Search

The article invites papers related to knowledge exchange in post-compulsory education to be published in the coming issue of the journal.

This paper reviews the reasons behind the absence of central Government funding for enterprise and innovation at Further Education Colleges (FECs). Enterprise and innovation are, according to conventional wisdom, crucial in rebuilding the UK's economy and providing jobs. In pursuit of this, the Government has provided central funding for enterprise promotion and education for both Universities and Secondary Schools, but not for FECs. The review starts by looking at recent Government policy papers on enterprise and innovation, then briefly considers the current economic characteristics that lay behind the need for enterprise education and innovation. The efficacy of the current proposals is questioned, looking at the concepts concerning the type and level of intelligence entrepreneurs need, also touching on what types of innovations can be expected to increase employment. The paper concludes by asking if elitist or class bias plays a part in the exclusion of Vocational Education & Training students at FECs from central funding for innovation and enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article distinguishes research—the discovery of new knowledge—from innovation, which is understood to be the transformation of practice in a community or the incorporation of existing knowledge into economic activity. From a survey of roles served by vocational education institutions in a number of OECD countries the paper argues that vocational education institutions have a potentially crucial role in mediating between the creators of new knowledge—researchers and their institutions—and the users of knowledge. They are ideally placed to develop this role since innovation is a local activity and vocational education institutions are much more widely geographically dispersed than research intensive institutes. The paper concludes by posing six steps vocational education institutions should follow to establish a role in national innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations in assessment practice have become widespread in Higher Education (HE) throughout the world. Taking a case study approach, this paper examines the nature of students' assessment preferences at one English university, and compares the views of UK students with a sample of learners from a number of other countries studying at the same institution. A brief discussion of the literature is followed by a methodological overview, before turning to an examination of the study's findings with regard to the students' views and experiences of assessment. Similarities and differences in preferences are explored, and an attempt is made to account for these on the basis of the insights supplied by the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study has been to explore and understand the implementation of PDP as an educational innovation in a single institutional context. Adopting a Sartrean ontology in which the subjective individual takes precedence over the systems within which that same individual exists, an interview process sought to understand the attitudes of educational members of staff to PDP and the ways in which those attitudes impacted on the innovation process. As an innovation based around the concepts of academic and professional identity, and the ability of a Community of Practice to shape and drive the implementation process, the key barrier to the implementation process proved to be a failure to account for difference at a fundamental level. This was not found to be just socio-political difference but a psychological incongruence between the notions underpinning the concept of PDP and the multitude of worlds through which those notions were to be promoted. In Sartrean terms by focusing on a systems model of change management significant power relationships between self and context had been lost, and yet these ultimately proved highly influential on the behaviours and consequences of the implementation process itself and the willingness of practitioners to engage with it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acknowledging the general difficulty of new e-learning pedagogical approaches in achieving wide acceptance and use, the study described in this article examines a class of MBA students’ adoption of a proposed online interactive learning environment. To this end, a web-based, case-based constructivist learning environment was developed, embedding interactivity. The class students were given the choice to co-develop their group work using the proposed online environment, or develop it through more traditional group collaboration means. The study considered a wide array of possible factors influencing the student adoption decision (e.g. perceived attributes of the proposed environment, student characteristics, peer student actions and attitudes, change facilitator interventions). The obtained results led to the development of a model depicting the observed influencing factors along with their relative importance. A notable finding of the study is the high influence of change facilitator actions, making the adoption phenomenon observed more instrumentalist in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The emergence of Foundation Degree programmes in response to employer workforce development needs provides a rich environment for the study of undergraduate curriculum innovation in the context of cross-sector partnerships in post-compulsory education. This article presents the findings of a case study of foundation degree development by consortia involving employer groups in the private and public sectors, six further education colleges and a research-led University. All three sectors shared a common goal of widening participation and the development of skills, yet contrasts in the range of other aims that each sought generated significant challenges to the curriculum development team. This qualitative study draws on evidence from documentary analysis, participant observation and semi-structured interviews of the major stakeholders over a period of 2 years. It highlights the barriers to effective curriculum change within partnership contexts and the benefits that can accrue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]