Electrical Trades Skills Workshop

This software is designed to help trainees, teachers and trainers establish a link between in-company, school-based and inter-company training. The individual software modules were designed on the basis of characteristic areas of responsibility that fully reflect the profession. The educational software describes and visualises typical work processes for each of these areas of responsibility, provides the necessary practical and specialist knowledge, and makes materials available. The use of the learning software is integrated into learning and work tasks. The dissemination and sustainability of the project results are ensured, amongst other things, by a ‘train-the-trainer’ approach.

The project, jointly led by the Institute for Technology and Education and the Institute for Technology, Work Processes and Vocational Education at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, was carried out on a supra-regional basis at three locations in close collaboration with vocational training stakeholders from companies, inter-company training centres, chambers of crafts and vocational schools.

The training concept, supported by educational software, was first introduced in the regions of Hamburg, Bremen and Dresden and is now available nationwide for use in in-company, inter-company and school-based vocational training. The software is made available free of charge via the internet.

Key areas of research

Kompetenzwerkst@tt is a comprehensive, vocationally grounded, software-supported teaching and learning concept. A holistic didactic approach, based on current action- and work-process-oriented approaches in vocational education and training and insights from situated cognition, forms the central component of the concept. The main focus of research and evaluation at the Kompetenzwerkst@tt is the development of a set of tools which, with the aid of expert workshops and work-process analyses, (apprenticeship) occupations can be represented through a limited number of professional fields of activity, the descriptions of which specify, in relation to work-process phases, the steps involved, responsibilities, methods and tools, as well as competence requirements.

The tool serves to clarify and (re)interpret workplace and school-based regulatory frameworks and encompasses the didactic methodology of software-supported learning and work tasks for project-based, practice-oriented vocational training.

A work-process-oriented, interactive and modularly structured learning software programme, which can be used in an integrated manner within learning and work tasks, brings these components together in the practice-oriented (Rapid) e-learning-based ‘Kompetenzwerkst@tt’ learning software. The acceptance and usability of the ‘Kompetenzwerkst@tt’ learning software are enhanced by a rapid e-learning approach.

Methods

The methodological approach was initially characterised by expert workshops conducted with companies, which served to identify key areas of action. The basis for discussion was a synthesis of in-company, inter-company and school-based teaching materials, which were aggregated into a dozen areas of action. The practical adaptation and reinterpretation of the fields of action derived from the regulatory instruments, which emerged during the expert workshops, was supplemented by typical client commissions from the companies.

In a subsequent step, guideline-based interviews were used as a tool for conducting work process analyses within the companies. The work process analyses each focused on an exemplary client order identified during the expert workshops. The aggregation of the work process analyses carried out for each field of action served to provide a detailed outline of the respective field of action descriptions. Divided into the four work process phases of order acceptance, order planning, order execution and order completion, the respective action steps, responsibilities, methods and tools were specified in concrete terms. Furthermore, competence matrices were derived which set out the technical, methodological and social competences required to carry out the respective work process phase. The descriptions of the fields of action were supplemented by a list of trends specific to each field of action and the organisational tools to be assigned to that field.

In parallel with the identification of the fields of action, the Rapid E-Learning approach was devised. The learning software was based on the Rapid E-Learning approach, which enables non-specialists to quickly and individually adapt the content of the learning software.

This was followed by the development of the software’s work-process-oriented learning content. The content developed for each area of action consists, on the one hand, of videos that present typical work processes in detail. An ‘Info Pool’ provides not only a thematic introduction offering an overview of the subject area but also conveys the functional and structural knowledge required to carry out tasks within the area of activity. In an in-depth section, the specialist knowledge presented in both sections is elaborated upon. Furthermore, the resources section is designed to be comprehensive, referring to sources in the form of general literature, subject-specific documents, relevant software and, last but not least, internet links for further knowledge acquisition.

The actual core of the educational software consists of the software-supported learning and practical tasks, which were developed following the creation of the software’s learning content. The learning and work tasks are based on typical client commissions which, broken down into sub-tasks, serve to impart the competences set out in the descriptions of the fields of action.

Continuous quality assurance by industry and school subject experts was followed – based on the methodology of participant observation and quantitative (questionnaire-based) surveys – the evaluation of the learning software in workplace, inter-workplace and school contexts, as well as the development and implementation of a train-the-trainer concept.

Results

As part of the project, work-process-oriented learning software was developed for the occupation of electronics technician specialising in energy and building services: Across twelve modules, each dedicated to the core areas of responsibility of an electronics technician, typical work processes are presented using videos, and comprehensive content – often animated or illustrated with graphics and photographs – is provided, which is required for processing customer orders. The software was developed and tested in collaboration with project partners, including twelve electrical contracting firms, three inter-company training centres and three vocational schools.

The software comprises a total of more than 6,000 screen pages and includes, specifically, 60 work process videos, almost 600 animations, 2,500 photographs, 2,200 graphics and 40 learning and practical tasks.

The software is designed so that it can be easily adapted and expanded by trainers, teachers and trainees (rapid e-learning). A transfer and editorial system – to which around 500 users have already registered as multipliers – ensures the distribution and further development of the software. Among the users – alongside many vocational schools – are also around 70 electrical engineering firms.

Around 200 users took part in the project’s internal evaluation of the software and its use. Of these, 58 per cent rated the software’s stability and functionality as ‘very good’ to ‘good’, and 31 per cent as ‘satisfactory’. Fifty per cent of users rated working and learning with the software as ‘very good’ to ‘good’ (37 per cent ‘satisfactory’).

As part of the online survey, the trainees were also asked in particular how they assessed their skills before and after working and learning with the software in relation to processing a customer order. Improvements of between 20 and 30 per cent – and even higher – were recorded across almost all aspects. For example, 41 per cent of the trainees agreed ‘somewhat’ or ‘completely’ with the statement ‘I can monitor the execution of an order in a structured manner and systematically rectify any errors’ before working with the software; after using the software, this figure rose to 76 per cent.

Further information

Howe, Falk/Knutzen, Sönke (2007). The Kompetenzwerkst@tt – A vocational science e-learning concept. Cuvillier-Verlag. Göttingen.

Knutzen, Sönke/Howe, Falk (2008). E-learning in the skilled trades. In: Issing, Ludwig J./Klimsa, Paul (eds.): Online Learning. Beltz-Verlag. Weinheim (439–446).

Knutzen, Sönke/Howe, Falk (2008). Software-supported learning and work tasks based on the ‘Kompetenzwerkst@tt’ concept. In: berufsbildung. Vol. 62.

Knutzen, Sönke/Howe, Falk (2008). Rapid e-learning in industrial and technical training – customisable learning software based on the ‘Kompetenzwerkst@tt’ concept. In: Howe, Falk/Jarosch, Jürgen/Zinke, Gert (eds.): Innovative training and media concepts in inter-company vocational training, using the electrical trade as an example. Bremen (133–156).