Vocation, Technology & Education

Improving student affairs administration in vocational higher education through digital media: A case study of Shenzhen Polytechnic University

Yajun Liang — 2025-12-30

This case study investigates the digital transformation of student affairs administration in vocational institutions, taking Shenzhen Polytechnic University (SZPU) as a representative example. Grounded in Chickering's student development theory, the research identifies a critical gap: While SZPU's digital platforms strongly support technical competence and career purpose, they offer underdeveloped resources for students' academic, personal, and professional growth. Through a qualitative analysis of institutional documents and a digital audit of SZPU's public platforms—benchmarked against the integrated student services model of Foothill College in California—the study reveals how digital structures currently prioritize administrative and industry-aligned functions over developmental support. In response, the study proposes a localized conceptual model aligning student development principles with the digital ecosystems of vocational higher education. This model adapts Western developmental theory to the Chinese vocational context by integrating core academic, career, and personal development pillars with dedicated modules for ideological and civic education and international exchange, all supported by a centralized digital ecosystem. The findings suggest that intentionally designed digital student affairs platforms, informed by theory and cross-cultural benchmarking, can enhance institutional support, foster student engagement, and advance the quality of holistic education in China's rapidly expanding vocational higher education sector.

VRIOTS: Design and development of an immersive virtual reality platform for Internet of Things education

Mohd Razif Mustapha — 2025-12-30

The integration of virtual reality (VR) into educational settings has shown significant potential in enhancing learning experiences, particularly in complex fields such as Internet of Things (IoT). This paper presents the design and development of VRIOTS, a VR-based learning platform aimed at providing students with hands-on experience in IoT projects without the need for expensive physical hardware. The platform simulates real-world IoT environments, allowing students to interact with virtual devices and systems, thereby improving their understanding, retention, and practical skills. Using an Agile development methodology and iterative user testing with 35 participants, we evaluated learning engagement through a user engagement scale and pre-post knowledge tests. The findings demonstrated significant improvements in knowledge retention, learning engagement, and task completion rate. Moreover, it was shown that VR-based learning not only enhances knowledge retention and student learning engagement but also makes IoT education more accessible and cost-effective. This research highlights the importance of VR in overcoming the limitations of traditional learning methods and preparing students for future careers in the IoT and related fields.

Organizational legitimacy and the disciplinary evolution of Chinese higher education: Historical dilemmas and prospects

Lin Zhu — 2025-12-30

Higher education as a discipline in China has consistently faced a severe legitimacy crisis. To transcend the limitations of static historical narratives in addressing this issue, this study integrated organizational legitimacy theory with Burton Clark's triangle of coordination model to develop a dynamic analytical framework for tracing the construction, contestation, and reconstruction of the disciplinary legitimacy across different historical periods. This framework was employed to systematically reveal the disciplinary developmental trajectory under the interactive forces of the state, the academe, and the market. The findings indicate that the legitimacy of Chinese higher education as a discipline has been constructed primarily in three stages: The initial acquisition of legitimacy (1949-1977), the period of legitimacy expansion and contestation (1978-2010), and the stage of legitimacy reconstruction (2011-present). Chinese higher education as a discipline has long exhibited an unbalanced legitimacy structure, characterized by an overreliance on regulative legitimacy. This imbalance has driven the disciplinary institutional and theoretical dependence on global models, subsequently contributing to its marginalization within global academic discourse. To address current developmental dilemmas, Chinese higher education as a discipline urgently needs to actively promote interdisciplinary integration, strengthen theoretical innovation and autonomy, and enhance its international influence. Only through the coordinated advancement of this threefold strategy can Chinese higher education achieve a breakthrough and sustainable development.

A multilevel analysis of Japan's professional university system: Gaps and alignment across policy, institutional practice, and student experiences

Qiujing Pan — 2025-12-30

In response to Japan's demographic decline and evolving labor market needs, the country's government established professional universities in 2019 as hybrid institutions that integrate academic legitimacy with vocational orientation. This study analyzes the professional university system through a three-level analytical framework that encompasses the macro national policy, meso institutional practice, and micro student experience dimensions, utilizing the Tokyo Information Design Professional University (TID) as a representative case. At the macro level, professional universities were institutionalized under The School Education Act and The Professional University Establishment Standards, characterized by distinctive requirements such as degree conferral, practice-oriented curricula, and faculty with dual qualifications. At the meso level, TID demonstrates a strong implementation of these mandates through extensive internships, project-based learning, and a high proportion of practice-oriented faculty, thus indicating that national policy goals have been effectively achieved and, in certain aspects, exceeded. At the micro level, students acknowledge the university's distinctive, career-focused education; however, their overall satisfaction remains moderate, thereby revealing a gap between institutional distinctiveness and student experience. At the cross-level, there is a strong alignment between national policy and institutional practice macro-meso, whereas the connection between institutional practice and student perception meso-micro remains partial. This study conceptualizes alignment as a dynamic analytical dimension that clarifies how institutional innovation mediates between policy design and educational outcomes. The findings provide theoretical insights into institutional effectiveness and practical implications for advancing vocational higher education reform in Japan and beyond.

Swiss vocational education and training in the digital age: Current state, challenges, and prospects

Yuerong Zhou — 2025-12-30

The emergence of novel and powerful digitalization has transformed society and the economy in significant ways worldwide, and Switzerland is no exception. This article aims to provide a comprehensive and critical review of Swiss vocational education and training (VET) in the digital era, with significant implications for practice and research. A systematic, literature-based investigation was undertaken, and the findings yielded three primary themes: (1) Teachers' digital competence (TDC), (2) policy frameworks for digital VET, and (3) VET and emerging technologies. Based on the evidence we reviewed, we propose implications for the VET policymakers and institutions that are navigating the digital transformation. The findings highlight the necessity of developing comprehensive digital competence frameworks for teachers, integrating emerging technologies into vocational curricula, and addressing structural barriers between academic and vocational pathways. These insights provide actionable strategies for enhancing educational mobility, improving workforce readiness, and creating future-ready VET systems globally with a sustainable perspective.

How a nursing curriculum is responding to societal change: A study from New Zealand

Judith Honeyfield — 2025-12-30

Nursing is a profession that reflects and responds to enormous societal change. This article outlines three key challenges in healthcare around the world and suggests an urgency for nursing curricula and education to revisit some of its fundamental assumptions and messaging for the next generation of graduates. The challenges described here include the way an aging population demographic, a looming health sector workforce shortfall, and an increasingly multicultural population are impacting commentary about the "nurse of the future" in New Zealand. Against this backdrop, we describe a year-long, national, government-funded research project with 46 stakeholder participants to consider how best to prepare nursing students for culturally centered work in older people's healthcare. This mixed-methodology study drew on multiple data sources and particularly valorized narratives offered by 12 participants from a range of ethnicities who shared their experiences of aging, wellness, and healthcare in their later years. Using perspectives from case study design, cultural lens theory, Kaupapa Māori research, and narrative inquiry methodologies, the analysis of our findings revealed five themes related to positivity, language, social justice, cultural practices, and professionalism. The outputs of the project included a number of text and video teaching resources that are currently being disseminated through professional and higher education networks in New Zealand and abroad. While our study is grounded in nursing education, we hope that many of the processes we followed, and the insights gained will be applicable to disciplines outside of healthcare that seek to rethink their development of student thinking and practice.

Constructing a future-skills talent training mechanism for vocational undergraduate fashion design in the age of digital intelligence

Yupei Cao — 2025-12-30

In the age of digital intelligence, supported by the rapid development of artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC) and intelligent manufacturing, the textile and apparel industries are undergoing a comprehensive transformation, moving from traditional manufacturing to data-driven design and intelligent production. These aspects of production are gradually being implemented throughout the fashion industry's value chain, from spinning to retail. Consequently, there is a growing demand for fashion designers who are highly versatile and possess strong digital and innovative skills. This study aims to construct a training mechanism for vocational undergraduate fashion design education. The challenges facing domestic higher vocational education—such as outdated and rigid curricula, similar competency structures, the decline of practical teaching and school-enterprise cooperation, and one-sided evaluation mechanisms—are analyzed in detail. Based on this analysis, a competency framework oriented toward "digital intelligence + future skills" is proposed, as well as a "five-in-one" approach to cultivating fashion design professionals, including the use of artificial intelligence technology in content and teaching-method development, the development of an interdisciplinary curriculum based on cooperation between art and engineering, the creation of authentic school-enterprise co-creation teaching scenes, the digital construction of faculty teams, and the improvement of outcome-based evaluation and skill-certification systems. This provides a theoretical basis and a practical model for the construction of Chinese-style vocational undergraduate fashion design education, along with a "China solution" for the global popularization and application of vocational education.

Bringing refugees into vocational education and training: The challenges of a pre-apprenticeship program for integration in Switzerland

Alexandra Felder — 2025-12-30

This paper examines the evolution of a Pre-Apprenticeship program for Integration (PAI) designed to prepare refugees for vocational education and training (VET) in two French speaking Swiss cantons. Addressing the research questions of "Which aspects have prompted the changes to the structure of PAI" and "What structural and conceptual factors have influenced these changes", the study uses qualitative interviews with PAI experts and document analysis to understand program challenges and adaptations. Results highlight structural differences in program implementation, such as the degree of integration with vocational schools and different models of individual support. Challenges identified include inter-institutional collaboration, communication with companies and addressing the highly varied learning needs of PAI apprentices, particularly in language skills and some specific transversal skills development. Adaptations reflect efforts to balance general skills development with trade-specific knowledge, revealing the complexities of integrating refugees into the Swiss VET system within a short timeframe.

The future of apprenticeships: Higher and often?

Charlynne Pullen — 2025-12-30

Policy changes to apprenticeships in England have focused on meeting the needs of employers, including offering higher apprenticeships and being offered to adults and young people. labor market predictions indicate a reduced need for lower-level skills and a greater need for higher level skills over the next ten years. This paper considers key aspects of labor market demand notably management skills, and skilled workers in both construction and social care, and the apprenticeship offer in those areas. Further, it identifies trends towards apprenticeship pathways and the growth in adults and higher apprenticeships. These combine to conclude that apprenticeship delivery is adapting to labor market demand by offering opportunities to obtain higher level skills and at different times during a career, contributing to our understanding of apprenticeship policy and its links to the labor market.

How can we improve apprenticeship delivery? The results of a national workforce development program

Paul Tully — 2025-12-30

Despite apprenticeships being a UK ministerial priority for further education and skills, in 2022-2023, only one in four apprenticeships were taken by learners aged 16-19, while a majority came from adult learners aged over 25. Partnership work between the Department for Education and the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), which began two years ago, has focused on addressing some of the barriers facing 16-19 year olds, including those related to learner engagement and retention. This paper reflects on the lessons learned from ETF's national Apprenticeship Workforce Development (AWD) program. It discusses both the factors underpinning success in Apprenticeship delivery and impact, and an emerging model of vocational pedagogy for apprenticeship programs.

Modularized vocational training for adults: Supporting entry to skilled employment through guidance in network structures

Bettina Siecke — 2025-12-30

The world of work and therefore companies and employees are increasingly being challenged by megatrends such as a shortage of skilled workers. One important strategy of the federal government in Germany is to increase the proportion of skilled workers. This can be achieved, among other things, with the concept of modularized vocational training for adults by using "partial qualifications". The article explains the aims, functions and actual developments of the concept of "partial qualifications". Based on a literature review and case studies, the question of how guidance regarding partial qualifications takes place will be the focus of the paper. In the second step, preliminary results of an empirical study from a current European Union (EU) project on vocational guidance in networks are presented. Case studies are used to illustrate examples of good practice in guidance in networks.