The Second International Conference Engaging Learning and Innovative Teaching in Higher Education (ELITE 2025)

From November 12, 2025 – November 15, 2025, the second international conference Engaging Learning and Innovative Teaching in Higher Education (ELITE 2025) will take place at Tung Wah College in Hong Kong. The Balthasar-Neumann-Technikum Trier (Germany) will participate with the following contribution by Dr. Eberhard Hüster (OStR).

The Importance of the Compatibility of Personality and Environment in
Competence Development for Reading and Interpreting Technical
Drawings by Technicians (EQF 6)

Author:
Dr. Eberhard Huester (OStR)
Balthasar-Neumann-Technikum Trier (BNT)
Paulinstrasse 105
D-54292 Trier (Germany)
E-mail: eberhard.huester@bnt-trier.com

Abstract:
Background: To counteract early dropout from vocational education or training, it appears crucial that the personality of the individual and his or her professional environment are compatible with one another. Accordingly, the influence of vocational interest as an expression of personality on domain-specific competence required to read and interpret technical drawings is examined.
Methods: In 2017, data from 375 students European Qualifications Framework level 6 (EQF 6) were collected experimentally at six technical colleges in Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), predominantly via the digital learning platform Moodle. The assessment of vocational interests was conducted with the AIST-R (Bergmann & Eder, 2005). Circumplex models were used for the evaluation. The influence of vocational interest is analyzed in a larger framework using structural-equation-modeling (SEM).
Results: The structure of vocational interests emerges as a quasi-circumplex. The vocational intereston various dimensions of domain-specific competence for reading and interpreting technical drawings in mechanical engineering according to
DIN EN ISO.
Conclusions: To invest cognitive resources in the learning process, individual vocational interest is also crucial. Competence development results from a reciprocal interaction of an individual’s cognitive abilities, knowledge, and personality with his or her environment.

Keywords: Adult Education, Competence, Vocational Interest, Vocational Education.