Introduction

Introduction to the TEFFIC pedagogical framework.

In the first element in this series the highlights of the TEFFIC study of the industry's future need for competence was presented.

The major findings were:

• Interdisciplinarity and communication of employees are viewed as enablers of implementing integrated systems.
• Future engineers working within the I4.0 domain must not only have competencies within technology, but also business insight. And finally,
• The speed of technological development and transformation is rapidly increasing.

In this element we will present the overall training development model, or strategy, TEFFIC recommends overcoming this challenges from the industry. In the next element we will present the factors in the training strategy, and in the following elements we will go in detail in each factor.

The overall TEFFIC model is designed to facilitate agile development of learning content, based on the industry's needs and the educational institution's facilities.

Figure: The TEFFIC educational framework model

The first phase is to study and analyse the industry's needs for competence. In educations with industrial aim it is paramount to have a close cooperation with the world of work and use their needs as the platform for development of training.

Secondly, you must analyse your own capabilities. To what extent are you able to meet the needs? Do you have the necessary competence? Or equipment and facilities? Are there needs for investments?

When you have these analyses made, the development cycle can commence. It starts with the selection, definition and formulation of the learning goals. Or rather the description of the wanted learning outcome of the training programme.

Note that we have placed the learning task in the centre of the development loop. In educations with industrial aim we train professionals that can perform a vocation or profession at the end of the study. Thus, the working tasks of the industry must have a central place in the training. Our idea is to design the learning process around a sequence of authentic learning tasks of increasing complexity and scope. This will be the topic of one of the following papers.

Then, it is time for the brainstorm on how to achieve the goals. An efficient form is to generate ideas individually and then discuss them in the team. The ideas must be narrowed down through a process of selection, to feasible process elements that can build the needed competence for the student. A central part of this process is to identify and design the core learning task that the learning process can be designed around.

The third phase of the development cycle is to design and detail the educational activities, in other words to go from ideas to formulated process elements that are achievable within the frames of your institution. How shall you go forth for your students to reach the learning goals? Lectures? Visit companies? Or bring in professionals from the industry to lecture? Laboratory exercises? Learning projects? And, how will you guide and give the students feedback throughout the process? How will the students be assessed at the end? Did they reach the goals or achieved the desired learning outcome?

The next phase is to test your educational design. First as informal tests you perform yourself, and then with your colleagues. It is highly useful to do a feedback loop with your partners and contacts in the industry. Then it is time for full scale testing. Run the programme to the best of your abilities. Have a running conversation with the students throughout and adjust if necessary. Perform formal evaluations with the students and colleagues at least once during the process and at the end. In this way phase four and five somewhat grow together. These evaluations should be done even after the programme has gone into your regular offer. It is especially useful to ask your students after they have entered positions in the industry.

Analyse your findings, revise the programme, and prepare for the next batch of students eager to learn the secrets of Industry 4.0.

The development cycle, including the industrial analyses, should be performed on a regular basis. Ideally each time the programme is done, but often like biannually is good enough.

This concludes the introduction to the TEFFIC pedagogical framework. After you have finished this paper, take some time to reflect upon and suggest answers to these questions;

How can you facilitate an industrial analysis concerning your Industry 4.0 subject?

How do you think a task centred educational design can facilitate interdisciplinary and social skills?

The next element in this series is about the details of the TEFFIC series of pedagogical e-learning elements for Industry 4.0 training.