Vocations · Job Skills

On-the-job learning,
written down.

Apprentices learn most from a mentor beside them, and most of that feedback is spoken and gone by the end of the shift. Write each session down: the task, a rating on the same four-step scale, the hours practiced and one concrete next step. The organizer tracks every competency’s rating over time and flags a drop, a missing next step or a skipped safety talk.

Log a sessionWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Job search kit, $29 for 41 items.

Feedback sessions

The worked example is made up: an electrical apprentice moving from 2 to 3 on conduit bending, a first try at terminating devices with no safety talk and a medical assistant apprentice whose rating dropped. Saved on this device only.

Loading the session form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Vocations · Job Skills$5

What you finish with
A record per feedback session: apprentice code, date, program week, task, a four-step rating, hours since the last session, what went well, the next step and four checks. Works out each competency’s previous rating and change; lists competencies with sessions, hours and latest rating; flags rating drops, no next step and skipped safety talks.
Who it is for
Apprentices and work-based learners, and the workplace mentors and journeyworkers who train them.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per session. Prints one session, every session in a table or a blank feedback form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Job search kit ($29) and the Vocations Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Job Skills space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Pick one task per session.
  2. Show it, then watch them try.
  3. Rate it on the four-step scale.
  4. Write one thing done well and one next step.
  5. Log the practice hours.

Log a session

How mentoring works

Show, try, feedback: one task at a time1Show itThe mentor does it once,saying each step aloud.2Try it togetherThe apprentice does it; thementor watches and helps.3Feedback the same dayOne thing done well, one thingto change.4PracticeHours on the task until thenext session.5Rate and set the next stepSame four-step scale everytime.Show, try, feedback: one task at a time1Show itThe mentor does it once, saying eachstep aloud.2Try it togetherThe apprentice does it; the mentorwatches and helps.3Feedback the same dayOne thing done well, one thing tochange.4PracticeHours on the task until the nextsession.5Rate and set the next stepSame four-step scale every time.
Rating the same task on the same scale each time is what makes progress visible, to the apprentice and to the program.

The four-step scale

1, needs full supervision; 2, needs some help; 3, does it with checks; 4, does it independently. Many registered apprenticeship programs track competencies with a scale like this alongside on-the-job hours; use your program’s scale if it has one.

When a rating drops

A lower rating usually means the task got harder, practice stopped or help was withdrawn too soon. It is a reason to talk, not a mark against the apprentice.

Sources

  1. U.S. Department of Labor. Registered apprenticeship: on-the-job learning, competency-based and hybrid approaches (apprenticeship.gov); 29 CFR 29.5.
  2. Collins, A., Brown, J. S. and Newman, S. E. (1989). Cognitive apprenticeship: teaching the crafts of reading, writing and mathematics. In Knowing, Learning, and Instruction. Erlbaum.
  3. Hattie, J. and Timperley, H. (2007). The power of feedback. Review of Educational Research, 77(1).
  4. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Young workers and new employees: safety training (osha.gov).

The worked example is made up. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.