Improving the validity and reliability of authentic assessment in seafarer education and training: a conceptual and practical framework to enhance resulting assessment outcomes

Past literature on authentic assessment suggests that it provides a far more reliable and valid indicator of outcomes such as higher student engagement, ability to transfer skills to different contexts, multiple evidence of competence, and student performance. This has appeal in seafarer education and training where both students and employers increasingly perceive traditional assessment methods as failing to consistently generate these outcomes. However, this paper argues that improving different aspects of assessment validity and reliability is essentially required to enhance the outcomes identified above. The paper builds on and extends previous work to investigate and develop a conceptual and practical framework that promotes a holistic approach to authentic assessment that provides greater assurances of validity and reliability throughout all stages of assessment within seafarer programs. It also lays the path to future research directions by establishing the agenda to test the practicality of the framework in the authentic assessment of seafarer students and also investigate the impact of students’ perception of increasing authenticity on performance scores in assessment tasks.     

Ports and shipping in Mozambique: current concerns and policy options

This paper explores the current state of ports and shipping in Mozambique, and reviews it in the context of a past history of civil war followed by radical macro-economic adjustment, and more recent concerns and debates around the deregulation and privatization of the transport industry. More specifically, it addresses the key issue of the relationship between shipping and both broader and local economic development, taking account of the needs of major industry and the need to sustain local livelihoods. It reveals that the situation in Mozambique is a product of both local and global pressures, moulded by economic and political forces. It further indicates that, while there are now positive opportunities for coastal shipping, the capacity for developing inland shipping appears to be very limited. Future growth consequently depends on local participation, training and skills development and the broader social, economic, and transport infrastructure.     

Employability skills of maritime business graduates: industry perspectives

The maritime industry underpins international business and world trade. As to be expected, business management is critical for the maritime industry, requiring highly trained individuals and teams to lead the development, implementation and control of sound contemporary management practices. Maritime business degrees are developed by universities to meet such demand by providing graduates with sufficient skills for the onshore business-related roles. This empirical study conducted in Australia, USA and Canada, investigates current and future industry employability skills for maritime business graduates through focus groups, individual interviews and an online survey with senior managers in maritime organisations. This study found the important employability skills for maritime business graduates which include communication, problem solving, adaptability, self-management, team work, and digital literacy and technology. Demand for digital literacy and technology knowledge and skills have increased due to the maritime industry having a trend of moving towards digitalisation and automation. However, the survey findings revealed that a skills focus for maritime business graduates will not be the technology itself but the use and management of technology. In relation to future skills/knowledge required from maritime business degree graduates in 10 years’ time, communication and adaptability are recognised as being the most important. Employers expect that maritime business graduates should be able to adopt new technology and be competent in communication, and be more adaptable given the highly dynamic nature of the maritime industry. Moreover, they require graduates to be equipped with a higher level of computer skills, have a strong work ethic and multilingual skills.     

Authentic assessment in seafarer education: using literature review to investigate its validity and reliability through rubrics

With the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping Convention 1995 (STCW’95) moving seafarer training towards outcome-based education (OBE), emphasis has shifted to assessment practices that will allow seafarer students to demonstrate their ability to perform workplace tasks at standards described in the STCW Code. This paper argues that authentic assessment comprising of performance-based tasks applied in real-world and meaningful contexts can provide a holistic approach to competence assessment for seafarers. But, authentic assessment can capture essential aspects of workplace tasks and result in consistency of student performance in different contexts only if they are valid and reliable. Rubrics as assessment tools are known to increase validity and reliability of assessments; however, it can do so only if different aspects of its own validity and reliability have been addressed. A literature review undertaken for this paper has uncovered an absence of academic investigation and empirical study on the different aspects of validity and reliability of authentic assessment through assessment rubrics. Moreover, there exists an even greater absence of global research on authentic assessment in the area of seafarer training. Through an investigation of authentic assessment, this research has uncovered the importance of using valid and reliable rubrics in order to improve not only the assessment process but also the tools and methods used to support the valid, reliable, and authentic assessment of outcomes achieved in the learning process. Future research aims to offer insights into improving the validity and reliability of rubrics and to empirically investigate how they can be used in authentic assessment within the confines of the STCW Code, in particular, to improve seafarer training practices, student engagement, resulting learning outcomes, and employer and regulator satisfaction with the attainment of the standards stipulated in the STCW Code to produce an evidence of competence.     

国家级高职数控技术实训基地建设的思考与实践

随着高职教育的改革和发展,实训基地的作用越来越重要.文中结合湖南工业职业技术学院国家高职高专实训基地建设实践,提出实训基地建设的指导思想、建设原则、功能定位、实训项目与设备配置,并对数控技术实训基地建设进行了思考和探索性研究.     

操作与悬挂工况下的深海立管有限元分析(英文)

近年来,在深海进行油气开发的技术进展日新月异,全世界的海洋工程公司都在用更新的科技手段努力向更深的海域拓展,向深海进军已经成为了整个海洋行油工业的总体趋势.作为连接、平台设备和海底的重要设备,深海海洋立管的设计和使川也越来越趋向标准化.该文以某深海立管为例,从操作工况和悬挂工况两个方面探讨了钻井立管的整体分析中遇到的主要问题并进行了相关的校核.该文的具体上作包括计算了立管在钻探模态下的旋转角度和应力分布,确定了操作半径、浮箱数日等要素,并根据API规范进行了校核.根据计算的结果可以看出,所选的立管在恶劣海况下的操作半径相对较小,而确定的浮箱数略多,相关结论对立管的初步设计具有较好的参考意义.     

Shipper's councils: role and responsibility—a western view

Traditionally, liner markets have been seen as dominated by conferences on the seller side, facing small, unorganized shippers onn the buyers' side. This perceived asymmetry has greatly influenced conference legislation in North America (and more recently in the E.U.) and it has been deemed essential that government should regulate conference activities in order to curb any abuse of 'conference power'. In this view, shipowners and shippers are adversaries engaged in a zero-sum battle over transport costs rather than potential or actual partners in global distribution systems. This paper suggests that in today's global markets much can be achieved by cooperationn in the development of logistics systems and that shipowners and shippers may have much to gain from such cooperative alliances. A survey of shippers' councils in 1991-1992 demonstrates the diversity and increasing sophistication of many national shippers' councils, which devote themselves to the task of improving markets through education and the legislative process. The situation in the U.S.A. is different: for legal reasons, conventional shippers' councils do not exist. Instead, 'shippers' associations' play a commercial role in liner markets. It is suggested that European style shippers' councils can and should play an important role in the development and formulation of policies for internatinal liner markets. Such participation requires a cooperative industry environment quite different from the traditional adversarial approach, which is ill suited to global trade and logistics alliances.     

绿色船舶的营运选择(英文)

Environmental issues and rising fuel prices necessitate better energy-efficiency in all sectors.The shipping industry is one of the major stakeholders,responsible for 3% of global CO2 emissions,14%-15% of global NOX emissions,and 16% of global SOX emissions.In addition,continuously rising fuel prices are also an incentive to focus on new ways for better energy-effectiveness.The green ship concept requires exploring and implementing technology on ships to increase energy-efficiency and reduce emissions.Ship operation is an important topic with large potential to increase cost-and-energy-effectiveness.This paper provided a comprehensive review of basic concepts,principles,and potential of operational options for green ships.The key challenges pertaining to ship crew i.e.academic qualifications prior to induction,in-service training and motivation were discussed.The author also deliberated on remedies to these challenges.     

Simulators in bridge operations training and assessment: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis

This article presents a systematic review and qualitative synthesis of the use of simulators in maritime education and training (MET), with a focus on bridge operations during navigation training and assessment. The review found 34 articles published in a wide range of academic journals, displaying a global field of research consisting of three main disciplines: Maritime professionals (n = 15), Human factors (n = 13) and Education (n = 6). An important conclusion made after synthesising the results of the studies is that while the potential of using simulators in training and assessment are clear, little is known about which instructional practices would ensure valid and reliable results of simulator-based education. Since MET institutions train their students for one of the most safety-critical industries in the world, there is a need for empirical studies that explore the use of simulator-based training and assessment further to lay the foundation for an evidence-based educational practice.     

关于职工教育培训的实践与创新

坚持以人为本,求真务实,锐意创新,加大职工培训投入,不断完善培训机制,改进培训方式,提高培训质量,走具有自身特点的教育培训之路。做好教育培训工作,大力开发教育培训,参与和应对入世后围绕人才展开的激烈竞争,已成为事关海事前途和命运的一项迫切任务     

Key technology of ship product data exchange based on STEP

In this paper, in order to implement the share and exchange of the ship product data, a new kind of global function model is established. By researching on the development and trend of the application of ship STEP （ standard for the exchange of product model data） standards, the AIM （application interpreted model） of AP216 is developed and improved as an example, aiming at the characteristics and practical engineering of ship industry in our country. The data exchange interfaces are formed based on STEP in the CAD/CAM for the ship by all function modules and shared databases under the global function model. The share and exchange of all information and data are solved in the design, manufacture and all life-cycle of ship products among different computer application systems. The research work makes foundation for the ship industry informatization.     

Competition in ship handling: a study of market turbulence in North European harbour towage

This paper addresses the issues of an increasingly competitive towage industry in Northern European ports. Enhanced competitiveness reflects the trends in the global mobility of capital, labour, enterprise and management within the context of deregulated port markets. Up until the early 1990s, the long term trend in major North European ports had been towards market concentration. Many small towage firms have been taken-over, bought out or merged. Alternatively, a pattern of consortia has emerged with co-operation and market sharing seen as preferable to ruinous competition. A contrasting trend has occurred in the 1990s, with new entrants into hitherto stable markets. In a number of ports—Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Southampton, Thamesport, Bristol Channel—new fleets have brought competitive challenge to the incumbent towage fleets. The process of enhanced competitiveness raises questions of safety, reliability, investment and professionalism. The movement towards an openly competitive shipping industry has been in evidence from the 1960s onwards. The momentum of a dynamic shipping industry, with its competitiveness sharpened by the use of global supply factors, has intensified from that period. The movement in European tonnage towards flags of convenience and global labour supplies began in the tanker and bulk carrier markets; more recently this has spread to deep sea liner, short sea and even cabotage trade shipping. The towage industry is the last North European shipping sector to make this transition, following the trends towards port deregulation in the 1990s. From this perspective, this paper considers the impact on the towage market of global mobility and deregulation in North European towage markets—the impact of increased competition on the traditional operators and the likely effect on operational towage standards.     

Competition in ship handling: a study of market turbulence in North European harbour towage

This paper addresses the issues of an increasingly competitive towage industry in Northern European ports. Enhanced competitiveness reflects the trends in the global mobility of capital, labour, enterprise and management within the context of deregulated port markets. Up until the early 1990s, the long term trend in major North European ports had been towards market concentration. Many small towage firms have been taken-over, bought out or merged. Alternatively, a pattern of consortia has emerged with co-operation and market sharing seen as preferable to ruinous competition. A contrasting trend has occurred in the 1990s, with new entrants into hitherto stable markets. In a number of ports Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Southampton, Thamesport, Bristol Channel new fleets have brought competitive challenge to the incumbent towage fleets. The process of enhanced competitiveness raises questions of safety, reliability, investment and professionalism. The movement towards an openly competitive shipping industry has been in evidence from the 1960s onwards. The momentum of a dynamic shipping industry, with its competitiveness sharpened by the use of global supply factors, has intensified from that period. The movement in European tonnage towards flags of convenience and global labour supplies began in the tanker and bulk carrier markets; more recently this has spread to deep sea liner, short sea and even cabotage trade shipping. The towage industry is the last North European shipping sector to make this transition, following the trends towards port deregulation in the 1990s. From this perspective, this paper considers the impact on the towage market of global mobility and deregulation in North European towage markets the impact of increased competition on the traditional operators and the likely effect on operational towage standards.     

Crew resource management training in the maritime industry: a literature review

The study is based on a literature review of recent empirical research on crew resource management (CRM) training in the maritime industry, organised around what non-technical skills to learn and how. The review indicates that existing work is dominated by individualistic theories of learning with less focus on learning as a social process. Five main categories of skills that need to be trained are identified: assertiveness, decision-making, communication, situation awareness and team coordination. We argue that it is necessary to operationalise these broad concepts further, emphasising the work context and crew-specific needs. The review also shows that a combination of classroom lectures and simulator-based exercises is commonly used in maritime education and training in these skills. The learning effect seems to be suffering from training programmes that are exported ‘as is’ from aviation and not adjusted to the maritime domain or to operation-specific needs. This paper examines maritime crew resource management training from a social learning perspective, involving the view that learning is a context bound, social process that might take place in communities of practice (CoP). A CoP is a group (e.g. a crew) wherein members share an activity and learn from each other. It is argued that CRM training programmes will benefit from including a social learning perspective. Factors that enable the assessment of teams are discussed, and it is argued that the training should be tailored to existing crews, emphasising a learning environment as close to reality as possible.     

The X-Posse project

X-Posse is a Common Learning Action project that aims to promote green logistics through focused training actions. The goal of X-Posse was to develop two innovative training modules; the topics of the modules are focused on operational and entrepreneurial needs of the modern business. The aim was to get the most of the “suppliers” of research and state-of-the-art work and offer it to the industry. X-Posse envisaged to become one more bridge between the academia and the market. This report outlines the goals and the achievements of this project.     

Insights into the port training of the new European Union member states 1

The establishment and implementation of a training programme requires a training needs assessment (TNA). Without this approach, more often than not, training programmes have failed to succeed and to make such an assessment the instructional designer, i.e. the person in charge for this work, needs to follow a methodology. Unlike the other industries, the port industry has neglected the use of these methodologies, which is shown by the lack of research work published in academic journals. With a view to fill the existing gap, the paper proposes a five-step TNA methodology to be used in the port industry and applies its first three steps to investigate the port training situation in the new European Union member states. To achieve this objective, the paper is structured in the following way: puts the research work into context; addresses the role of ports; presents a port TNA methodology; explains research methodology; addresses port training issues in the new European-member states; and presents conclusions and further comments.     

Maritime liner shipping and the stevedoring industry: market structure and competition strategies

Globalization, liberalization, competition and spatial interaction are significant factors affecting the transformation of manufacturing industries worldwide. In the transportation and logistics industry, however, cooperation is becoming even more critical than competition in determining firms' efficiency. Cooperation has always characterized the liner sector in which strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions have generated twin effects: notable increases in ship size and falls in freight rates. Meanwhile, the stevedoring industry is undergoing privatization-driven consolidation and the emergence of global pure terminal operators. This article focuses on vertical integration between global carriers and terminal operators. We address the following key current issues:

• dedicated terminals as a strategy for cutting costs and controlling integrated transport chains;
• the struggle for supply chain control, involving global carriers versus global terminal operators, driven by financial power and technical and managerial capability.

We close analysing one of the core problems of the market, namely the evolving role of the dedicated terminals. For the pure stevedores they represent an opportunity to secure a cargo, while in the hands of the liners they enable cost stability and the possibility to put pressure on pure terminal operators.     

航海类学生职业素养及职业能力提升研究与实践

考虑船舶配员的多国化趋势、航海新特点以及与目前航海教育培训之间的矛盾,分析探讨在新公约要求下如何培养学生既具有爱岗敬业精神、团队协作、同舟共济等良好的职业习惯,又具有熟练的专业技能和可持续发展能力。     

商务英语专业课程体系改革的探讨

针对高职高专院校的人才培养目标和发展趋势,要求人才培养一定要以能力培养和就业导向为目标,课程的设置必须科学、合理,学生从所开设的课程中要学到实用的理论知识和实践知识,不但要实用,还要够用。所以,商务英语专业决定调整部分课程的设置,进一步优化专业培养方案,理论和实践相结合,进行专业课程改革实践与研究。     

基于HLA的电子对抗训练效果评估系统建设技术研究

军事技术的发展,使得作战样式趋向于高技术条件下多兵种联合作战,对军事训练技术提出了更高的要求,将高层体系结构（HLA）引入训练系统设计是一个必然趋势。针对电子对抗部队训练效果评估的实际需求,基于高层体系结构（HLA）的技术特点,提出了基于HLA的电子对抗训练效果评估系统的体系结构。文章以专业训练评估成员中的雷达对抗评估为例,进行了仿真对象模型设计,应用软件实现分析,阐述了基于HLA系统开发的基本过程,对基于HLA的军事应用系统设计有一定的借鉴意义。