Digital transformation poses a challenge for European society. This transformation is rapidly reshaping the professional landscape and affecting all industries. Service professions such as the hospitality and catering industry are facing challenges such as a shortage of skilled workers, a high diversity of languages among employees, and a sharp increase in digitalisation since the Covid-19 pandemic. Networked kitchen systems, robotics, and the use of (AI-based) data analysis for personalised offers are having a far-reaching impact on all areas of personal services in the food industry (Demary & Goecke, 2021; Heindl et al., 2025). The integration of digital tools and technologies is changing traditional working methods and processes, thereby altering the skill profiles of skilled workers. The dynamics of digitalisation thus present vocational education and training with further development tasks in the areas of personal and instructional growth. The integration of digital technologies in companies requires adapted teaching scenarios in vocational training institutions. In order to teach the transformation processes, teachers need suitable skills to reflect the evolving professional landscape. Regarding the integration of digital technologies at work, the professionalisation of teachers at vocational schools requires the promotion of practical skills for designing teaching scenarios. The required professionalisation encompasses the use and design of digital work and media technologies as well as an awareness of data management and protection (Miesera, 2021). Similarly, adapted teaching and learning scenarios at vocational schools are essential for reflecting current changes in the professional world within the classroom and for promoting expanded competence profiles. Studies indicate a demand for vocational training staff to strengthen their professional skills; at the same time, only a few subject-specific training opportunities are available (Kastrup & Brutzer, 2021).

This research project is part of the ‘KoKon’ project network (learning:digital). It develops training modules that promote the professional competence development of teachers. It specifically provides training for the design of digitally supported teaching, especially in the areas of digital transformation and digital media didactics. The focus is on raising teachers' awareness of the requirements of digital change in the professional field and strengthening their skills in the effective use of digital media for learning. Through professional field-specific and cross-professional field cooperation, teaching and staff development at vocational schools is promoted in a sustainable manner. This supports the professional development of collaborative, feedback-based problem-solving strategies among teachers.

The evidence-based teacher training courses offered by the Technical University of Munich are based on the competence areas of the European DigCompEdu (Redecker, 2017) and the further developed DigCompEduObserve (Özsoy et al., 2024), and the classification categories for vocational training in the digital transformation according to Wittmann & Weyland (2020).

The research question, “What impact can teacher training have on vocational schools, specialising in the hospitality and catering industry?”,focuses on teachers' knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy regarding digital media in the classroom, and their ability to integrate profession-related digital technologies into their teaching.

The aim is for teachers to gain a deeper understanding of digital media didactics and digital transformation in the professional field and to strengthen their ability to further develop and critically reflect on teaching at the curricular level. The results of the study on the training courses conducted will be presented, and the implications for evidence-based teacher training will be discussed.

The mixed-method research design of this research project provides for data collection at three measurement points. The teacher training as the intervention is delivered through face-to-face or synchronous online sessions. The teacher training courses concentrate on determining the quality characteristics of professional teaching and learning. In particular, the focus is on identifying the skills being promoted and professional action orientation, considering the phases of the whole process. To subsequently develop didactic approaches for media-supported teaching linked to digital transformation, a category system for digital transformation and a model for media didactics are developed together with the training participants. Great importance is attached to cooperation and the exchange of experiences between the training participants. In addition, practical examples are presented to the teachers in order to convey the content more clearly. Quantitative data collection on teachers' digital skills, in the form of self-assessments before and after the intervention (training), is conducted using scales. The instrument for teachers' self-efficacy with regard to the integration of digital technology into teaching (SWIT) comprises twelve items with a six-point Likert scale (Doll & Meyer, 2021); the utility value scale comprises four items with a four-point Likert scale (Fütterer et al., 2023), and the adapted TK-TPACK model in the field of nutrition and home economics (Miesera et al., 2021) comprises seventeen items with a four-point Likert scale. The quantitative data is evaluated using SPSS. The data set was first checked for completeness and consistency, cleaned up, and then sorted into pre- and post-tests. Descriptive calculations and regression analysis were then performed. The qualitative survey is conducted using guided interviews approximately six months after the teacher training courses (categories: teachers' digital skills and lesson planning with digital elements, implementation of training elements, and cooperation in lesson planning). The interviews were transcribed using AI-based open-source software, then revised and pseudonymised. The qualitative data was coded and evaluated using MAXQDA. A category system was created to code the interviews, which was then used to do so.

The pre-test evaluation (n = 182) already shows a high level of agreement regarding the introduction of digital media and technologies in the classroom (M = 3.39, SD = .64) (four-point Likert scale). Technology Knowledge (TK) items were rated more positively than the job-related skills (TPACK), confirming the pilot study results by Miesera and colleagues (Miesera et al., 2021). The regression analysis to clarify the variance of dependent variables based on personal parameters provides a differentiated picture. The regression analysis of the dependent variable SWIT shows that the independent personal variables age, professional field, and experience with digital media are predictors. According to this, younger participants and teachers with more experience in digital media have significantly higher SWIT values. The analysis of the dependent variable utility value scale shows a positive correlation with increasing experience with digital media. However, the perceived added value of digital media and technologies in the classroom decreases with increasing professional experience. No significant correlations were found for the other predictors. The guided interviews (n=30) were coded using MAXQDA. Initial results show that the use of AI tools in the classroom plays a particularly important role for teachers and currently overshadows other digital tools. The teachers interviewed stated that they generally perceived many of the contents taught in the training course and the tools and methods presented as relevant and beneficial. They also expressed a desire to make greater use of these methods and tools in the classroom, but reported that their use and the implementation of the content are currently possible only to a limited extent due to time constraints and insufficient technical equipment in schools. Teachers often cite support from colleagues and school management as conducive conditions. Quantitative and qualitative research results are presented and discussed.

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