Stephanie Schöllkopf
Overview
The School of Technology at the Robert Bosch College in Ulm is aimed at students with relevant vocational training and one year of work experience and which focuses on practical application of learning outcomes. The State-Certified Technician is a vocational qualification that teaches learners the interdisciplinary professional knowledge required to act as a mid-level manager.
This is one of the reasons why this qualification is so important in adult vocational education. Graduates of the School of Technology must be able to independently recognize, structure, analyze, and assess problems in their professional field and develop ways to find viable solutions. Other learning objectives include taking on responsible roles, leading and guiding employees, the ability to offer constructive criticism, conflict management skills, as well as teamwork skills.
Experience-Oriented Learning projects are particularly important to the School of Technology as they encourage and enable the learners to experience the learning objectives and the required action skills stipulated in the education plan. This enables the students to acquire not only theoretical but also practical skills that qualify them for operational leadership roles at the middle management level as well as in the freelance sector.
Topic: Reliable information is key to the success of an enterprise
The focus of this learning project is on the realization that communicating reliable information is absolutely key to the success of a company. This becomes relevant for students of the School of Technology, for example, through the link to the education plan in the Operational Communications (OPCOM) course. The aim of OPCOM is to enable students to act with responsibility and empathy in “professional situations and to develop an understanding of motivational and communication processes. They can lead themselves and others, successfully design operational processes, and solve problems both creatively and in a goal-oriented manner.”
Staging
a. Preparation
Using room dividers and facilitation boards, I blocked off a small area of a classroom. The larger part of the room became the team area, while the small separated part was turned into the work area. If necessary, the work area can also be “outsourced,” for example, to a small lounge. There should ideally be no line-of-sight or voice contact between the two areas.
The CollaborationPuzzle, which had already been assembled with two rods, was placed on a table in the work area. The remaining six rods were lying in front of the CollaborationPuzzle. In order to correctly record the steps in the work area, I placed a hand/tally counter in the work area.
In the run-up to the learning project, I stated and discussed the rules. A flip chart with the rules was placed within reach and visible to everyone in the classroom throughout the learning project:
• Your team has 35 minutes to complete the task.
• The team has a total budget of 100 work steps.
• Only one participant is allowed to be in the work area at any one time.
• Each participant is only allowed to perform two work steps in the work area at any one time.
• Each participant will use the hand counter to confirm his/her work steps.
• No speaking is allowed in the work area.
• Information can only be shared in the team area.
b. Performance and progression
I introduced the students to the situation through storytelling: “Imagine that you are all at your place of work and your team (work group/department, etc.) has been given a new and innovative project, but which involves a problem. You are not 100% clear of what the basic elements of the project are and it is now up to you as a team to demonstrate creative problem-solving skills in a relatively short period of time (for competition reasons) in order to solve the problem and move the project forward. But see for yourselves.”
I then gave the students the opportunity to look at CollaborationPuzzle in the work area.
The learning project started when I told them the rules and stated the task: “Make sure all the rods have the same height.”
The students had to reach agreement on how they would place the rods of different lengths so that they were all in the correct position. The participants were not yet aware of the fact that the slots were of different lengths.
After a brief discussion, the students entered the work area one by one and carried out up to two work steps. Typically, the students were so eager to start the learning project that they did not coordinate anything. Skipping the planning step resulted in a chaotic and haphazard work process. The participants tried things out, measured the sticks, passed on partial or incomplete and unstructured information, and made the odd discovery or two. However, misunderstandings also arose and supposedly sound solutions failed. Some previous steps were undone, leading to further failed attempts. This resulted in a noticeable shrinkage in the budget available for the work steps.
The task could only be completed when the class found a way to correctly and completely share the experience they had gained and the information they had gathered while working alone in the workspace with the group, and by developing a joint strategy.
If the class was in danger of failing due to a lack of coordination, it could also be helpful to intervene. Referring to the PDCA cycle as part of continuous improvement, for example, often provided the necessary impetus to get the group talking to each other and developing a strategy.
c. Finish
The learning project was stopped after 35 minutes, even though the class did not manage to position all the rods correctly in the allotted time.
Reflection: “Only that which is received, is communicated”
If a class does not succeed in positioning the rods at the correct height, a good evaluation phase can turn this failure into a gain.
The first discussion about the experience was important for all participants. In the second phase of the evaluation, the group could discuss what it would have taken to successfully complete the learning project. The students drew a number of conclusions from the learning project, such as the following:
Transfer to the real world
| Elements in the learning project | Elements in the real world |
|---|---|
| CollaborationPuzzle | Task, assignment, project in the company |
| Team members | Employees in a company |
| 100 work steps | Work steps/time units within the task |
| Group meetings | 1st phase of the PDCA cycle : PLAN |
| Participant activity | 2nd phase of the PDCA cycle: DO |
| Group meetings | 3rd phase of the PDCA cycle: CHECK |
| Participant activity | 4th phase of the PDCA cycle: ACT |
| Sharing of information | Communication structure, internal communication, sharing of information in the workplace among teammates in a department |
| All rods have equal heights at the end of the learning project | Successfully completed task resulting from an optimized work process |
• It makes sense to share ideas and search for a strategy both before and while each participant is active.
• A written record of what is agreed and the strategy developed is helpful.
• Information must be shared correctly and in full.
• Information can only be shared successfully if everyone listens carefully to the most recently active participant.
• Information should also be written down.
• Collaboration is absolutely necessary.
• Mistakes help you find the right solution.
• All team members must actively participate in the task.
• Project management incorporating the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act) is beneficial.
• And so on.
Conclusion
“CollaborationPuzzle” is a really challenging learning project for college classes. The students can experience firsthand that sharing information carefully and in full when carrying out a task requires certain prerequisites. It also requires coordinating how the class communicates with each other and acts on a strategy (PDCA cycle). In the process, students often draw on the experiences they have gained in previous learning projects, which in turn are consolidated and further intensified.