Combination reporting also allows the key stakeholders to appraise…

Internationally, the delivery of vocational education and training is being challenged by increasing skills shortages in certain industries and/or rapidly changing skill requirements. To respond to this challenge, rigid and centralised state bureaucracies are increasingly adopting partnerships between schools and industry as a strategy to…

The term "partnership" is increasingly used by governments, industry, community organisations and schools in supporting their daily businesses. Similar to the terms "ICT" and "learning," "partnerships" are now ubiquitous in policy discourse. Yet, the term remains ill-defined and ambiguous. This study reviews…

The key drivers of technical and further education (TAFE) institutes' systems for monitoring and evaluating effectiveness and efficiency are accountability for government funding, compliance with legislation and quality assurance requirements. The need to supplement government funding with commercial income requires institutes to understand the…

Data envelopment analysis, which is designed to assist in identifying best practice performance in the use of resources among a group of like organizations, was used to estimate the technical and scale efficiency of vocational education and training in 25 New Zealand polytechnics serving a total of 94,201 students. The polytechnics' efficiency was…

Recent Australian research provides a solid body of evidence that training investments can yield very high levels of returns for firms across a range of sectors. It highlights these important factors about returns on investment (ROI): ROI come in many forms; immediate ROI are highest when training is highly focused; measuring ROI is not always…

This three-volume report provides a comprehensive picture of the vocational education and training system in Australia, its key policies, initiatives undertaken and achievements during 1999. This publication is composed of volumes 1 and 2. Volume 3 is available separately. Volume 1, National Overview, describes the national vocational education…