Jürgen Seifried

Discourses on Professional Learning : On the Boundary Between Learning and Working

Research on workplace learning brings learning and working together and investigates the relationships between working and learning. Working and learning are determining factors of human activity, but are they in conflict with each other or is there a coincidence of working and learning? Where are the boundaries between working and learning and how can they be characterised? When discussing the boundary between learning and working, three questions arise: (1) How do boundaries become apparent? (2) Why should we cross these boundaries? (3) How can we cross these boundaries? This reader comprises attempts to approach these questions.

Effects of age, gender and occupation on perceived workplace learning support

The provision of workplace support is central to how and what is and can be learnt at work. Hence, the distribution of those experiences is an important factor in the quality of workplace learning experiences. The study reported and discussed here aims to identify differences in levels of support and opportunities for applying knowledge in workplaces among factors of age-, gender-, and occupation-related cohorts of employees across a range of levels of employment. A convenience sample of 459 employees from different occupations, companies and workplaces participated in this cross-sectional exploratory study. Comparisons between categories of age and occupation are based on the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test and comparisons regarding gender are performed with the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test. The results propose that for this sample neither age nor gender, but level of employment is the crucial factor. Put simply, the evidence suggests that those in better jobs, regardless of age or gender, receive more support for workplace learning.

Diagnostic Competence of (Prospective) Teachers in Vocational Education

Diagnostic competence is considered an important facet of teacher competence that can have a positive impact on learning processes and the performance of students (KMK, 2004; Bruder et al., 2010).

Professional Competence of Prospective Teachers in Business and Economics Education: Evaluation of a Competence Model Using Structural Equation Modeling.

Teacher competence is crucial for quality of teaching and learner achievement. Competency models and competence measurement are prevalent in domains such as the natural sciences and lacking in others. We conducted our research in the field of business and economics education by focusing on the accounting domain because it is key to a deep understanding of the economic context and the development of economics competence. To teach well, teachers require professional knowledge, which is mainly composed of content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and pedagogical knowledge (PK). Our competence model comprises the cognitive component of professional knowledge and the noncognitive components of beliefs, self-efficacy, and self-regulation. To measure competence in competence of prospective teachers, we employed novel instruments to test for professional knowledge and beliefs as well as established ones to test for self-regulation and self-efficacy. The sample consists of 1,152 students at 24 German universities. The structure of the competence model was tested. Results suggest that professional competence in accounting has at least four distinct dimensions (CK, PCK, beliefs, and self-regulation aspects).

Error Climate and How Individuals Deal with Errors in the Workplace

This cross-sectional field study investigates the effect of contextual influences (error climate) on reactions to errors (how individuals deal with errors). We surveyed n = 830 apprentices in various trainee positions in the hotel and restaurant industry. The responses show that perceived error climate in the training company, as well as the self-concept of professional competence, predict the way in which apprentices deal individually with errors. Moreover, the findings indicate that both—socio-demographic group and the characteristics of the organization—also influence affective responses to errors.

Lernmotivation in lehrer- und schülerzentrierten Unterrichtssequenzen - Analyse des Unterrichtserlebens mit Hilfe von Selbstberichts- und Videodaten

Zu einer wichtigen Grundbedingung erfolgreicher Berufsausbildung zahlt motiviertes Lernen. Da dem Status einer abgeschlossenen Berufsausbildung heute eher ein temporarer Charakter zukommt, ist motiviertes Lernen daruber hinaus als Gelingensbedingung fur Lebenslanges Lernen zu betrachten (Sembill 2000). Im Hinblick auf die vermutete Bedeutung von motiviertem Lernen fur den (Aus-)Bildungserfolg ist es somit unmittelbar von Interesse, wie sich Motivationslagen von Lernenden darstellen — und zwar sowohl fur jedes Individuum als auch fur Gruppen oder gesamte Klassenverbande. Zudem ist fur das padagogische Handeln von Bedeutung, wie Kontextbedingungen von den Lernern wahrgenommen werden und wie diese sich auf Lernmotivation auswirken. Schlieslich gilt es, durch den Einbezug von Lernervariablen zu einem besseren Verstandnis von Motivationsprozessen zu gelangen.

Emotions, coping and learning in error situations in the workplace

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the complex relationship between emotions, coping approaches and learning in error situations in the workplace. The study also examines the influence of individual error orientation, as well as psychological safety, and team learning behaviour as contextual factors. Design/methodology/approach To measure emotions, coping and learning from errors in situ, a semi-standardised error diary was administered. Individual and contextual factors were measured by standard questionnaires. Totally, 22 young employees participated in the study and recorded n = 99 error situations in a three-week diary period. Findings Errors typically provoked negative emotions, particularly in cases of “public” errors. Negative emotions provoked emotion-focused coping. However, there was no direct effect of emotions on learning. Learning seems to depend primarily on the in-depth analysis of the error, no matter whether the original coping intention is aimed at problem-solving, self-protection or emotion regulation. A quick error correction does not necessarily result in learning. Furthermore, plausible influences of individual and contextual factors were found, but must be interpreted cautiously. Research limitations/implications The small sample size, particularly in person-level analyses, is a major shortcoming of the study. Originality/value To overcome shortcomings of common retrospective self-reports such as interviews or questionnaires, this study uses the diary method as an innovative approach to investigate processes in situ.

Der Einsatz von Videovignetten in der wirtschaftspädagogischen Forschung: Messung und Förderung von fachwissenschaftlichen und fachdidaktischen Kompetenzen angehender Lehrpersonen

Neben der Frage, wie professionelle Kompetenzen von Lehrkraften zu modellieren sind, geht es aktuell vermehrt um die Moglichkeiten und Grenzen von Testinstrumenten zur Kompetenzmessung. Dabei werden insbesondere solche Instrumente gefordert, mit denen eine Erfassung der Qualitat von Handlungen in authentischen Situationen moglich wird. Die im vorliegenden Beitrag diskutierten Moglichkeiten von Videovignetten greifen diese Forderung auf. Es wird exemplarisch gezeigt, dass mit Hilfe von Videovignetten handlungsnahe Erhebungssituationen geschaffen werden konnen. Mit Blick auf fachdidaktische Kompetenzen von angehenden Lehrkraften an kaufmannischen Schulen wird mittels des Einsatzes von Videovignetten gepruft, welche Handlungsstrategien Probanden benennen konnen. Dabei steht der lernforderliche Umgang mit Fehlersituationen im Rechnungswesenunterricht im Blickpunkt.

Modeling and Measurement of Teacher Competence: Old Wine in New Skins?

In the last decade, there is an increasing discussion on teaching quality and teachers’ professional competence (e.g., Cochran-Smith M, Teach Teach Educ 17:527–546, 2001). International comparative studies such as the Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics (TEDS-M) and the Mathematics Teaching in the twenty-first century study (MT21) reveal that German preservice and in-service teachers lack central competence facets (e.g., content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge; cf. Blomeke S, Felbrich A, Muller C, Erziehungswissenschaftliches Wissen am Ende der Lehrerausbildung. In: Blomeke S, Kaiser G, Lehmann R (eds) Professionelle Kompetenz angehender Lehrerinnen und Lehrer. Wissen, Uberzeugungen und Lerngelegenheiten deutscher Mathematik-Studierender und -Referendare – erste Ergebnisse zur Wirksamkeit der Lehrerausbildung. Waxmann, Munster, pp 195–217, 2008, Blomeke S, Kaiser G, Lehmann R (eds) Professionelle Kompetenz angehender Lehrerinnen und Lehrer – Wissen, Uberzeugungen und Lerngelegenheiten deutscher Mathematikstudierender und -referendare. Erste Ergebnisse zur Wirksamkeit der Lehrerbildung. Munster (et al.), Waxmann, Munster, 2010). These findings suggest that teacher education programs fail to successfully prepare student teachers for their tasks. A central problem is that – even if there is an increasing amount of studies on preservice teachers’ competence – research on vocational teachers’ competence in the domain of business and economic education is so far scarce. So the key issue of this chapter is to provide an overview of research activities in this field of interest. To do so, the chapter will start from a broad perspective with a look back on the origins of competence-based teacher education (CBTE). The focus will be on competence definitions, modeling, and measurement in teacher education. Approaches will be presented and discussed critically (Sect. 41.2). It must be stated that the early approaches were not successful because of a lack of conceptual clarity and precision as well as a weakness of the empirical foundation (for a critical assessment of CBTE initiatives, see Mulder M, Weigel T, Collins K, J Vocat Educ Train 591:65–85, 2007).

Mode Effects in Correcting Students’ Errors: A Comparison of Computer-Based and Paper-Pencil Tests

Computer-based testing (CBT) is considered to have several advantages compared with paper-pencil-based tests (PPT). It allows the embedding of different formats (e.g. audio and video files), quick and (semi-)automatic scoring and therefore opportunities for adoptions, measuring of additional information, such as response times, inclusion of a broader variety of test subjects as well as the avoidance of errors in data transmission (e.g. ambiguous and illegible information) and analysis. Overall, it is generally accepted that CBT saves resources such as time, materials and personnel in comparison to PPT situations. Against this background we favour the CBT approach for data collection. Nevertheless, CBT also entails several disadvantages that need to be considered, such as hardware or software problems (e.g. freezing, crashing, display errors, or when the same content is displayed differently). In addition, influencing factors conditioned not only by the technical aspects of a CBT situation but also due to individual characteristics of the participants, are discussed in the literature. Main concerns in using CBT address questions of comparability and equivalence of paper-pencil testing (PPT) and computer based testing (CBT), which has provoked a long history of research with regard to so-called mode effects. To answer the question whether the tests used to evaluate the training programme for prospective teachers can be used in CBT as well as in PPT, we conducted a pilot study and analysed whether mode effects exist. Results indicate that there is no systematic influence of the testing mode on test persons’ performance.