The quality of the acquired competences in vocational education and training depends significantly on the quality of the learning process at the workplace. Initial vocational education and training in Switzerland is organized at different learning places, in a dual-corporatistic model (Gonon, 2002; Greinert, 2004; Stalder & Nägele, 2009)⁠, where vocational schools and companies have a joint responsibility to educate and train the apprentice. The curricula and syllabus of the company based training, school-based education and the training in inter-company courses are also jointly established (Bundesamt für Berufsbildung und Technologie BBT, 2007). The implementation of these specifications at the workplace are in the responsibility of the companies and their trainers in the companies. They get support from their professional association (informations about innovations, online tools, training, ...). Nevertheless, how precisely workplace learning looks like depends on many other factors (learning culture, motivation of the trainer and apprentice, team composition, or the economic situation). The learning conditions differ within companies. Consequently, apprentices don't have access to the same quality of learning in different companies.

In an ongoing study, apprentices in the field of media production and media design were asked to assess their learning setting in the companies. The apprenticeship as “Polygraf” is demanding. Many adolescents see it as an alternative to the school-based academic track.

The trainers in the companies were asked to assess the learning environment from their point of view too. The aim is to gather a matched data set of approx. 300 apprentices and their trainers from the German part of Switzerland (all apprentices in the second or third year of apprenticeship).

This study is supported by the professional association (VISCOM). They are interested in knowing how the recent reforms of the curricula are implemented and how these measures lead to a better quality of learning at the workplace in the companies.

The conditions of the quality of workplace learning were measured on several key dimensions, as task design (control, variability, feedback, …), learning time and culture, support by the trainer, and collaborators, competencies of the trainer, or the motivation of the apprentice (Hacker, 2005; Maurer, Rauner, & Piening, 2009; Nägele, 2008)⁠.

To assess the quality of the outcome, the acquired competences, several measures were used: grades, self-evaluation of the professional competencies by the apprentice, evaluation by the trainer, and the assessment of the structural knowledge of the professional domain held by the apprentices (Cooke, 1999; Egli, Streuele, & Läge, 2008; Schvaneveldt, 1990; Schvaneveldt, Durso, Goldsmith, Breen, & Cooke, 1985)⁠.

We are going to present the process of determining the concepts used to elicit the professional knowledge (concepts were developed on the basis of the curriculum, syllabus, and in depth interviews with experts). We see this as a standard procedure to develop an alternative measure of learning outcomes. A measure that traps the cognitive structure of professional behaviors.

Further, we are going to present results on the quality of workplace learning and its relation to the development of the professional competencies.

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