The Complexity of Vocational Education and Training Services: A Survey Instrument

Abstract

This paper focuses on the complexity of vocational education and training (VET) services in an international context, a novel concept up to the present. To capture the complexity of this kind of service, a survey instrument adequate for the purpose is needed. Therefore, the complexity assessment model based on Blockus is used, which focuses on the input, potentials, and output of services. This model was adapted for International VET services and supplemented with a new complexity dimension with three associated complexity forms. The resulting model was validated with reference to nine projects from the funding line "Internationalization of Vocational Education and Training" (IBB) of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), which addresses, among other subjects, the demand-oriented development and model implementation of education and training services for international markets. In order to validate the complexity assessment model, qualitative and quantitative data regarding the nine selected projects of the IBB funding line will be used in the form of secondary analyses and analysed by using document analyses and qualitative content analyses. In summary, the complexity assessment model, which is supplemented by the dimension of transfer complexity, is suitable for assessing and surveying complexity in the context of international vocational training services, but requires additional validation and adaptation in the context of further research.