Professional competence of carpenter apprentices at the end of vocational training. A study on competence modelling and competence development

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Reinhold Nickolaus
• Subject Area: General and Domain-Specific Teaching and Learning
• Term: from 2010 to 2016
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 193903927

The project that is presented here is a follow-up to the DFG project Ni 606/7-1 and is drawing on experiences gained in other projects (DFG Ni 606/6-1; AQuaKom). The overarching aims of the project are: 1. To develop a model of professional competence, analysing the competence structure of carpenter apprentices at the end of their training. The model will embrace cognitive and motivational aspects and will distinguish between routine and non-routine tasks. 2. To generate an explanatory model accounting for the apprentices different competence levels after three years of vocational education and training. Several cognitive and motivational predictors will be incorporated into the model. Besides, effects of curricular foci and other important aspects of instructional quality are taken into account. Our theoretical considerations are based on (1) Sun s CLARION-model (2006), which distinguishes between action-centred cognition and non-action-centred cognition, both being in constant interaction with the motivational and the meta-cognitive subsystem, (2) Ackerman s theory on skill acquisition (1992) and (3) other research findings on competence modelling in technical domains, which supported the assumptions made in the CLARION-model. In our previous project (Ni 606/7-1) the focus was on the apprentices first year of training, which is based on one curriculum for all building trades (e.g. carpenters, bricklayers, tilers etc.). At the end of the first year, our findings indicate a four-dimensional competence structure (one dimension of professional problem-solving skills and three sub-dimensions of professional knowledge). It is yet unknown whether this competence structure remains stable over the course of the training. It might be assumed that the sub-dimensions of professional knowledge show higher correlations when focusing on action-centred tasks than when non-action-centred tasks are taken into account. Similarly, it can be expected that correlations differ when routine or non-routine tasks are considered. Our second focus is on developing an explanatory model that accounts for the differences between higher and lower achieving apprentices. Cognitive abilities, professional (pre-) knowledge, instructional quality, curricular foci and the apprentices individual motivation will be considered here.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants