My paper will present the results of academic research and development in one of these pilot projects between the Volkswagen Company and the local junior college (Berufsschule). Within the realm of specified curricular objectives, the concept of "arranging learning" in structured and complex learning environments was introduced that challenge self-activity, problem solving, acting in networks, and communication skills. Within this context, case studies play an important role.
After presenting the curricular context of the WOKI model for the initial training of adminisitrative and commercial staff in manufacturing industries (Industriekaufmann), I will focus on two case studies and discuss criteria for their construction. The final part will remark on the development, evaluation and revision of materials and close with a summary of measures taken for transfer and dissemination.
Whereas the Federal Government is responsible for regulating in-company training, it is the States (Laender) that are in charge of the school curricula. About one third of the curriculum is used for general education and two thirds for both theoretical and practical occupational training. The weekly school days can also be combined into continuous blocks of several weeks (block schooling), alternating with blocks of exclusive company training. This is the case with the Volkswagen project that I am about to present.
A general conclusion is that VW has expectations of creative and imaginative contributions from its staff and therefore sees competence to include technical proficiency, personal commitment and collaborative effectiveness. "Overarching" capabilities the company is particularly concerned include:
A major question within the project is how to develop this ability. Curriculum research has shown that it is impossible to derive operational learning objectives from such "overarching" aims as "thinking in network systems", "problem-solving", or "collaboration". Learning objectives can only be formulated by giving them content. In our case, this means a close tie-up of overarching learning objectives with the professional content of commerce and administration. From a point of view of vocational training, we are not concerned whether there are such individual attributes as problem solving ability or communicating ability. Rather, we are concerned with content e.g. the quality of thinking about complex company and general economic inter-relationships, the ability to resolve business problems satisfactorily, to work effectively with other employees and to negotiate successfully with clients.
WOKI's contribution to theory and practice of vocational training is the concept of "Lernarrangements". In order to integrate knowledge and skills concerning the new information technologies, to foster overarching abilities and at the same time develop vocational proficiency in traditional commercial knowledge, the learning environment has to be enhanced and highly structured to provide possibilities for self-learning individually as well as in small groups. Instead of traditional teaching, company instructors construct and monitor learning arrangements like simulation games, orientation weeks, or small-group projects in the computer self-learning studio. Passive learning on the job is gradually to be substituted by active discovery learning, peripheral learning by a more systematic approach of advance organizers ("skouting" projects).
An example of such a Lernarrangement is an exploration in personnel process management. A group of trainees has to construct a mental model "From job application to employment". Using their theory knowledge previously gained at the school, they consider the procedures that a potential new employee has to follow in the company and outside, costs, forms and written communications between applicant and company, rules and employment laws, agreements, EDP. The trainees find the necessary information from various departments. They work under pressure of time, make a presentation, have evaluative discussions and use the material in later training.
In order to enrich the development of overarching, non-technical, capabilities, special "loose leaves" are produced for trainers and trainees. These aids go into such details as to what kinds of data, forms, lists can be made accessible to trainees, and what understandings have to be reached with the "responsible contact" in each department.
Another example comes from the distribution phase. The particular learning block is called "From ordering a car to its delivery". Distribution is a complex function. It has relationships with dealers, transport and traffic, debtors and customer service. Substantial computerization and network processes make it virtually impossible to find one's bearings and gain an overview from any single workplace. A structured investigation can therefore provide a basis for subsequent learning units.
The WOKI experience has been of much interest in Germany, and recently attempts have been made to transfer both the holistic concept and materials developed at Volkswagen to small and medium-sized enterprises. This has successfully been done in the case of simulation games, skouting projects and the computer studio concept.
The response from the school consisted of three innovative approaches to learning which complemented the work of the company project teams and made possible an integration of company and school education and training programs.
In order to understand the role of case studies as an integral part of the school training, the holistic approach of the school curriculum has to be well understood. Before I go into details, let me therefore first comment on the second and third areas of innovation.
The most important starting point to an integrative approach was the "phase concept". The total vocational education needs were articulated in four phases, each of them taking six to seven weeks to complete. They are:
phase 1: materials management
phase 2: personnel management/production management
phase 3: investment and finance
phase 4: distribution and sales management
A gradual process of allocating course content to phases has produced new sequences of teaching/learning. The process of allocation revealed considerable overlap and created curriculum space which could be taken up by appropriate knowledge of IT and its role in each of the phases. It also created time for some more demanding participative learning methods like case studies.
For every phase, the systematic content structure as found in the business education literature was analyzed and put into a tree diagram. The school's project group then assigned the contents over the six weeks of block schooling to the traditional school courses, i.e. industrial economics (6 hours a week), accountancy (6 hours), micro and macro economics (4 hours), mathematics (3 hrs), organization and data processing (4 hrs) and social studies (3 hrs). That meant a great deal of coordination, as traditionally teachers would not be "vocation oriented" but course oriented. After the six week block, the contents covered in the block will be focussed in a three day case study.
One special problem arose in the case of teaching the new information technologies. There is a temptation to treat EDP and IT as a separate "course" when it should be an integral part of other course learning units. The school developed a "three categories model" to make this possible. The model discriminates between three types of knowledge about hardware in EDP and IT.
Category 1: Basic and technical knowledge and skills, e.g. basic knowledge about EDP, user knowledge of central units and peripheral installations, knowledge about hardware in EDP systems. This is taught in a separate course, i.e. organization/data processing.
Category 2: Knowledge, understanding and skills in the use of EDP, needed by commercial and administrative staff. This applications knowledge includes ability to work with a VDU in the use of menus, spreadsheets, stock-control, orderbook and payroll. This is integrated in various courses and applied particularly within the case studies.
Category 3: Knowledge about the impact of new technologies on a whole enterprise, on the economy and on society. This includes new concepts about supply of materials/components and about production ("Just in Time"), computer controlled manufacturing (CIM), data protection, participation of employees in the introduction of new technologies etc. Knowledge of this kind is taught primarily in industrial economics and in social studies.
The school's holistic approach centers in a simulated bicycle manufacturing company, the WOKI Inc. Medium-sized, it is sufficiently small to be understood as a whole. There are "real" company data, business transactions, problem situations etc, all kept in a databank and administrated by a commercial software package (KHK-Software). All school courses, as well as all case studies, refer to the company in their examples, exercises, problems and irregularities.
Young trainees are introduced to WOKI Inc. as soon as they enter the school. WOKI stays with them throughout their learning period in the school. It is used to position into the total scheme of things any piece of knowledge, information or skill which the trainee acquires. It is a powerful tool in support of the teaching of economics. It helps a trainee to answer the question: What is an enterprise? WOKI Inc. also helps to answer other questions, such as:
Case studies are not unknown within Germany, although they are not widely used in vocational training. Readers capable of reading German may want to turn to the comprehensive overview by Kaiser [1983], study recent case studies developed by Reetz et.al. [1988] for use in rehabilitation vocational training or acquaint themselves with a number of interesting examples put forth in the early 1980's by a model project for initial vocational training [FLAPS].
The WOKI case studies are different because as learning arrangements they are totally integrated in the school curriculum. For the completion of every one of the four phases of school block training, WOKI has developed a case study:
This case study runs over two days in small groups of 2-3 students each, with three teachers as overall-tutors representing industrial economics, accountancy, organization/data processing. The students are allowed to use their text books and course notes, in addition they receive written instructions. They have access to the computer studio and the commercial software used throughout the courses as well as to tax laws, social security lists, general and company insurance data, relevant information on banks etc. Within three days, they have to produce the result of their work as computer listings, which then can be assessed and marked.
During the previous six week period of study, they have covered - among a host of other knowledge - the abstract and highly generalized scheme of computing wages and salaries. They "know" that wages are computed from weekly hours worked, adding extra pay for piece work, night work, deducting taxes, social security and health insurance etc. But they have never done that in actual pratice. At the Volkwagen offices, they may have seen some of the work relating to wages and salaries being done at computer terminals, but with highly specialized and fragmented computer work that goes on in a large company, little is to learn about the process as a whole.
The case study simulates work at the personnel office of WOKI Inc. and provides the opportunity of working with the actual data of the company and a payroll of some 90 workers, employees, and staff, using computers and software and drawing upon all the information necessary. For didactic reasons, relevant examples of the office work are chosen. For a assumed period of three months, while the complexity of the cases increases as does the comprehension and the skill of the students, the students have to solve the following problems (follows a selection):
January:
Students are asked to carefully plan, execute and check their work against criteria provided, using and selecting all necessary information from the sources available, while the teachers monitor the learning processes of the students, supplying help whenever it seems relevant from a viewpoint of fostering self-activity. Time is a critical factor for most of the groups because the cases to be studied and solved pose entirely new problems. But this is intended: in real situations, workers and employees expect to get their wages and salaries on time, and this may mean stress to the office workers responsible for complete inclusion of all relevant information and accurate accounting.
The case study is concluded with another day of plenary sessions of all groups in which the students will review their results, talk about difficulties encountered and offer suggestions for improving the learning materials. This, together with the observations of the teacher tutors, has produced important data not only for the revision of the case study materials but also for the improvement of course instruction during the block schooling prior to the case study.
WOKI Inc. has been getting into rough waters. A Korean competitor has entered the market, the company has been producing more than could be sold, and from 1992 on, the common European market will increase competition but also offer new opportunities. The third case study having centered on the problem of cutting costs by introducing new technology in production and information processing (CIM), at this time the students are to develop a marketing strategy for the enterprise.
Before they can do this, they are to analyze recent company data (balance sheet, profits and losses) using a spreadsheet program. This preliminary part of the case study is to deepen the students' understanding of the previous phase (investment and finance) and to further train their skill in using computer programs for analysis and planning; the results will be checked and marked.
The analysis then moves on to several central questions: (1) What are the strengths and the weaknesses of the company? What positive effects can be shown of having invested in CIM? (2) What will be a likely development of the bicycle market in the near future? Will WOKI Inc. be able to keep its share of the market? (3) What are the strategic aims of the enterprise? How can the positive effects of CIM be used for that strategy?
In order to plan a marketing strategy, the students will have to review the theory covered during the previous six weeks (i.e. company policies of production, distribution, contract and communication). They are provided with a general analysis of the situation of the market put out by the association of bicycle manufacturers. They are also encouraged to buy specific information from a market research institute "run" by the teachers. (This, of course, will add to costs.)
The students' group product is to be a detailed marketing plan, carefully derived from strategic aims, specifying costs and expected benefits. There is, of course, no "right" answer, but the quality of argumentation as well as the plausibility of intelligent planning can well be judged.
After having passed in their papers, the groups meet for a plenary session of both presenting their strategies and solutions and offering suggestions for the revision of the case study.
Utilize previous learning. Within the structure of a given phase, case studies are to draw upon knowledge and skills acquired in the courses of the six weeks at school. Without careful instruction on the part of the teachers and constant attention on the part of the students, difficulties will arise in solving the problems posed in the case studies. Differences in students' abilities because of previous schooling should be carefully considered and problems posed in the case studies adjusted accordingly.
Within the macro structure of the three-year training, the case studies are to utilize previously acquired knowledge, insights and skills, thus becoming wider in their scope and more demanding in requirements.
Bridge theory and practice. At the transition from a block of schooling to a period of company training, case studies are to provide a useful transition from highly abstract, systematic and theoretical instruction to the specific practice in the company. By applying theory to practical problems, students are to experience the practical relevance of systematic learning; by reducing the complexity of a business transactions of a big corporation to the transparence of a medium-sized company, case studies are to prestructure learning at Volkswagen as advance organizers.
Summarize a phase. As a focal point at the end of a school block, previous learning is focused and brought to the point where ends meet. Case studies are to be central, not peripheral to dominant concents of the phase.
Pose a complex problem. The problem(s) posed in the case studies are not simple application of knowledge previously acquired. They are to involve the content of several courses, draw upon analytical capabilities as well as fundamental knowledge and skills, utilize different kinds of information, and lead to new answers.
Foster team work. Usual school learning is characterized by a high degree of teacher control and one-way-communication. Case studies are to train students in communicative and collaborative skills. Therefore, work is to be done in small groups, inter-group discussions are to be encouraged, solutions are to be presented verbally and feedback is to be asked and given in plenary sessions.
Challenge self-activity. This does not mean that individual group members are to remain passive, leaving work to be done to a student leader. Teacher tutors are to encourage individual contributions, differentiation of roles, and reasonable divison of work. They are to restrain themselves from offering advice and solutions rather than asking questions that will provoke discussion and group action.
Train working under time pressure. To practise efficient procedures and to simulate actual working conditions, little time is allowed for the assignments. Thus the groups are forced to carefully plan and efficiently organize their work.
Train problem solving. The problems posed by the case studies must be adequate to the students' abilities. They should not be mere application of knowledge or skills, but must be a challenge that requires systematic planning, deciding, executing, assessing and subsequent reflection on part of the students.
Train practical skills. Case studies in conjunction with computer activity are to train students in practical skills, e.g. handling computer hardware and peripherals, working with software (the KHK commercial software, word processing, business graphics, spreadsheets or telecommunication), intelligently using handbooks and other information sources, structuring and presenting solutions, etc.
Lead to a specific product. Case studies should be constructed towards a tangible outcome. Students appreciate working towards a goal, an assessible product, which they find useful and of which they can be proud of. This makes learning more meaningful to them and will, in our experience, motivate them for further learning activity.
The completed case studies will be finally revised by the Ministry of Education of the State of Lower Saxony and then published. They can be used by any school that will adapt its curriculum to the WOKI example. This does not mean, however, that the specific software used in Wolfsburg is necessary for using the case studies materials and data.
To date, Materials Management and Wages and Salaries, the first two of the case studies developed, have been completed and will be published soon. Investment and Finance, as well as Marketing Strategy, have been designed and run several times; they should be completed by 1990.
Diepold, Peter; Rischmueller, Heinfried: "Konsequenzen der neuen Informations- und Kommunikationstechniken für Inhalte und Methoden beruflichen Lernens am Beispiel des Modellversuchs WOKI", in: Achtenhagen/John (eds), Lernprozesse und Lernorte in der beruflichen Bildung, Göttingen 1988, 309-330
Diepold, Peter et al: Lernarrangements, 2. Zwischenbericht der Wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Modellversuchs WOKI, Göttingen 1987
FLAPS (Ministerium für Kultus und Sport Baden-Württemberg): Fallstudien und Planspiele, 4 vols, Crailsheim, no date
Hayes, Chris: An Integrated Vocational Education and Training System for the Future. 'Lernarrangements'in a German Pilot System, London 1988
Hayes, Chris et al: Competence and Competition, London (NEDO/MSC) 1984
Kaiser, Franz-Josef (ed): Die Fallstudie. Theorie und Praxis der Fallstudiendidaktik, Bad Heilbrunn/Obb. 1983
Modellversuch WOKI, Berufsbildende Schulen I: 2. Zwischenbericht, Wolfsburg 1987
Modellversuch WOKI, Berufsbildende Schulen I: 3. Zwischenbericht, Wolfsburg 1988
Reetz, Lothar; Beiler, Jürgen; Seyd, Wolfgang: Fallstudien Materialwirtschaft, Hamburg 1987
Rischmüller, Heinfried; Getsch, Ulrich: Fachdidaktische Überlegungen zur Unterrichtseinheit "Neue Technologien in der Fabrik der Zukunft - CIM: Computerunterstützter Industriebetrieb, Göttingen 1988
Sekretariat der Ständigen Konferenz der Kultusminster der Länder in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland: Neue Medien und moderne Technologien in der Schule. Bestandsaufnahme über die Aktivitäten in den Ländern zur informationstechnischen Bildung, Bonn 1985
Volkswagen AG (in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung): Lernortübergreifende Integration moderner informationsverarbeitender Technologien in die Ausbildung von Industriekaufleuten, Wolfsburg/Berlin, 1987 = Modellversuchs-Info 1
Volkswagen AG (in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung): Lernarrangement "Erkundung in der Ausbildungsphase Vertrieb", Wolfsburg/Berlin 1988 = Modellversuchs-Info 2