Qualification - ADVANCED CERTIFICATE IN APPLIED MANAGEMENT (INSTRUCTIONAL & TRAINING SKILLS) C12CN001

How to Learn?

Home Studies in Education, School and College operation and Management

This advanced certificate develops unique and highly valuable skills for workplace trainers, teachers or managers in the field of vocational education; with a particular relevance to both management as it relates to modern and technologically advanced approaches to learning.

It is relevant to both existing teachers, and aspiring educators who wish to break from traditional approaches to education and discover new and more innovative ways of facilitating learning with outcomes that focus on life skills such as networking, problem solving and communicating.

Home Studies in Education, School and College Operation and Management

Education is a huge industry, and one that is increasingly changing -becoming more international, and more focused on the use of electronic communications.

ACS has been a world leader in innovative education for decades, and this course exposes you to much of what we have learned through experience teaching distance and correspondence education across more than 70 countries for more than three decades.

If you are looking to forge a career in entrepreneurial or innovative education; or to develop cutting edge skills and knowledge that will help grow a career in any area of education - this course could be a unique and very valuable foundation for your future.

COURSE STRUCTURE

There are three parts to this course:

1. Foundation Modules (4) develop a capacity to better manage yourself and others in an education context. These modules (Management, Office Practices, Business Operations and Marketing Foundations), though generic in their delivery, are designed to offer lots of opportunity to relate set tasks and assignments to the education context.

2. Stream Modules (3) chosen from the following options:

Instructional Skills
Classroom Delivery Skills
Course Writing/Development
Delivering Distance Education
Educational Psychology

(Choose only three of the above)

3. Workplace Project (200 hrs)

There are different options available to you to satisfy this requirement:

Alternative 1

If you work in the industry that you have been studying; you may submit a reference from your employer, in an effort to satisfy this industry (ie. workplace project) requirement; on the basis of RPL (i.e. recognition for prior learning), achieved through your current and past work experience.

The reference must indicate that you have skills and an awareness of your industry, which is sufficient for you to work in a position of responsibility.

Alternative 2

A one module credit (100 hrs) can be achieved by verifying attendance at a series of industry meetings, as follows:

Meetings may be seminars, conferences, trade shows, committee meetings, volunteer events (e.g. Community working bees), or any other meeting where two or more industry people or people who are knowledgeable about their discipline.
Opportunity must exist for the student to learn through networking, observation and/or interaction with people who know their industry or discipline
A list of events should be submitted together with dates of each attended and times being claimed for each
Documentary evidence must be submitted to the school to indicate support each item on the above list (eg. Receipts from seminars, conference or shows, letters from committee or organisation secretaries or committee members. All such documentation must contain a contact details)

Alternative 3

Credits can be achieved by completing standard modules Workplace Project I, II and/or III

Each of these modules comprises a series of "hands on" PBL projects, designed as learning experiences that involve interaction with the real world. (This approach is based upon tried and proven learning approaches that originated in American universities but are now widely used and respected by academia throughout many countries). See the web site or handbook for more detail.

Alternative 4

If you do not work in the relevant industry, you need to undertake a project as follows.

Procedure for a Workplace Project

This project is a major part of the course involving the number of hours relevant to the course (see above). Although the course does not contain mandatory work requirements, work experience is seen as highly desirable.

This project is based on applications in the work place and specifically aims to provide the student with the opportunity to apply and integrate skills and knowledge developed through various areas of formal study.

Students will design this project in consultation with a tutor to involve industry based activities in the area of specialized study which they select to follow in the course. The project outcomes may take the form of a written report, folio, visuals or a mixture of forms. Participants with relevant, current or past work experience will be given exemption from this project if they can provide suitable references from employers that show they have already fulfilled the requirements of this project.

For courses that involve more than 100 hours, more than one workplace project topic may be selected. For example, 200 hours may be split into two projects each of 100 hours. This will offer the student better scope to fulfill the needs of their course and to meet the number of hours required. Alternatively, the student may wish to do one large project with a duration of 200 hours.

Students will be assessed on how well they achieve the goals and outcomes they originally set as part of their negotiations with their tutor. During each 100 hours of the project, the students will present three short progress reports. These progress reports will be taken into account when evaluating the final submission. The tutor must be satisfied that the work submitted is original.

If the student wishes to do one large 200 hour report, then only three progressive reports will be needed (however the length of each report will be longer).

HOW TO PROCEED?

1. Students are expected to select a suitable project or task to complete that allows the student to apply and integrate the knowledge and skills they have obtained as part of their studies.

2. The student should submit a draft proposal outlining their proposed project, study or task. The expected outcomes of this project should be clearly stated. This will be looked at by a tutor and comments made. Students are welcome to visit the school or to talk to a tutor to obtain advice on how to draw up their proposal. The proposal should indicate what the student intends to do, how they intend to do it, where they intend to do it, and what they expect to produce (e.g. a written report, a folio, references from an employer) as a means of showing what they have achieved during their project/study/task.

3. A refined proposal will be submitted by the student incorporating changes based on the comments made by the tutor. This updated proposal will either be accepted as being suitable or further comments made. The proposal may need to be submitted several times before it is finally accepted.

4. The student will then be expected to carry out the project, study or task.

Progress Reports

The student will be expected to submit three progress reports during the duration of the progress. This is in addition to the final project product (e.g. report, folio). Each progress report should show what you have done so far (e.g. what research you have done, what tasks you have carried out, etc.). It should also cover any problems you have had so far, and if so, what you have done to overcome these problems. Each progress report should be in the vicinity of 300 - 500 words in length.

Progress Report 1.

This should be submitted about one quarter of the way through your study/project/task.

Progress Report 2.

This should be submitted about one half way through your study/project/task.

Progress Report 3.

This should be submitted about three quarters of the way through your study/project/task.

Final Report

This report is to be typed and submitted to the school.

The final report should summarise the objective of the workplace project, and be set out like a professional report.

Although content is the most important factor in determining a pass grade for the workplace project, your report should exhibit elements of professional report writing (in regards to spelling, grammar, clarity and presentation).

Final Report Length

For 100 hours Workplace Projects: this report should be about 1,500 to 3,000 words.

For a 200 hour Workplace Project: this report should be about 3,000 to 5,000 words.

Introducing our School

ACS was established in 1979 by John Mason, who at the time was lecturing for various colleges (TAFE, Higher Education, University) Community Centers and Council of Adult Education in Australia.

High standards were adopted from the start; for example:

Tutors hold a 3 year, full time post secondary qualification (outside education)
Tutors have 5 years relevant experience
Courses (modules or short courses) are 100 hours duration
Certificates are generally 600 hours

By adhering to standards ACS has built sound credentials and is regarded and recognized highly by academics and industry professionals globally.

Our philosophy is relatively simple, but not always common in education today:

We believe education should aim to improve a student's capacity to understand and develop in their chosen field of study; and that a course is a starting point that lays a foundation for future development. We believe quality education requires real life interaction between the teacher and student; and restricting access to tutors can devalue the quality of a course. Education is not just about information (any book or web site can provide that). Good education is a carefully contrived and delivered learning experience that changes the student, improving their ability to function within the discipline they study.

Graduates from ACS have been successful in all types of vocational situations, winning jobs and developing careers in academic positions, through to small business and trades.

We welcome the opportunity to talk (or communicate via email) with any prospective student before they enroll with us. Let us help you make the best choice of course. There are many well established facts regarding education which people often discover when it is too late, for example:

Over 60% of people do not end up working in the field they studied (even university degree graduates)
Most people who commence courses (college, polytechnic, TAFE, university) never complete them.
While some people can earn big money in "some" professions, a qualification is rarely a guarantee for big earnings.
Being successful in business requires a certain personality type as well as other things
Most accredited courses take years to develop and approve -which in today's fast paced world often means they are out of date before you graduate.

Our staff know their industries, and before you even enroll, they can provide very unique insights that can be a great help in helping you choose something that is appropriate and useful for your needs.

ACS belongs to an international network of colleges, schools and Institutions that provide internationally accredited and recognised courses. All are recognised members of the International Accreditation and Recognition Council; and all deliver courses developed by an international team of highly qualified and experienced academics, led by author and editor, John Mason Fellow IOH and PLA, Member ASA, IOH, IHA, NIAA, ISHS. Courses have been developed over 30 years by experts from the Australia (Victoria, Queensland, NSW), UK, England, Scotland, New Zealand, India and America. Students come from over 70 countries. Courses have been and continue to be influenced by feedback and input from around the world; making these courses more internationally relevant, adaptable, and flexible for needs of students from anywhere. The courses are highly practical and relevant anywhere, any time, focussed on developing problem solving skills, industry familiarisation, networking and communication skills and the overall capacity to adapt to change -something that is inevitable in today's world, and all too often not adequately catered for in other institutions.

Choose to study with an ACS accredited school, college or institution in order to maximize career opportunities, employment awareness and job success. These colleges can be found in Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Singapore, India and the USA.