What is TAFE like? (1 Viewer)

[Korn]

Is it like Classroom teaching like at highschool HSC, or is it like lectures and tutorials like uni

 

[champ_sammy_19]

It's a bit of both really it also depends on what level of course your doing. Cert IV and diploma courses are set out like uni courses and just as challenging

 

[Korn]

It's a bit of both really it also depends on what level of course your doing. Cert IV and diploma courses are set out like uni courses and just as challenging

Really, then why are they below that of uni

 

[Misturi]

I'd have to agree, it is a bit of both.

Although, unlike uni the teachers actually help you.

 

[Korn]

I'd have to agree, it is a bit of both.

Although, unlike uni the teachers actually help you.

That sounds good, but there are tutorials at uni, with about 30-35 ppl in them i guess u can go see them for help too

 

[funniboi]

never been to uni to be able to compare with tafe

 

[champ_sammy_19]

Really, then why are they below that of uni

Because sum TAFE courses require no specific requirements 4 entry like uni, Although cert IV and dip courses do require specific requirements 4 entry

 

[dino86]

Dunno about UNI but there are a lot of weirdos at TAFE, but you just tune out from them eventually

 

[santaslayer]

Dunno about UNI but there are a lot of weirdos at TAFE, but you just tune out from them eventually

and become one of them?

 

[Musegirl]

It all depends on which course you are doing. I did Business Marketing at TAFE and we were required to have all of our readings done before classes just like at uni. You still copy work down just like in high school and not quick lecture notes. But the content is the same as second and third year marketing subjects, at TAFE I studied Strategic Marketing, International Marketing, Services Marketing and a few others, which are the same subjects that are on offer at uni and I even got exempted for some of them too at uni.

 

[klh]

how about exam time? MC, short, long, essay???
or is it more the work you put into class that gets you the marks?
do they also have distinction and credits and passes?
how many hours is a unit/subject?

yes many questions...

 

[kami]

There are Distinctions, Credits, Passes & Pass(ungraded) but there are no HDs.
As for hours it differs between modules but if you go onto the www.tafensw.edu.au website and click on a course then 'course content' you will see modules and such and it will tell you for how many hours each module is.
Methods of examination also differ between subjects so they can be - practicals, MC, essay, portfolio - or other exam methods.

 

[Musegirl]

In my course at exam time, we had mainly reports, essays and short answer responses. We rarely took multiple choice exams, but they were mainly for short mid semester tests.

In most classes, most of the marks come from assignments throughout the semester. A small number of classes are ungraded 'pass/fail' where you do a small assessment on the skills that you have learnt.

The grading system goes;
- Distinction 83%+
- Credit 70-82%
- Pass 50-69%
- Fail <49%

The subjects can range from one whole year long for 3 hours a week, to a semester long for about 3 or less hours, to short subjects like 2 hours a week for four weeks or anything of the sort. All the subjects are different durations long and some subjects are placed back to back in some classes. But you would expect to have about 6 classes (classes with single or back to back subjects across the semsester) with a total of about 14-18 contact hours per weekk in Business Marketing. (Although, my friend does Hospitality and she spends 26 hours a week at TAFE)

 

[Musegirl]

Yeah, at TAFE we had a back-to-back Business to Business/Business Services class and a third of all the Advanced Diploma classes failed. The TAFE had to re-timetable everything to fit the whole crowd the following semester.

 

[v sia]

Musegirl what kind of work would i be expecting to do for Business/Marketing ?
I put it has my first preference for Livo Tafe

 

[Musegirl]

You have loads of presentations and role plays based on real life corporate situations, most of the assignments are group work and for most assignments you have to study a real life organisation/brand/product. There's a lot of theory though compared to other TAFE subjects, which can be a bit of a bitch. But mainly, the course is a breeze except for when it comes to exam time of course. The head teachers are usually really good when it comes to timetabling the assignment due dates because theyre usually well spread out.

 

[v sia]

Presentations awwwww . Can you illaberate on that ?

 

[Musegirl]

You pretty much have to do at least one or two presentations per class. Usually, if you do a group problem that isn't marked, the teachers expect to to get up in front of the class to present your results. If it's unmarked, they don't tell you until 5 minutes before you finish the question that you have to present it to the class. I used to be shit scared of presenting before, but after you get loads of practice it's a breeze.

For the marked presentations, they're not like high school speeches that are in essence spoken essays. They're mainly a summary of your findings and in group projects you're expected to present for at least 20 minutes.

For the Advanced Diploma, theres a class called Project Group and you have to ask a company if they would like to be your client and as a whole class you have to compile a marketing plan for them. A class would have about 10-15 people for this module. At the end of the report (which is usually 1 inch thick, single sided, 1.5 spacing, size 12 font) you have to present the findings to your business client and have to organise the event (event management) and choose team members to get up in front of a business crowd of about 50 or more people and talk for about 90 minutes.

Even though, Business (Marketing) has a lot of theory work associated with it, there is a huge focus on presentation skills such as stance, body language, voice projection, clothing and a lot of others.

Um... I think I might be leaving a lot of stuff out though. If you think I've missed anything else, I'd be happy to answer any more questions.

(BTW. To those people out there who have never gone to TAFE and who think it is FAR below uni. Think about how you would handle wearing a suit in a room thats 40C hot and chatting non-stop with no palm cards about a 1 inch thick report and at the same time follow a Power Point presentation that you cannot see because you're standing on a stage. While at the same time acting as if you know about what you're going on about to a bunch of business professionals with 20+ years worth of lifetime experience?)