Input From the Grassroots Level - Reflecting Challenges and Problems for VET Professionals in Germany

Context: Often, vocational education and training (VET) professionals are not systematically prepared for their demanding, mostly diverse and complex tasks. Professional development can be understood as an enlargement of competencies that arise as opportunities in daily work. This study, embedded in a funded research project, focuses on VET professionals and their professional development. The research question is as follows: What challenges and problems regarding their professional development, as well as possible solutions, are described by training professionals in VET in Germany? Approach: The goal of this study is to discover what challenges VET professionals face and how they cope with them. Accordingly, this research was formalised with the following components: (A) An explorative study with group discussions (N = 53 participants in six groups) and (B) result validation with German VET experts (N = 10). The data were recorded, transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Using a theory-based category system, the group discussion results were summarised in 12 systematic, organisational- and individual-level statements. The statements indicated that despite the necessity of formal professional development in the area of further training, most VET professionals must still be able to profit from offers at or below the German Qualification Framework (DQR) level 5. Many VET professionals ultimately sought visible recognition of their activities or personal commitment with regard to pedagogical and company-economic functions. The 10 VET experts also evaluated the 12 statements as important. Conclusion: The results of this study show that there is a huge need for qualification and learning opportunities for VET professionals. The demand is mostly for modern, tried-and-tested concepts and central themes, such as action and competency orientation, practice and transfer orientation, individual and structural reflection, media competency and learning support in all formats and at all levels

Input from the grassroots level - reflecting challenges and problems for VET professionals in Germany

Context: Often, vocational education and training (VET) professionals are not systematically prepared for their demanding, mostly diverse and complex tasks. Professional development can be understood as an enlargement of competencies that arise as opportunities in daily work. This study, embedded in a funded research project, focuses on VET professionals and their professional development. The research question is as follows: What challenges and problems regarding their professional development, as well as possible solutions, are described by training professionals in VET in Germany? Approach: The goal of this study is to discover what challenges VET professionals face and how they cope with them. Accordingly, this research was formalised with the following components: (A) An explorative study with group discussions (N = 53 participants in six groups) and (B) result validation with German VET experts (N = 10). The data were recorded, transcribed and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results: Using a theory-based category system, the group discussion results were summarised in 12 systematic, organisational- and individual-level statements. The statements indicated that despite the necessity of formal professional development in the area of further training, most VET professionals must still be able to profit from offers at or below the German Qualification Framework (DQR) level 5. Many VET professionals ultimately sought visible recognition of their activities or personal commitment with regard to pedagogical and company-economic functions. The 10 VET experts also evaluated the 12 statements as important. Conclusion: The results of this study show that there is a huge need for qualification and learning opportunities for VET professionals. The demand is mostly for modern, tried-and-tested concepts and central themes, such as action and competency orientation, practice and transfer orientation, individual and structural reflection, media competency and learning support in all formats and at all levels. (DIPF/Orig.

Lernfabriken als neuer Lernraum in der beruflichen Bildung – Sachstandsanalyse und Potentiale

Lernfabriken fungieren als komplexe Simulationen von realen Arbeits- und Produktionsabläufen, um insbesondere berufliche Handlungskompetenzen in einer „Industrie 4.0 typischen“ Facharbeit entwickeln zu können. Dabei stellen sie selbst cyberphysische Systeme dar, die an beruflichen Schulen zugleich als traditioneller Lernraum (Lernlabor) und virtueller/digitaler Lernraum zu gestalten sind („digitaler Zwilling“). Der für „digitales Lernen“ typischen räumlichen und zeitlichen Entgrenzung kann zunächst nicht entsprochen werden. Gleichwohl machen sie die Digitalität der veränderten Arbeitswelt zum Gegenstand beruflicher Lernprozesse. Dieser Beitrag reflektiert zunächst Lernfabriken als neuen Lernraum und den Anteil cyberphysischer Systeme darin. Anschließend werden anhand erster Ergebnisse einer empirischen Studie der erreichte Stand in der Implementierung und Konzeptentwicklung der beruflichen Lernfabriken an berufsbildenden Schulen in Süddeutschland aufgezeigt

Berufliche Arbeit und Berufsbildung zwischen Kontinuität und Innovation. Konferenzband zur 21. Tagung der Gewerblichen-Technischen Wissenschaften und ihren Didaktiken (GTW)

Dieser Band fasst die wissenschaftliche Diskussion zum Konferenzthema „Berufliche Arbeit und Berufsbildung zwischen Kontinuität und Innovation“ der 21. Herbstkonferenz der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gewerblich-Technische Wissenschaften und ihre Didaktiken (GTW) zusammen. Die Fragestellung für die Tagung zielt insbesondere auf die im Zuge der Corona-Pandemie deutlich gewordenen positiven und z. T. beschleunigten Entwicklungen, aber auch auf die unerledigten Aufgaben und neu entstanden Problemlagen ab

Barriers to Learning - Identification and Measurement of Barriers to Learning at the Workplace in Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Consultancy

This thesis addresses these three research shortcomings. To determine where learning takes place in VET and the barriers to learning at the workplace that may occur, this thesis is guided by the overarching question, what are barriers to learning and how can they be measured? The following four sub-questions further structure the thesis: 1) What challenges and problems do VET professionals face in their professional development? (Study I) 2) What are the learning conditions and informal and formal learning activities of professional trainers and training managers? (Study II) 3) What are the experienced barriers to learning, and how can they be categorized? (Study II) 4) How can barriers to learning at the workplace be categorized and be measured? (Study III

Potenziale von Lernfabriken für die berufliche Lehrkräftebildung – Konzepte und Erprobungen in Baden-Württemberg

Der Anspruch, ein berufliches Lernen in komplexen und vernetzten Systemen wie einer Lernfabrik zu ermöglichen, führt zu einer neuen didaktischen Herausforderung für die beruflichen Schulen in Deutschland. Die Herausforderung besteht darin, eine komplexe und digitalisierte Arbeitswelt realitätsnah abzubilden und trotzdem lernhaltige, problem- und berufsbezogene Aufgaben generieren zu können. Bisher haben sich nur wenige Hochschulen mit der Implementierung der Lernfabriken in die berufliche Lehrkräftebildung beschäftigt. Der Beitrag beschreibt die Potentiale von Lernfabriken für die berufliche Lehrkräftebildung und zeigt den Stand der Umsetzung der beruflichen Lernfabriken in Baden-Württemberg auf

Berufliche Arbeit und Berufsbildung zwischen Kontinuität und Innovation

Dieser Band fasst die wissenschaftliche Diskussion zum Konferenzthema „Berufliche Arbeit und Berufsbildung zwischen Kontinuität und Innovation“ der 21. Herbstkonferenz der Arbeitsgemeinschaft Gewerblich-Technische Wissenschaften und ihre Didaktiken (GTW) zusammen. Die Fragestellung für die Tagung zielt insbesondere auf die im Zuge der Corona-Pandemie deutlich gewordenen positiven und z. T. beschleunigten Entwicklungen, aber auch auf die unerledigten Aufgaben und neu entstanden Problemlagen ab. Die Reihe Berufsbildung, Arbeit und Innovation bietet ein Forum für die grundlagen- und anwendungsorientierte Berufsbildungsforschung. Sie leistet einen Beitrag für den wissenschaftlichen Diskurs über Innovationspotenziale der beruflichen Bildung. Die Reihe wird herausgegeben von Prof.in Marianne Friese (Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), Prof. Klaus Jenewein (Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg), Prof.in Susan Seeber (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen) und Prof. Lars Windelband (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie)

The class II benzoyl‐coenzyme A reductase complex from the sulfate‐reducing Desulfosarcina cetonica

International audienceBenzoyl-CoA reductases (BCRs) catalyse a key reaction in the anaerobic degradation pathways of monocyclic aromatic substrates, the dearomatization of benzoyl-CoA (BzCoA) to cyclohexa-1,5-diene-1-carboxyl-CoA (1,5-dienoyl-CoA) at the negative redox potential limit of diffusible enzymatic substrate/product couples (E°′ = −622 mV). A 1-MDa class II BCR complex composed of the BamBCDEGHI subunits has so far only been isolated from the Fe(III)-respiring Geobacter metallireducens. It is supposed to drive endergonic benzene ring reduction at an active site W-pterin cofactor by flavin-based electron bifurcation. Here, we identified multiple copies of putative genes encoding the structural components of a class II BCR in sulfate reducing, Fe(III)-respiring and syntrophic bacteria. A soluble 950 kDa Bam[(BC)2DEFGHI]2 complex was isolated from extracts of Desulfosarcina cetonica cells grown with benzoate/sulfate. Metal and cofactor analyses together with the identification of conserved binding motifs gave rise to 4 W-pterins, two selenocysteines, six flavin adenine dinucleotides, four Zn, and 48 FeS clusters. The complex exhibited 1,5-dienoyl-CoA-, NADPH- and ferredoxin-dependent oxidoreductase activities. Our results indicate that high-molecular class II BCR metalloenzyme machineries are remarkably conserved in strictly anaerobic bacteria with regard to subunit architecture and cofactor content, but their subcellular localization and electron acceptor preference may differ as a result of adaptations to variable energy metabolisms

One-megadalton metalloenzyme complex inGeobacter metallireducensinvolved in benzene ring reduction beyond the biological redox window

Reversible biological electron transfer usually occurs between redox couples at standard redox potentials ranging from +0.8 to -0.5 V. Dearomatizing benzoyl-CoA reductases (BCRs), key enzymes of the globally relevant microbial degradation of aromatic compounds at anoxic sites, catalyze a biological Birch reduction beyond the negative limit of this redox window. The structurally characterized BamBC subunits of class II BCRs accomplish benzene ring reduction at an active-site tungsten cofactor; however, the mechanism and components involved in the energetic coupling of endergonic benzene ring reduction have remained hypothetical. We present a 1-MDa, membrane-associated, Bam[(BC) 2DEFGHI] 2 complex from the anaerobic bacterium Geobacter metallireducens harboring 4 tungsten, 4 zinc, 2 selenocysteines, 6 FAD, and >50 FeS cofactors. The results suggest that class II BCRs catalyze electron transfer to the aromatic ring, yielding a cyclic 1,5-dienoyl-CoA via two flavin-based electron bifurcation events. This work expands our knowledge of energetic couplings in biology by high-molecular-mass electron bifurcating machineries