Education and training in initial vocational education and training takes place in companies, inter-company-course and at schools (Stalder & Nägele, 2011). The amount of time that an apprentice spends at school is short. Typically it is one day per week, and up to two days if the apprentice attends extra lessons to attain the Professional Baccalaureate. Nevertheless, there are high demands and expectations towards the school. This very limited amount of time, combined with high demands leads to a strictly timed time-table. It is common, that a school day for apprentices is split into lessons between 45 minutes and up to 90 minutes. Although the teachers are well trained for their job, these restrictions make it more likely that many teachers adapt to an ex-cathedra teaching. Group work, self-organized learning forms, project work are known to the teachers and also evaluated as good pedagogical instruments, but they are rarely used in the context of the daily teaching at a vocational school. Pedagogical interventions aiming  to activate the self-learning of the apprentice are typically found in project-weeks that are dedicated to one integrating theme.

Evidence from research and practice tells us that any kind of self-organized, self-activated learning is not only effective but also efficient (e.g., Boekaerts, 1999; Dilger & Sloane, 2007; Gudjons, 1997;Herold & Landherr, 2001; Sembill, 2003; Nickolaus, 2007; Sloane, 2008) - if there is enough time and the lessons last longer than 45 minutes. In this paper we will show that elements of self-organized and group-based forms of learning can successfully be implemented even under lasting circumstances. The context is a course that is split into 12 lessons (each 45 minutes) over a period of 12 weeks. The topic was Chemistry, specifically the covalent bonding.

Two scripts were developed. One for an optimal ex-cathedra teaching, the other one for teaching that was based on the principles of self-organized learning. These two scenarios were then used in an experimental control group setting.

The script of the self- and group-organized learning form includes also the development of social competences needed for a productive work in small groups and techniques to autonomously access a new topic. The apprentices were instructed to do on their own research, to structure the findings on their own and finally to present and discuss them in small groups. The teacher was always present as a coach. In the optimal ex-cathedra type learning situation good instructions were given (activating the conceptual understanding of the domain through analogies, for example), explanations, demonstrations. 

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