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National training packages have become the mandated framework for course delivery in Australia’s vocational education and training sector. Each training package contains: qualifications that can be issued, industry‐derived competencies, and assessment guidelines but do not contain an endorsed curriculum component or learning outcomes. All public and private vocational education and training providers must use training packages, or industry‐endorsed competencies in cases where they do not exist, if they are to receive public funding for their programs. This article describes the operation of Australia’s national training packages and considers some of their strengths and weaknesses, many of which may be shared by similar systems elsewhere. Argues that training packages may result in poorer student learning outcomes, and that they may threaten the end of effective credit transfer between the vocational education and training and higher education sectors. Suggests that national training packages are not a good model for other countries and that Australia’s current vocational education and training policy needs to be reviewed.

This article looks at the part played by programmed instruction and packaged training in preparing British industry — in particular the service industries — for the change to decimal currency. The change to the new currency was a non‐event, and was marked by the withdrawal from circulation twelve months before the original date of the old penny and threepenny piece. The almost complete absence of confusion and ill‐feeling on the part of the public derived to a great extent from the attitude and skill of the front‐line troops: the bus conductors, bank and GPO counter clerks, supermarket checkout girls and all those others involved in the critical tasks of cash‐handling, numerical recording and change giving. No doubt some people ascribed this achievement to the inherent ability of the British to keep a stiff upper lip in a crisis. As it happened there was no call for the Dunkirk spirit. Instead, most staff performed their duties with pre D‐Day assurance and efficiency. They were able to do so because they were well motivated and well trained. Administratively the training exercise had been, of necessity, massive. Moreover as a training problem decimalisation was unique in that there were no experienced practitioners in the subject matter. However, the trainers overcame all the problems. And it is our contention that where they did so to the best effect they succeeded by the use of training schemes and materials which were based upon the principles of programmed instruction. Such schemes may not all have included materials recognisably influenced by what one writer has called ‘the dreaded frame syndrome’! None the less — as will be shown — they were programmed in a clearly observable sense. Furthermore a study of the most comprehensive and carefully structured packages suggests, a priori, certain conclusions about the use of the media in large‐scale training which may be of general application.

The purpose of this paper is to present a training package which was delivered to improve staff members’ knowledge and confidence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disabilities (ID).

The training was facilitated in a locked rehabilitation unit for adult males, many of whom had diagnoses of ASD and/or ID. With all staff receiving an invite, 25 attended which was the majority of the staff team. This included staff from housekeeping, nursing and catering.

To evaluate the effectiveness of the training, a survey and short assessment was administered before and after training. This revealed an improvement in both perceived knowledge and confidence of ASD and ID, as well as actual knowledge. Follow-up interviews also revealed some evidence of sustained learning and practice changes.

Based on these findings, it is recommended that further face-to-face training is delivered at this locked rehabilitation unit to further improve professional practice.

This paper provides value to other inpatient settings as it highlights to practitioners how face-to-face training can significantly improve staff members knowledge and confidence of developmental disorders.

The purpose of this project was to develop a web‐based self‐training package for information retrieval using the distance education approach.

The package was developed using the distance education approach with STOU Plan, STOU Plan 2000 and GMS‐VU applied. The distance education model for the web‐based self‐training package was composed of five stages: identifying the learners, design of the package, production of the package, establishing the delivery system, and evaluation. The system development methodology was based on the system development lifecycle (SDLC) with a combination of waterfall, phased and prototyping approaches. There are several phase in SDLC to carry out: problem and objective identification, requirement determination, requirement analysis, package design, package implementation, delivery system and evaluation. Evaluation of the package was conducted in two phases: formative evaluation and summative evaluation using the focus group discussion method. Formative evaluation was conducted during the package development by experts in the field prior to the summative evaluation. The summative evaluation was conducted after the package development had been completed as a pilot study for field trial by target users, consisting of junior library staff and library users. All comments were reviewed and refined in terms of instructional content, design, overall opinion and learning progress before put on production.

The package consists of three main components: About the project, Study modules, References and further readings. Study modules, which is the most important component, consists of ten instructional modules focusing on information retrieval, and self‐assessment through pre‐test and post‐test. The package includes multimedia such as images and sound to attract learners during their learning session. The delivery mode for the self‐training package offers both online and off‐line modes. Online mode is offered when there is network facility and internet connection available, while offline mode is offered through CD‐ROM without requiring network and internet connection. The features and functions of both modes are identical. Moreover, print materials are also included as supplementary media.

Since the module is a self‐directed learning or self‐training tool in information retrieval it can be employed for junior library staff and library users; it provides a training tool for librarians to train library users and supports human resource and development to narrow digital divides and support the right to access information.

The purpose of this paper is to outline the development of a training package for service users and carers with an interest in NHS health and social care research. It demonstrates how the developers used their unique experience and expertise as service users and carers to inform their work.

Service users and carers, NHS Research and Development Forum working group members, supported by health professionals, identified a need for research training that was tailored to other service user and carer needs. After reviewing existing provision and drawing on their training and support experience, they developed a training package. Sessions from the training package were piloted, which evaluated positively. In trying to achieve programme accreditation and training roll-out beyond the pilots, the group encountered several challenges.

The training package development group formed good working relationships and a co-production model that proved sustainable. However, challenges were difficult to overcome owing to external factors and financial constraints.

Lessons learnt by the team are useful for other service users and carer groups working with health service professionals. Training for service users and carers should be designed to meet their needs; quality and consistency are also important. The relationships between service user and carer groups, and professionals are important to understanding joint working. Recognising and addressing challenges at the outset can help develop strategies to overcome challenges and ensure project success.

The training package was developed by service users and carers for other service users and carers. Their unique health research experience underpinned the group’s values and training development.

In the former Yugoslavian republics, community nursing services are not well developed to support families with infants who have developmental problems. The purpose of this paper is to design an in-service training package for nurses on supporting families of children with developmental disabilities.

A conceptual framework evolved to guide the design and content of the training package which was further consulted on with local partners. A cascade model of training was adopted, based largely on experiential learning. A nine-session training package (around 20 hours in all) was devised and a Training for Trainers workshop held to prepare them to use the package in their locality. The in-service training of nurses is ongoing during 2014-2015.

Key findings are presented in relation to perceived training needs; the key features of the Training Framework; the content and teaching methods used and the outcomes of the Training for Trainers workshop. Ongoing evaluations will assess the impact of the training on community nurses and on families.

This study provides a conceptual model for the provision of effective in-service training on developmental disabilities for community personnel throughout the region and internationally.

Presents a perspective on vocational learning that proposes that vocational competence is dependent upon dispositional development, which in turn, results in moves towards maturation. Reports research with unemployed adults engaging in vocational training and resulting in four findings. First, while training packages describe assessable outcomes in competency‐referenced terms, trainees describe learning outcomes in non‐competency referenced terms. Second, vocational trainees describe their learning in terms of dispositional outcomes; that is, in terms of values, interests and attitudes. Third, dispositions can be categorised in terms of maturational concepts. Fourth, trainees made moves towards maturation as a result of CBT/NEIS training over the six‐week period of the course. The findings have important ramifications for all future VET/CBT trainees since it is the researcher's formative theory that maturation is a subset of competence in every vocational skill domain.

The concept of packaged training is quite new. A typical training package consists of films, transparencies, slides, tapes and so on, supported by printed materials. Not all these different media of presentation are to be found in any one package; just that selection which will present the material in its optimal form. Sound films are usually a must, the printed matter invariably so; the element of choice normally centres round the method of projecting the still pictures, charts and tabulated matter.

The purpose of this paper is to look at how customer input was used in a front‐end needs assessment to formulate a training package that covered the necessary elements of product use, and how the training material was presented in a manner best suited for the trainees and their perceived needs.

A quasi‐experimental study was designed to compare the number of help desk calls for groups trained using the needs‐based training approach with the number of help desk calls from the most recent training groups that were trained with the standard training package.

Groups trained using a training package developed around their initial perceived needs had significantly fewer help desk calls than those who received the standard training. The number of help desk calls was reduced by over 75 percent from previous training sessions.

Verification of transfer of training in other applications, with other products and other learner groups, would further validate that the needs‐based training approach is more effective.

All reasonable effort that can lead to more effective training will improve the customer's overall perception of the organization and will contribute to customer retention. Both customer satisfaction and retention are critical elements in the ongoing success of any company.

The demonstration of effectiveness and the utilization of assessment data for continuous improvement may have both practical and legal implications for the future; including enhancing customer satisfaction and retention, and reducing the likelihood of successful legal claims for negligence, particularly negligent training.

Suicide prevention is a priority issue in HM Prison Service of England and Wales. Past training in this area has concentrated on the completion of paperwork over direct interactions with suicidal people. HM Prison Service commissioned STORM, a training scheme focusing on interviewing skills and the identification of risk factors, successfully used in community health settings, piloted it in five prisons and retained it as part of its compulsory training for prison assessors of suicide risk. Although from spring 2007 STORM will no longer be compulsory, its impact has been shown in plans for future development of training.