Interdisciplinary education in vocational education and training: Supporting joint up thinking — Some insites in lecturing

The word “competence” is often used in association with education. It is thought that exercises with direct application of theoretical knowledge help students not only to deepen theoretical knowledge but also to awaken curiosity and to make the pupils go for learning. As competences imply the capability to apply theoretical knowledge to practical applications, interdisciplinary education opens big opportunities not only to deepen the knowledge but also to ensure competent application of knowledge. Therefore, lecture projects have been performed in order to broaden and deepen interdisciplinary aspects in a vocational education and training college during the last five years. The topics involved have been computer-aided engineering, measuring and handcraft as well as different theoretical lectures in engineering. The outcome of the presented study is on the one hand a comparison of individual feedback of the involved students to the teacher with results of university research and on the other hand a discussion about observations based on a SWOT analysis, which summarizes the most important statements according to the performed lectures.