The Relevance of Work Based Learning on the Federal Initiative on Recognition of Prior Learning Outcomes on Higher Ed

1. The Relevance of Work Based Learning on the Federal Initiative on Recognition of Prior Learning Outcomes on Higher Education Programmes Ida Stamm-Riemer Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH Claudia Loroff VDI VDE Innovation + Technik GmbH

2. Content • Work Based Learning and Lifelong Learning in the German Education System • Federal Initiative on Recognition of Prior Certificated Learning on Study Programmes • Case studies • Discussion • Next Step

3. 1 Work Based Learning and Lifelong Learning in the German Education System • WBL in VET in form of the “dual system” • WBL in HE no systematic approach • LLL: problems with permeability and learning career

4. 2 Federal Initiative on Recognition of Prior Certificated Learning on Study Programmes objectives: • to enhance individual qualifications and potentials • to make the education system more permeable • to support lifelong learning structure: • 12 pilot projects • scientific monitoring group • Board of important players

5. 2 Federal Initiative on Recognition of Prior Certificated Learning on Study Programmes project objectives: • to identify and describe learning outcomes in vocational education and training, and in higher education • to assess and find equivalences between vocational education and training, and higher education regarding learning outcomes • to develop a procedure to recognise learning outcomes from vocational education and training for study programmes

6. 3 Case studies 3.1 University of Oldenburg 3.2 Workflow-embedded qualification and the new IT Further Education System

7. 3.1 Case study: University of Oldenburg • Bachelor study programme (1) • Course design (2) • Module design (3) • Applied scientific project(4) • Conclusions (5)

8. Bachelor study programme (1) • study programme on business administration for small and medium enterprises • tailored to the needs of junior members of the management of SME for academic education • adult students mainly from branches like trade, service, crafts and industry, and working in areas such as human resources development, marketing, management or have their own firm • a distance learning higher education programme with elements of blended learning

9. Course design (2) • 10 obligatory modules on basic knowledge of business management, • 10 compulsory optional modules on further knowledge of business management and on broadening foreign language skills, and • a final module consisting of the Bachelor thesis and a research colloquium accompanying the thesis • obligatory and optional modules are structured in the same manner and comprise six phases or steps respectively

10. Module design (3)

11. Applied scientific project(4) • project in the world of work holds the key to the methodological approach of the course concept • characterised by the following features: • close ties to problems relevant to the world of work / transfer of theory to practice under consideration of the company context, • a clear linkage to the contents, theories and models of the course material, • an acceptable coordination effort and manageable work load • a clearly circumscribed topic • group of 3 to 4 students working on the same topic

12. Conclusions (5) • elaborate concept of project-oriented learning in higher education meets some criteria of WBL defined by the DEWBLAM project group • learner undertakes an applied scientific project, essential and relevant for study and work environments • project work as an element of WBL is an educational and training approach, central for competence development

13. Conclusions (5) • an experience-centred teaching and learning approach in which the learner will develop competences in multiple contexts, especially in and because of the workplace • takes place in a context of structured partnerships and environment and brings about a definite added value for all parties involved, namely the learner, the higher education institution and the workplace • process lies in the hands of the learner him- or herself, which entails the fact that she/he her- or himself is responsible for the own learning experience and the ensuing transition

14. 3.2 Workflow-embedded qualification and the new IT Further Education System • The new IT Further Education System (1) • Recognition of prior WBL for Operative Professionals (2) • ProIT Professionals (3) • ANKOM-IT (4) • The Role of WBL in the Pilot Projects (5)

15. Coachlearning assistance Technical Experttechnical advice Superior work organisation Work Process Oriented Curricula Real work assignments Training Processes • process-oriented abstract description • contains tasks, competencies and tools • description of learning outcomes • combination of real work assignments on basis of the Work Process Oriented Curricula to create an on-the-job training • identification of relevant work processes for an on-the-job training Documentation Certification The new IT Further Education System (1) Participant

16. Recognition of prior WBL for Operative Professionals (2) • two projects focus on the development of an equivalence process to assess the extend of recognition of prior work based learning for Operative Professionals • common goal: to create a systematic approach to compare the learning outcomes of Operative Professionals with the learning outcomes of certain study programmes

17. ProIT Professionals (3) Main activities: • development of a systematic method to identify the equivalences of the learning outcomes • cooperation with representatives from industry, universities and the Chamber of Commerce for expertises and acceptance Important for WBL: • focus on the context of application as reference point to compare learning outcomes from vocational education and higher education, and not on the context of a learning process for the development of their equivalences identification method •  learning outcomes of work embedded learning processes can be compared with learning outcomes from higher education •  opens possibilities for the acceptance and recognition for work based learning

18. ANKOM-IT (4) Main activities: • no own method but supports the development process of ProIT Professional with expertises • compares the documentations of Operative Professionals with bachelor thesis’ to identify further correspondences and differences • evaluation of the possible utilisation of individual portfolios to complement a systematic equivalence identification method Important for WBL: • evaluation of the method on six attendees which participate in a qualification process for Operative Professionals • implementation of an examination board for the Operative Professional at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Braunschweig (2 employee representatives, 2 employer representatives, 1 dean from a university of applied sciences)

19. The Role of WBL (5) • first results: learning outcomes of the work-embedded qualification process can be recognised on higher education • WBL has only an indirect role because of the relevance of work-embedded qualification in the new IT Further Education System - the focus is the recognition of work-embedded qualification processes in vocational training for Operative Professionals on an academic level • the idea of transfer projects oriented on Work Process Oriented Curricula could be an approach to bring WBL into higher education

20. The Role of WBL (5) • qualification process in the new IT Further Education System does not contain a scientifically oriented reflection process based on theoretical approaches or methodology On academic level, scientifically oriented education is in focus and practical experience is implemented in internships  WBL could bring the two approaches together • due to the changes in the German higher education system (Diploma versus Bachelor/Master) the question for many universities today is in which extent they want to become education service providers for the labour market and/or how they follow a scientific path  reason why universities are reluctant when it comes to vocational training and recognition of prior learning?

21. 4 Discussion • the federal initiative contains projects with high and low proximity to the work based learning approach • the projects described are already close to the idea of learning in work processes because of • the systematic use of projects implemented in a special setting • the acceptance of learning in work processes and • the recognition of learning outcomes acquired at work processes

22. 4 Discussion • special objective of the described pilot projects: to recognise the learning outcomes gained by projects done at work • other projects use different sources to identify these equivalents (e.g. examination regulations) • challenge for the projects is to convince their colleagues at universities by a well proved method to identify equivalents of learning outcomes gained by learning in projects using work processes to learning outcomes of higher education

23. 5 Next Step Evaluate whether there is a diversity (and to which extent) of methods… • to identify equivalents of learning outcomes and • to recognise them …by projects with different proximity to work based learning approaches.

24. Thank you for your attention! Further information available on http://ankom.his.de Claudia Loroff loroff@vdivde-it.de Ida Stamm stamm@his.de