Bundesinstitut für Berufsbildung (BIBB)

Content

• Background/Context
• Goal, object and structure of ANKOM 2
• Contents and task areas of the ANKOM 2 programme
• Literature

Background/Context

Reform activities to boost permeability between vocational training and higher education have been redoubled over the last decade, and now concentrate on three variants (cf. WOLTER 2012, p. 8) and fields of activity:

• Broadening and simplifying higher education entrance qualifications (HEEQs) for holders of vocational qualifications,
• Transferring credit for vocational competences towards academic degree courses,
• Establishing enabling conditions, forms of organisation and study formats to help vocational qualification holders make the transition into higher education and complete their studies.

On the first variant, far-reaching improvements have been achieved in recent years. So far, however, the resolution on "Higher education entrance for vocationally qualified applicants without a school-leaving certificate conferring university entrance entitlement", passed in 2009 by the KMK (Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany) has had little noticeable impact on transition rates into higher education. This suggests that HEEQs are a necessary but not yet a sufficient condition to motivate larger proportions of vocational qualification holders to embark on a degree. Discussion of the causes for this reluctance to study tend to focus on the difficulty of reconciling the general requirements of a degree course with the living and working conditions of people with vocational qualifications (ULBRICHT 2012, P. 41).

On the second area of activity, "credit transfer", transferable concepts, instruments and procedures have been developed and tested, particularly by the BMBF -  Initiative ANKOM between 2005 - 2008. For the first time, equivalence analyses were conducted to obtain empirical evidence of the considerable potential for vocational learning to be counted towards higher education, and the feasibility of credit transfer (cf. STAMM-RIEMER/LOROFF/HARTMANN 2011). Nevertheless, it is equally clear that credit transfer alone cannot currently be expected to produce any sizeable increase in permeability. The evaluation findings of the scientific backup to the Initiative indicated that to broaden and structurally embed more permeability between vocational and higher education, additional enabling conditions must be created which suit the particular needs and living and working conditions of people with vocational qualifications, and which enable them to complete their studies successfully (cf. FREITAG et al. 2011; MUCKE/KUPFER 2011; STAMM-RIEMER/LOROFF/HARTMANN 2011).

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Goal, object and structure of ANKOM 2

With the publication in 2011 of the BMBF "Guideline on the funding of measures to foster transition from vocational into higher education" (referred to here by the acronym ANKOM 2), a new phase of the Initiative was launched, which addresses the various needs for action outlined above, and develops target-group-specific concepts and transferable implementations.

The object of funding is to establish supportive measures which favour successful completion of studies, taking account of the living situations of working people. Such flanking and supporting measures may involve inputs of content, structural organisation and personnel (BMBF 2011). As a prerequisite for funding, project applicants must have already established procedures for transferring credit for vocationally acquired competencies on the courses they select, and credit transfer - particularly for competences from advanced vocational training - must be possible to a significant extent.

20 projects were selected for AMKOM 2 funding for a term of three years ending in autumn 2014. The majority of projects (19) are being carried out at private and public universities and universities of applied science, while one project is based with an educational provider. The subject areas involved in the projects are diverse and heterogeneous. They range from degree courses in the information sciences (library management, archiving etc.), to social work, nursing studies, agriculture, chemistry, biology, business administration, optometry, vocational/industrial pedagogy, mechanical engineering, financial management and health management¹.  From the vocational education sector, it involves occupations requiring advanced vocational qualifications with obvious relevance and practical occupational affinities to the selected degree courses.

Scientific backup to the ANKOM 2 Initiative is being carried out by the HIS Institute for Research on Higher Education in cooperation with the VDI/VDE-IT Institute for Innovation and Technology (iit)².  BIBB is the project management agency for the programme. Project management encompasses administration of the projects as well as in-process consultancy, particularly on questions specific to vocational education and training. For instance, BIBB contributes its expertise on questions about the advanced training occupations involved in the projects.

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Contents and task areas of the ANKOM 2 programme

The measures to be developed in the 20 projects can be ascribed to two task areas: they are aimed firstly at substantially improving transition management onto university degree courses, and secondly at shaping general conditions and forms of study and learning that make it easier for people with vocational qualifications to study successfully. To those ends, the following provision is being developed and tested:

• Target-group-specific information and advisory provision (on study prerequisites, course requirements, credit transfer opportunities and procedures, organisation of studies, etc.); provision is developed cooperatively to some extent with institutions of advanced vocational training, and adapted to suit the timetabling, organisational and routine needs of working people.
• Online study preparation programmes (in cooperation with regional advanced vocational training providers) and bridging courses which link the subject-specific prerequisites from advanced vocational qualifications to the (entry-level) requirements of higher education courses.
• Mentoring models (individual course and learning counselling, learning partnerships) and coaching offers (for learners and teachers).
• Courses with more geographical and timetabling flexibility which make it possible to combine work, family life and studies, and permit students to design individual study programmes. These include such approaches as target-group-specific learning platforms, (anytime/anywhere) online-based phases of study and web-based provision of tutorial support.
• Degree courses that can be studied in parallel with work or as job-integrated programmes; appropriate content, methodologies and organisation of learning to suit vocationally qualified students' living conditions, competencies, professional experience and learning strategies.

Linking these measures conceptually and operatively to credit transfer questions will also help with the qualitative and procedural optimisation and consolidation of credit transfer procedures.

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Literature

• BMBF: "Richtlinie zur Förderung von Maßnahmen für den Übergang von der beruflichen in die hochschulische Bildung" of 18 April 2011 - URL: www.bmbf.de/foerderungen/16382.php (viewed: 12.06.2012)
• FREITAG, W.K.; et al.: Gestaltungsfeld Anrechnung: Resümee aus Sicht der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung. In: FREITAG, W. K. et al., (ed): Gestaltungsfeld Anrechnung. Hochschulische und berufliche Bildung im Wandel. Münster 2011, p. 239-250
• MUCKE, K.; KUPFER, F.: Durchlässigkeit umsetzen für lebensbegleitendes Lernen -Schlussfolgerungen aus der Sicht der beruflichen Bildung. In: FREITAG, W. K. et al. (ed.): Gestaltungsfeld Anrechnung. Hochschulische und berufliche Bildung im Wandel. Münster 2011, p. 221-238
• STAMM-RIEMER, I.; LOROFF, C.; HARTMANN, E.A.: Anrechnungsmodelle. Generalisierte Ergebnisse der ANKOM-Initiative. (HIS:Forum Hochschule 1/ 2011) Hannover 2011 - URL: www.his.de/pdf/pub_fh/fh-201101.pdf (viewed:12.06.2012)
• ULBRICHT, L.: Stille Explosion der Studienberechtigtenzahlen - die neuen Regelungen für das Studium ohne Abitur. In: BWP 41 (2012) 1, p. 39-42 - URL: www.bibb.de/veroeffentlichungen/de/publication/show/id/6810 (viewed: 12.06.2012)
• WOLTER, A.: Durchlässigkeit und Öffnung des Hochschulzugangs aus der Perspektive der Hochschulforschung. In: Hochschulrektorenkonferenz (ed.): Chancen erkennen - Vielfalt gestalten. Konzepte und gute Praxis für Diversität und Durchlässigkeit. Bonn, year not stated (2012), p. 8-14

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footnotes:

1 More extensive information on the ANKOM projects at http://ankom.his.de/projekte/uebersicht (in German)

2 On the tasks involved in scientific backup: http://ankom.his.de/begleitung (in German)

Last modified on: October 1, 2012