From Development to Quality Assurance: How We Tested the Results of the Green ASC VET Project
One of the key tasks of the Industrial and Trade School Slavonski Brod in the Green ASC VET project was the organization, coordination, and testing of the developed project results through pilot programs and an experimental program. After several years of work on developing innovative tools, educational content, and methodologies aimed at supporting individuals on the autism spectrum in vocational education, it was necessary to verify their effectiveness in real educational settings.
Piloting the Results in Croatia, Germany, and Hungary
The Industrial and Trade School Slavonski Brod coordinated piloting activities with the aim of collecting feedback from various user groups and experts. Pilot programs were conducted in Croatia, Germany, and Hungary, ensuring testing across different educational and social environments.
In Croatia, pilot activities lasted five days and were carried out at three locations: in Slavonski Brod, Zagreb, and Čakovec. In Germany, the five-day testing was held at the SRH Berufsbildungswerk Neckargemünd institution, while in Hungary, piloting was organized across approximately ten different locations.
We involved autistic individuals, their family members, university professors, teachers, trainers, pedagogues, psychologists, educational rehabilitation specialists, vocational rehabilitation experts, and numerous other stakeholders engaged in education and support for individuals with diverse needs in the evaluation process. Such a broad composition of participants enabled us to gather valuable insights from different perspectives and conduct an objective assessment of the developed results.
Feedback collected during piloting showed that the developed tools, educational materials, and methodologies were of high quality, understandable, and applicable across different educational systems. Participants particularly emphasized the clarity of content, the possibility of learning individualization, adaptability to different learning styles, and the practical value of the developed resources.
During testing, it became evident that approaches that increase clarity, predictability, visual support, and individualization of the learning process simultaneously improve the learning experience for all participants. This is precisely why we can now say that the project achieved even more than its originally planned goal. Instead of developing solutions that would benefit only one targeted group, we developed resources with the potential to enhance the educational process for all students.
Experimental Program for the Welder Occupation
In addition to piloting the project results, the Industrial and Trade School Slavonski Brod was also responsible for implementing an experimental program for the welder occupation.
Unfortunately, due to organizational circumstances, we had to conduct the program during a period when there were no autistic students in the participating classes. Although this presented a certain challenge relative to the original plans, we decided to implement the program with neurotypical students and students with learning difficulties who were medically fit to perform welding tasks.
Special emphasis was placed on the application of methods and tools developed through the project and their integration into the regular vocational education process.
Confirmation of Universal Design for Learning
One of the most important conclusions of the experimental program was that the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can be successfully applied in vocational education, including occupations requiring a high degree of practical competencies.
The application of various teaching methods, the combination of digital technologies and practical work, and the possibility of progressing at one’s own pace enabled each student to achieve the planned learning outcomes. It proved that flexible and inclusive approaches benefit not only specific groups of students but contribute to more successful learning for all participants in the educational process.
Testing showed that the developed tools can contribute to creating more accessible, flexible, and effective vocational education. At the same time, they confirmed that solutions designed for autistic individuals represent a quality foundation for improving education for all students, thereby enabling the Green ASC VET project to achieve a far wider impact than originally envisioned at the project’s outset.