Results

Start date: 01/01/2022

End date: 29/02/2024

Competency profiles define a set of desired competencies. Competence is understood as knowledge, skills and attitudes. For each competency, its desired level was determined for each selected profession and position. The project plans to prepare profiles for 15 positions within three fields of education: construction technician, logistics technician, renewable energy technician. Work completed so far includes:

1. Selection of competencies that are key to the effective functioning of technical school graduates at work.
2. Zdefiniowanie pojęcia poziomu kompetencji i liczby poziomów, na których będą one weryfikowane.
3. Defining for each competence what its level means (scope of knowledge, skills, presented attitudes).
4. Determining the desired level of distinguished competencies for individual professions and positions.

The implementation of the above-mentioned works required conducting research that enabled the identification of key competencies in professions and professional knowledge desired by employers, the indication of the levels of individual competencies for specific positions within three fields of education and the assumptions in this area resulting from teaching standards. Primary and secondary research was carried out. Primary research was conducted using methods adapted to the participants, namely:

1. Individual in-depth interviews (IDI) with experts representing both business practice (primarily working in managerial positions, responsible for staff assessment and planning their development, involved in cooperation with schools) and representatives of secondary schools - technical schools (mainly directors, vocational teachers, career advisors, people cooperating with companies). The research was conducted in each of the partner countries, the minimum assumed total number of interviews is 80 (in two waves - in 2022 and 2023). The opinions collected from experts allowed us to accurately determine the desired level of individual competencies and the required scope of professional knowledge for selected professions and positions. The research is planned in two phases: in the initial period of the project implementation and an update in the second part of the project implementation.
2. Questionnaire research (PAPI) in a group of students from each partner country. The research involved mainly students of the last grades of the three subject professions and young graduates of these fields. The group of survey respondents totaled 428 people. The study allowed for determining students' knowledge of the labor market requirements in a given field of study, but also for assessing the teaching system and, above all, verifying knowledge and skills remotely.

The main target groups of the solution:

1. Schools that, thanks to R1, will be able to assess the matching of their students' competence profiles with employers' requirements, improve teaching programs and, as a result, better prepare graduates to enter the labor market.
2. Students who will be able to verify their competences in relation to the requirements of the labor market, pay attention to competence gaps and plan development activities.

The Leader is responsible for the result, all partners participate in the work. The result is planned to be produced in the period 01/2022 - 02/2024, but it will take place in two subperiods: 01/2022 - 11/2022 and 10/2023 - 02/2024. This is due to the need to update the needs diagnosis and prepare the final version of the competence assessment tool after the testing stage. Division of work and activities carried out so far:

1. Preparation of research tools for an in-depth diagnosis of needs - IDI scenario and PAPI survey questionnaire. The Leader was responsible for preparing the tools, the proposals were consulted with all partners.
2. Conducting primary research as part of an in-depth needs diagnosis - research conducted by partners from all countries, the participation of min. 400 students and 40 experts, 428 students/young graduates and 36 experts participated.
3. Analysis of secondary sources regarding expected competence standards - all partners were involved in the work. The Polish partner prepared desk research in the area of universal competences, the other partners prepared reports on professional competences (divided into knowledge, skills and specific IT) for selected fields of study: Spain - logistics, Bulgaria - construction, Greece - renewable energy sources.
4. Preparation of primary and secondary research results – research results were prepared in the form of reports. Primary research – the leader prepared two reports: Basic analyzes and Advanced analyses. Secondary research – the Polish partner prepared a collective desk research report.
5. Preparation of competence profiles for selected professions and positions - model materials were prepared by the Leader. Partners from Spain, Bulgaria and Greece have prepared competence profiles for, among others: 5 positions/professions within the selected field of study.

Activities planned in the second phase:

6. Updating the in-depth diagnosis of needs - the Leader is responsible for developing the concept and preparing research tools. Research conducted by partners from all countries in the form of IDI interviews with experts (40 experts in total, mainly from the database of people participating in the in-depth needs diagnosis). The aim will be to assess the stability of competence profiles (e.g. resistance to market changes caused by the pandemic).
7. Verification of competency profiles after the stage of testing the tool (R3) for assessing competencies and updating the diagnosis - after assessing the scope of changes in the competency profiles and based on the conclusions from testing, necessary corrections/additions will be made to the profiles for individual professions and positions.
8. Development of the final version of the result - we plan to evaluate the result by people not involved in the project - mainly school representatives, including those from outside the partnership; taking into account any comments when developing the final version.

R2: Competence tests for three fields of study (substantive input)

Start date: 01/10/2022

End date: 30/04/2024

We plan to develop competency tests in the form of a set of questions, tasks and problematic issues (hereinafter generally: questions) prepared as a multiple choice test, which will enable us to build a tool for automatic verification of the competency level in the next step. Issues related to the assessment of knowledge and skills as well as expected behaviors determined by students' attitudes will be taken into account. For each of the key competencies identified as part of the R1 result, a set of 20 questions will be prepared, which will ultimately be randomly selected in the IT tool (R3) while students are taking the test. The questions will have different forms, depending primarily on the nature of the assessed competence - area: knowledge, skills or attitudes. We initially plan (the final solution will be developed later): - in the case of knowledge assessment (professional and other areas, such as IT knowledge) - questions in which only one answer is correct, - in the case of skills assessment - questions in which the number of correct answers may vary and tasks that require solving before giving the answer, - in the case of attitude assessment - questions formulated as problem issues, where the situation requiring solution is described and potential behaviors (courses of conduct) aimed at solving it are given. As part of the work, a scheme for moving from the answers provided by students to assessing the level of a given competence on the scale developed as part of R1 will be defined. This scheme will depend on the nature of the assessed competence (correct answer/incorrect answer, correct solution/incorrect solution, more preferred course of action/less preferred course of action). Ultimately, the results of the assessment of individual competencies will indicate, on the one hand, their level, and on the other hand, they will enable comparison of this level with the requirements for defined competency profiles for selected professions and positions. Preparing substantive input for competency tests requires the cooperation of specialists from many fields, starting from people involved in a given profession and specialty, such as vocational teachers or practitioners (questions to assess professional knowledge and skills), through teachers of other subjects (questions to assess knowledge and skills other than purely professional), to advisors, coaches and psychologists (questions to assess soft skills and behaviors determined by students' attitudes).

The Spanish partner is responsible for developing the result, and all partners will participate in the work. The result is planned to be produced in the period 10/2022 - 04/2024 in two subperiods 10/2022 - 04/2023 and 12/2023 - 04/2024. This is due to the need to update the needs diagnosis and prepare the final version of the competence assessment tool after the testing stage.

R3: Narzędzie informatyczne do automatycznej oceny poziomu kompetencji i zgodności z profilami

Start date: 01/12/20222

End date: 30/06/2024

Work on the result started in December 2022.

R4: Proposed interpretation of the results of the competency test along with examples of development activities and possibilities of obtaining their financing

Start date: 01/10/2023

End date: 30/09/2024

Work on the result started in October 2023.