BeLEK

  Copyright: © Mario Irrmischer  

Cooperative Education for the Teaching Profession at Schools in the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering – Further Development of Domain-Specific Research-Oriented Subject Didactic Teaching in the Vocational Subjects of mechanical Engineering

 

Synopsis

The focus of the work of the TVET Department (Technical Vocational Education and Training) in the IAW – Institut für Arbeitswissenschaft (Institute of Industrial Engineering and Ergonomics) – In the project BeLEK is on the further development of a high-quality teaching and research profile in the subject didactics of the vocational disciplines of automotive engineering, manufacturing technology, mechanical engineering technology, textile technology, and supply engineering with a focus on work process orientation, inclusion and digitalization.

This is a sub-project of the program BeLEK: Cooperative strengthening of the teaching profession for vocational schools in the Rhineland training region at RWTH Aachen University in association with selected universities of applied sciences within the framework of the Aachener Modell Lehramt Berufskolleg (Aachen model for vocational school teaching).

Challenges

In order to further develop subject-specific didactic teaching in a research-oriented and domain-specific manner, current topics such as work process orientation, inclusion and digitalization must be addressed. Corresponding module handbooks of the specialized didactic courses must be revised and updated. Another area of responsibility is the continuous further development of the curricula of cooperative teacher training and the subject-specific advisory and support services.

Goals

The aim of the BeLEK project is above all to offer and continuously improve the necessary specialized didactic and vocational pedagogical training in the industrial-technical vocational departments in a research-oriented manner. This is to be supported by the establishment and expansion of cooperative training structures. In addition, the attractiveness of the industrial-technical teacher training programs at RWTH Aachen University is to be improved through comprehensive measures in teaching, research and counseling before and during the studies.

Methodology

Current topics, such as work process orientation, inclusion and digitalization, are identified and introduced into the domain-specific research-oriented subject-specific teaching. The goal is to improve the quality of teacher training. To achieve this, measures to improve teaching in the teacher training programs of the industrial-technical vocational specialties are introduced through continuous curricular work. The ideas and experiences from subject-specific teaching on topics of work process orientation and digitalization lead to synergies within the framework of further research in the department of Education for Technical Professions.

The expansion of counseling services and related measures to improve the acquisition of students are being developed and implemented.

Results

So far, didactic courses in mechanical engineering and textile technology have been developed, implemented and evaluated with a focus on inclusion. The focal points of work process orientation and the digitalization of vocational work have been enhanced in courses in the vocational disciplines of automotive engineering, production engineering and supply engineering and improved by the establishment of a “subject-specific laboratory in mechanical engineering".

Funding

The project is funded by the Ministerium für Kultur und Wissenschaft des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen (Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia).

 

Project Partners

The Teacher Training Center – LBZ

Departmental Student Adviser at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University

FH Aachen – University of Applied Sciences

Technische Hochschule Köln – University of Applied Sciences

Hochschule Niederrhein – University of Applied Siences