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Mass customization and shorter product life cycles are causing ever more variants in production, especially in manual assembly. At the same time, more diverse personnel structures are emerging due to demographic change and labor shortages. This is causing different challenges to production managers, e.g., competence gaps. To meet these challenges, learning in manual assembly becomes increasingly important. The design of the learning process can only be improved by checking whether the processes fulfill their purpose. Various learning evaluation measures are described in general vocational education and competence development, but it is hard to select the right one for the learning process. This paper shows a procedure, how learning evaluation measures can be selected, and how they can measure learning progress. For this, a test person study was conducted to compare different learning evaluation measures and show their usability and advantages in manual assembly. The results support making learning in assembly easier to apply and controllable. In the long term, feeding back the results improves the learning process design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies on Virtual Reality (VR)-enriched learning pointed out the advantages of immersive learning for the development of competencies. In the context of vocational education in vehicle painting, training opportunities are severely limited for many reasons. VR can be utilized to develop a comprehensive learning environment with authentic training tasks. Besides the need to train psychomotor skills, vehicle painting procedures are complex tasks requiring incremental training to develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This study aims to evaluate a VR training application for vehicle painting, focusing on the development of professional competencies regarding skills, knowledge, and attitudes. 47 apprentices participated in the evaluation study. A VR-simulated painting booth was developed based on the 4 C/ID model by van Merriënboer, where they dealt with typical painting jobs on 3D workpieces (e.g., car wings, engine hood). Within the descriptive-inferential study, no significant differences between the types of competencies were revealed. The training application supports the acquisition of skills, knowledge, and attitudes equally. Further results regarding usability, cognitive load, etc., are promising. The essential finding of this study is that the VR training application is generally suitable for supporting craftsmanship within the field of vehicle painting. Since training opportunities for apprentices in this context are often rare, VR offers a unique solution especially for skills training if it follows a proven instructional model for the development of competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article examines the development of reading and mathematical competence in early secondary education and aims at identifying distinct profiles of competence development. Since reading and mathematical competences are highly correlated both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, we expected to find a generalized profile of competence development with students developing parallel in reading and mathematical competences. Moreover, previous research confirmed individuals' specific focus on one of the two domains, for example, in their interest, self-concept, or motivation. Also, differences in competence levels between both domains were found in cross-sectional studies. Therefore, we hypothesized that additional to the generalized profile, there are specialized profiles of competence development with students developing distinctively faster in one of the two domains. To identify both types of profiles, latent growth mixture modeling was used on a sample of 5,301 students entering secondary education from the German National Educational Panel Study. To demonstrate the robustness of the results, these analyses were repeated using different model specifications and subgroups with higher homogeneity (with students belonging to the highest track, i.e., "Gymnasium"). The results indicate only small to non-existent specialized profiles of competence development in all conditions. This finding of roughly parallel development of reading and mathematical competences throughout early secondary education indicates that potential specializations are less important at this point in students' educational careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Artificial intelligence (AI) competence in education is a set of skills that enable teachers to ethically and responsibly develop, apply, and evaluate AI for learning and teaching processes. While AI competence becomes a key competence for teachers, current research on the acceptance and use of AI in classroom practice with a specific focus on the required competencies of teachers related to AI is scarce. This study builds on an AI competence model and investigates predispositions of AI competence among N = 480 teachers in vocational schools. Results indicate that AI competence can be modeled as combining six competence dimensions. Findings suggest that the different competence dimensions are currently unequally developed. Pre- and in-service teachers need professional learning opportunities to develop AI competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of effects of vocational education and training conditions on competence development in nursing education requires longitudinal studies. An important precondition is the availability of a test of nursing competence which is economical in use, measures a homogeneous construct throughout years of nursing education and across nursing specializations, and can detect increases in the required competence, hence allowing for sensitive testing. This article describes a cross-sectional study that aimed to optimize a computer-based test measuring nursing competence in care for the elderly—the TEMA test—through the selection of items on the basis of measurement error, differential item functioning, and item difficulty. Evidence of the test sensitivity of the optimized TEMA-L instrument is presented for the second and third year of nursing education. The total sample consisted of n = 133 German nursing students from clinical and geriatric nursing. The resulting instrument includes two test booklets consisting of 36 (WLE = 0.72) and 35 items (WLE = 0.70) respectively for the second and third year of training. The cross-sectional data indicate that the test likely has good properties for sensitive testing of nursing competence in a future longitudinal study. Hence, it might be used to study factors contributing to increases in nursing competence in German VET and serve as an example for similar studies in other countries. Limitations of the current study and related subjects of future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: After elementary school, students in Germany are separated into different school tracks (i.e., school types) with the aim of creating homogeneous student groups in secondary school. Consequently, the development of students' reading achievement diverges across school types. Findings on this achievement gap have been criticized as depending on the quality of the administered measure. Therefore, the present study examined to what degree differential item functioning affects estimates of the achievement gap in reading competence. Methods: Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study, reading competence was investigated across three timepoints during secondary school: in grades 5, 7, and 9 (N = 7276). First, using the invariance alignment method, measurement invariance across school types was tested. Then, multilevel structural equation models were used to examine whether a lack of measurement invariance between school types affected the results regarding reading development. Results: Our analyses revealed some measurement non-invariant items that did not alter the patterns of competence development found among school types in the longitudinal modeling approach. However, misleading conclusions about the development of reading competence in different school types emerged when the hierarchical data structure (i.e., students being nested in schools) was not taken into account. Conclusions: We assessed the relevance of measurement invariance and accounting for clustering in the context of longitudinal competence measurement. Even though differential item functioning between school types was found for each measurement occasion, taking these differences in item estimates into account did not alter the parallel pattern of reading competence development across German secondary school types. However, ignoring the clustered data structure of students being nested within schools led to an overestimation of the statistical significance of school type effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning Factories 4.0 are thought to prepare vocational students for the challenges of Industry 4.0. The implementation of those interconnected Learning Factories 4.0 at technical vocational schools may promote the development of subject-related technical competencies as well as multidisciplinary digital competencies. Still, research is scarce with regard to the development of competencies supported through Learning Factories 4.0 in technical vocational schools. Hence this research focusses on subject-related technical and multidisciplinary digital competencies of technical vocational students change due to different levels of Learning Factory 4.0 interaction over time. Three subsequent competence tests with N = 63 technical vocational students were conducted. Findings indicate the benefits of integrating Learning Factories 4.0 for developing subject-related competencies in technical vocational schools. However, the study could not identify a positive development of multidisciplinary digital competencies. The findings of this study can help educators to further develop learning environments with support from Learning Factories 4.0 as well as preparing their learners for the demanding competencies of Industry 4.0. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on the effectiveness of case studies in teaching engineering ethics in higher education is underdeveloped. To add to our knowledge, we have systematically compared the outcomes of two case approaches to an undergraduate course on the ethics of technology: a detached approach using real-life cases and a challenge-based learning (CBL) approach with students and stakeholders acting as co-creators (CC). We first developed a practical typology of case-study approaches and subsequently tested an evaluation method to assess the students’ learning experiences (basic needs and motivation) and outcomes (competence development) and staff interpretations and operationalizations, seeking to answer three questions: (1) Do students in the CBL approach report higher basic needs, motivation and competence development compared to their peers in the detached approach? (2) What is the relationship between student-perceived co-creation and their basic needs, motivation and competence development? And (3) what are the implications of CBL/CC for engineering-ethics teaching and learning? Our mixed methods analysis favored CBL as it best supported teaching and research goals while satisfying the students’ basic needs and promoting intrinsic motivation and communication competences. Competence progress in other areas did not differ between approaches, and motivation in terms of identified regulation was lower for CBL, with staff perceiving a higher workload. We propose that our case typology model is useful and that as a method to engage students as co-creators, CBL certainly merits further development and evaluation, as does our effectiveness analysis for engineering ethics instruction in general and for case-study approaches in particular. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation: Zeitschrift für Angewandte Organisationspsychologie (GIO) is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Theory and research in the field of competence-based vocational education (CBVE) have advanced enormously during the last decades, although empirical research on CBVE lags far behind. CBVE researchers have complained about the lack of evidence that CBVE results in better competence development, the decreasing attention for knowledge development in CBVE practice, and the cross-sectional nature of much CBVE research. This study addresses these issues by reviewing a worldwide competence-based education literature and comparing competence and knowledge development of students in vocational schools in Indonesia that have implemented principles of CBVE to a higher or lesser degree. The study involved 506 students majoring in food processing and technology and 32 teachers from 11 agricultural secondary vocational schools. Teachers and students rated student competence levels. Student knowledge was assessed with a multiple-choice test. Longitudinal data were collected during one school year at three points of time. Student competence development in high-CBVE was higher than in low-CBVE, suggesting that the implementation of CBVE was successful and had a motivating effect of both students and teachers in Indonesian vocational schools. However, knowledge development was indeed lower in high-CBVE than in low-CBVE, which needs further attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A major challenge for representative longitudinal studies is panel attrition, because some respondents refuse to continue participating across all measurement waves. Depending on the nature of this selection process, statistical inferences based on the observed sample can be biased. Therefore, statistical analyses need to consider a missing-data mechanism. Because each missing-data model hinges on frequently untestable assumptions, sensitivity analyses are indispensable to gauging the robustness of statistical inferences. This article highlights contemporary approaches for applied researchers to acknowledge missing data in longitudinal, multilevel modeling and shows how sensitivity analyses can guide their interpretation. Using a representative sample of N = 13,417 German students, the development of mathematical competence across three years was examined by contrasting seven missing-data models, including listwise deletion, full-information maximum likelihood estimation, inverse probability weighting, multiple imputation, selection models, and pattern mixture models. These analyses identified strong selection effects related to various individual and context factors. Comparative analyses revealed that inverse probability weighting performed rather poorly in growth curve modeling. Moreover, school-specific effects should be acknowledged in missing-data models for educational data. Finally, we demonstrated how sensitivity analyses can be used to gauge the robustness of the identified effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article discusses the development of vocational competence through economic vocational educational training (VET) from a theoretical and psychometric perspective. Most assessment and competence models tend to adopt a state perspective toward assessments of competence and carve out different structures of competence for diverse vocational domains. However, the order and at what stages of development these identified structures actually occur remains uncertain. This study therefore moves beyond a static perspective to denote changes in competence over the duration of vocational training, using item response theory-based scaling and a cross-sectional database of 877 economic apprentices. The resulting four-stage psychometric model represents a systematization of the development of vocational competence, characterized by the degree of occupational specificity and different forms of cognitive processing. This proposed psychometric model can be used to inform educational researchers and practitioners about the different stages of competence development, such that they can both assess and teach economic competence more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Psychotherapie Forum is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Organisationsberatung, Supervision, Coaching is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper proposes a model of competence development required of graduates at work which suggests that universities make a difference when they add value to their students. They add value by ensuring that their modes of teaching and learning, and assessment positively enhance the competencies of their students which are important in the labor market. Our results have clear implications for policy in the Bologna process. One of the main challenges facing higher education institutions in Europe is to transform their current pedagogical practices-the lecture continues to be the dominant teaching method-into competence-based teaching as a response of universities to labor market needs. In this paper, econometric evidence shows that innovative methodologies used by Spanish universities play a key role in competence development. This is consistent with the view that education raises productivity; finding that refutes some theories which suggest that education may be no more than a screening device which allows employers to identify the more able potential employees from the rest. Besides the importance of formal academic institutions, firms appear to be sources of learning and skill formation as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The natural transformation of Escherichia coli is a novel and recently developed system that has significance for genetic studies and the biological safety of genetic engineering. However, the mechanisms of transformation, including development of competence and DNA uptake, are not thoroughly understood. In this study, we demonstrated the effect of the general stress response regulator RpoS, which has been associated with E. coli transformation, on natural transformation performed in an 'open system'. We find that RpoS is required for natural transformation but not to artificial transformation and RpoS mainly affect transformation in the liquid culture prior to plating. In the liquid culture, RpoS over-expression promotes natural transformation in early exponential phase and static incubation accumulates RpoS and promotes transformation to a limited extent. These findings provide detailed understanding of RpoS function on natural transformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Leuphana Semester at Leuphana University Lüneburg, together with the module “Science bears responsibility” demonstrate how innovative methods of teaching and learning can be combined with the topic of sustainable development and how new forms of university teaching can be introduced. With regard to module content, it has become apparent that, due to the complexity of the field of sustainability, a single discipline alone is unable to provide analyses and solutions. If teaching in higher education is to adequately deal with this complexity, then it is necessary to develop inter- and transdisciplinary approaches that go beyond a purely specialist orientation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Manufacturing industry can improve its competitiveness through innovation and technological excellence, and appropriate Industrial Learning can help to achieve this goal through allowing the manufacturing workforce to acquire new skills related to the advanced developments in information and communication technologies. This raises the need for new Industrial Learning tools and methods from the viewpoint of learning content, learning processes, and delivery mechanisms. In this paper, we present a generic competence-based approach for Industrial Learning developed in the framework of ActionPlanT project. The approach is composed of (i) an Industrial Learning model which serves to represent and understand competence-based learning, and (ii) a methodology which implements through a number of steps the Industrial Learning actions defined using the Industrial Learning model in industrial organisations. Both the model and the methodology are presented in details. A metrics-based method for evaluating the implementation of the learning actions defined using the approach is also described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interest in research focusing on learning taking place at work, through work and for work has considerably increased over the past two decades. The purpose of the paper is to review and structure this wide and diverse research field. A tentative holistic model-the 3-P model of workplace learning-is presented, in relation to which the following six lines of research are identified: (1) studies describing the nature of workplace learning, (2) research on work identities and agency in workplace learning, (3) studies on the development of professional expertise, (4) analyses of competence development in education-work contexts in vocational education and training as well as in higher education, (5) research on communities of practice, and (6) research on organisational learning. The research lines and the holistic 3-P model should be seen as analytic tools for understanding the diversity in workplace learning research. They may also serve as a kind of map for individual researchers, helping them to locate their main areas of interest in this broad field of research and to outline research designs for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Organisationsberatung, Supervision, Coaching is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper presents a new model for project portfolio selection, paying specific attention to competence development. The model seeks to maximize a weighted average of economic gains from projects and strategic gains from the increment of desirable competencies. As a sub-problem, scheduling and staff assignment for a candidate set of selected projects must also be optimized. We provide a nonlinear mixed-integer program formulation for the overall problem, and then propose heuristic solution techniques composed of (1) a greedy heuristic for the scheduling and staff assignment part, and (2) two (alternative) metaheuristics for the project selection part. The paper outlines experimental results on a real-world application provided by the E-Commerce Competence Center Austria and, for a slightly simplified instance, presents comparisons with the exact solution computed by CPLEX. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a decade, competence development has been a key concept of modern management in both the private and the public sector, but to some extent its meaning and practice have been different in the two sectors. In the public sector in particular, competence development has been closely related to a number of other buzzwords characterizing dominant Neo-Liberal political conceptions, such as Lifelong Learning, New Public Management, Market Orientation and Decentralization. From an idealistic point of view, competence development is intended to promote professionalism, understood as knowledge creation, self-management and the ethical commitment of civil servants. However, the development has increasingly involved elements of supervision, declining flexibility and time consuming evaluation, which may have contributed to the de-qualification and de-motivation of civil servants. It is therefore a basic question as to whether the learning activities normally labelled as competence development are part of a developing or a dismantling process in relation to professionalism in the public sector. This paper seeks to deal with this question in so far as it relates to the case of Denmark, which is usually regarded as a significant example of the so-called Nordic Welfare State Model, implying the strong, democratic and service-minded role of the public sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the expectations that exist regarding efforts to develop competence and in spite of the large amounts of resources devoted to it, there is a marked lack of empirically-based research on competence development in companies and other organizations. The purpose of this article is to present a review of research on strategies for competence development in organizations, their prerequisites and effects. More specifically, the following three questions will be addressed: (i) Why do organizations invest in competence development? (ii) What effects can realistically be achieved through competence development? (iii) What characterizes successful strategies for competence development in organizations? Before these questions are dealt with, different views of the meaning of the concepts of competence and competence development are presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important purpose of higher social work education is to guide students to acquire and develop social-communicative competencies. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role students’ personality characteristics, self-perceived communicative competence and learning conceptions play in the acquisition and development of social-communicative competencies. We designed and tested a hypothetical model on the student-related variables – self-perceived communicative competence, learning conceptions and reported learning activities regarding communication – in relation to performance scores. We were interested in developmental trends in the above mentioned variables. We also wanted to gain insight into the relationships among the variables. The study was set up according to a longitudinal, within-subjects design in order to study intra-individual changes. One-hundred and twenty-three first-year social-work students participated in this study. Many changes were found in students characteristics, reported deployed learning activities and study results during their first academic year. Except for confidence in “showing sympathy”, which was already relatively high at the beginning of the study, all scores on aspects of students’ self-perceived social-communicative competence increased. Assessment scores on comparable communication tests also increased significantly. Extraversion and emotional stability were the only two personality characteristics, which seemed rather stable. Agreeableness decreased while autonomy increased continuously during the first academic year. It seemed to be possible to set up a model, which may serve as a starting point for further research into the development of social-communicative competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative research study addresses the issue of how effective pre-medical programs are in preparing students for medical practice. Students nearing completion of a pre-medical program were interviewed and observed when consulting with patients in teaching hospitals, with the focus on how they understood and carried out medical practice. The study highlights significant differences in the outcome of the pre-medical program with respect to students' understanding of medical practice. Case studies are used to illustrate these differences. The results demonstrate that reaching a diagnosis and having a firm base in knowledge about symptoms and sicknesses are important to the students' understanding of medical practice. However, there are differences in the emphasis given to these issues and, more particularly, in the extent to which other aspects are taken into account. The students' understanding of medical practice range from something the doctor does to the patient's body to contributing to the person's health and life quality through cooperation and mutual respect. Implications for medical education arising from the study are addressed, underlining the need for a clear and explicit focus on developing students' understanding of medical practice throughout the pre-medical program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What does medical practice mean to students entering undergraduate medical education? What do these students see as central to the work of a medical doctor? What do they regard as difficult challenges they are likely to face in medical practice? What implications do their perspectives on these questions have for medical education? In the qualitative research study reported in this article, students beginning undergraduate medical education characterised medical practice in a variety of ways. In brief, they characterised medical practice as: (a) helping or saving; (b) diagnosing or treating using required procedures; (c) locating the problem and informing the patient; (d) while diagnosing and treating, interacting in a supportive way; (e) seeking a way forward together; or (f) enabling the patient to better deal with his or her life situation. Some differences based on gender and method of admission to medical education are noted. Implications for medical education include the need to address: variation in characterising medical practice; ways in which medical knowledge and medical care are viewed; non-biomedical aspects as mainstream in the medical curriculum; concerns about difficult human encounters in medical practice; and development of professional identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]