Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools

Context: As part of vocational education and training, learning factories are a new, hands-on learning setting in which students can create products with realistic digital manufacturing equipment while still in vocational school. Given their novelty, learning factories have not yet been studied wit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pierre Meinokat, Ingo Wagner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: European Research Network Vocational Education and Training (VETNET) 2025-03-01
Series:International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup2/ijrvet/article/view/1483
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849389746426478592
author Pierre Meinokat
Ingo Wagner
author_facet Pierre Meinokat
Ingo Wagner
author_sort Pierre Meinokat
collection DOAJ
description Context: As part of vocational education and training, learning factories are a new, hands-on learning setting in which students can create products with realistic digital manufacturing equipment while still in vocational school. Given their novelty, learning factories have not yet been studied with respect to whether special classroom management may be needed. One key aspect of classroom management for teachers is the dealing with classroom disruptions. The aim of this study is to investigate what types of classroom disruptions occur in learning factories and how teachers deal with them.  Methods: To close the existing research gap, a guideline-based, semi-structured interview study with seven teachers from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was conducted. The interviews were analyzed with a qualitative content analysis using the software MAXQDA.  Findings: The findings show that in this new setting, established strategies for mitigating classroom disruptions can be adapted and applied. Teachers were found to use and optimize their existing abilities to ensure learning success and were able to protect the monetary value of the factory against certain disruptions. Mutual trust between teachers and students, as well as teachers utilizing strategies according to their personality, were mentioned as the most important factors in ensuring success in this context.  Conclusion: Learning factories as a new learning environment in vocational schools do not seem to require specific classroom management approaches. As a result, their use can be safely expanded. Teachers value the possibility of teaching in this special setting while seeing that there are new possible ways of disruptions. Nevertheless, the interviewees feel themselves prepared for these new challenges, using their already established repertoire of strategies, adapting them, if necessary, to this new setting. To do this, teachers need to systemize and understand disruptions inside their classrooms. So far, research is lacking systemizations for classroom disruptions in digital settings like learning factories. This study extends the research landscape with an adaption of an already existing construct. 
format Article
id doaj-art-5642d4df370f4f2a9dfb9acca81d24d0
institution Kabale University
issn 2197-8638
2197-8646
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher European Research Network Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
record_format Article
series International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training
spelling doaj-art-5642d4df370f4f2a9dfb9acca81d24d02025-08-20T03:41:52ZengEuropean Research Network Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training2197-86382197-86462025-03-0112210.13152/IJRVET.12.2.5Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational SchoolsPierre Meinokat0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2494-5047Ingo Wagner1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3915-6793Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, GermanyKarlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany Context: As part of vocational education and training, learning factories are a new, hands-on learning setting in which students can create products with realistic digital manufacturing equipment while still in vocational school. Given their novelty, learning factories have not yet been studied with respect to whether special classroom management may be needed. One key aspect of classroom management for teachers is the dealing with classroom disruptions. The aim of this study is to investigate what types of classroom disruptions occur in learning factories and how teachers deal with them.  Methods: To close the existing research gap, a guideline-based, semi-structured interview study with seven teachers from the federal state of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was conducted. The interviews were analyzed with a qualitative content analysis using the software MAXQDA.  Findings: The findings show that in this new setting, established strategies for mitigating classroom disruptions can be adapted and applied. Teachers were found to use and optimize their existing abilities to ensure learning success and were able to protect the monetary value of the factory against certain disruptions. Mutual trust between teachers and students, as well as teachers utilizing strategies according to their personality, were mentioned as the most important factors in ensuring success in this context.  Conclusion: Learning factories as a new learning environment in vocational schools do not seem to require specific classroom management approaches. As a result, their use can be safely expanded. Teachers value the possibility of teaching in this special setting while seeing that there are new possible ways of disruptions. Nevertheless, the interviewees feel themselves prepared for these new challenges, using their already established repertoire of strategies, adapting them, if necessary, to this new setting. To do this, teachers need to systemize and understand disruptions inside their classrooms. So far, research is lacking systemizations for classroom disruptions in digital settings like learning factories. This study extends the research landscape with an adaption of an already existing construct.  https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup2/ijrvet/article/view/1483Classroom ManagementStudent BehaviourInterviewVETVocational Education and Training
spellingShingle Pierre Meinokat
Ingo Wagner
Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools
International Journal for Research in Vocational Education and Training
Classroom Management
Student Behaviour
Interview
VET
Vocational Education and Training
title Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools
title_full Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools
title_fullStr Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools
title_full_unstemmed Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools
title_short Classroom Disruptions and Classroom Management in Learning Factory Settings at Vocational Schools
title_sort classroom disruptions and classroom management in learning factory settings at vocational schools
topic Classroom Management
Student Behaviour
Interview
VET
Vocational Education and Training
url https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/hup2/ijrvet/article/view/1483
work_keys_str_mv AT pierremeinokat classroomdisruptionsandclassroommanagementinlearningfactorysettingsatvocationalschools
AT ingowagner classroomdisruptionsandclassroommanagementinlearningfactorysettingsatvocationalschools