General Issue
Studies indicate that career academics do not benefit all students. This is because the administrators fail to determine the programs that suit each student (Nightingale & Holzer, 2007). It is true that career academics increase the individuals’ knowledge and skills; however, not all the students may apply the knowledge since every student embraces his/her learning styles (Nightingale & Holzer, 2007). From the research outcomes, it is clear that 70 percent of students can learn best in the traditional setting.
This implies that those students who can discover best in career academics are 30 percent (Nightingale & Holzer, 2007). Students do not learn well in career academics because the education lacks the appropriate context. The 70 percent who cannot learn best in the career academics can improve if the education is in context. For students who do best in career academics, the labor market may not present motivation for them. Instead, some of them may still benefit from the traditional setting (Nightingale & Holzer, 2007).
Legislators and taxpayers are currently calling for better quality education The traditional setting can be helpful to students who want to work directly after school (Maclean, Wilson & Chinien, 2009). This may not be the same for career academics since one will have to go for practical training before working. This is because, in the traditional setting, learning is more directly connected to the workplace compared to career learning (Maclean, Wilson & Chinien, 2009).
Additionally, the traditional settings have been proved to be better than career learning because, in career academics, there lack of widespread and genuine supports from the educators in developing and executing necessary curriculum (Maclean, Wilson & Chinien, 2009).
Career academic is books oriented unlike the traditional method, which involves active learning in different contexts (Hernandes-Gantes, Blank & Blank, 2008).
The traditional setting is not teacher-centered like the career academics, but it is student-centered; hence, learners are given chances to develop themselves. Since the career academics are more teacher-centered, students do not have the chance to become very creative (Hernandes-Gantes, Blank & Blank, 2008).
Additionally, career academics focus on the achievements of students in class, unlike the traditional settings, which focus on the development of the learners. Hence, the traditional setting ensures that students are developed, and this will enable them to perform better in the workplace than the students who went through the career academics. The traditional setting favors formative assessment with feedback unlike career development, which favors summative assessments. The formative assessment with feedback enables the students to upgrade certain ways of performing tasks (Hernandes-Gantes, Blank & Blank, 2008).
Problem
In career academics, unlike the traditional setting, learners only focus on passing exams than the knowledge they get from a course. This happens especially in degree Programs (Kumar, 2008). The passing of exams in the degree institutions does not mean that students acquire the necessary skills and acquaintance for the work environment. This is because some students only memorize the course contents for the purpose of exams, and immediately after doing the exams, they may not remember anything (Kumar, 2008).
Moreover, some students can even cheat in exams. This means that they did not get the course concepts. Students who learn in the traditional settings can do better, in the market since what they learn is directly connected to the workplace (Kumar, 2008). This is because they mostly engage in many practical activities and not just theory. In career academics, the students rely on theory and do not get enough practical knowledge. Practical lessons are very important since they make courses interesting, and they familiarize students with their future work environments (Kumar, 2008).
References
Hernandes-Gantes, M., Blank,W. & Blank, E. (2008). Teaching the English Language Learners in Career and Technical Education Programs. New York: NY. Taylor & Francis.
Holzer, H. & Nightingale, S. (2007). Reshaping the American workforce in a changing economy. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press.
Kumar, A. (2008). Personal, academic and career development in higher education: Souring to Success. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Maclean, R., Wilson, D., & Chinien, C. A. (2009). International handbook of education for the changing world of work: Bridging academic and vocational learning. Dordrecht: Springer.