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This study investigated university teachers’ perspectives on their change readiness to implement education for sustainable development (ESD) through their participation in a problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogical development (PD) program. Theoretically, the study connected a systems-thinking approach to change readiness literature and proposed a four-dimensional conceptual framework, including intrapersonal, relational, and environmental dimensions. Q methodology was adopted to collect and analyze data both qualitatively and quantitatively. Four significantly different viewpoints emerged among the 25 participants regarding what they considered most important for their change readiness towards ESD, namely (1) improvement of teaching and learning performance, (2) personal learning and conviction, (3) applying PD learning to practice, and (4) student learning engagement and professional practice. Revealing a complex and interrelated connection between the four dimensions of change readiness, these results also observed university teachers’ expression of learning gains and engagement in prospective change. Nevertheless, such change readiness was mainly within their micro teaching practice environment, with little anticipation of commitment to a wider institutional scale of change. Such restrictions on their change readiness were attributed to constrained institutional conditions and supports for long-term improvement. Results of the study suggested that it is essential to facilitate both individual awareness and efforts, as well as institutional readiness for the goal of implementing ESD in higher education (HE). In this regard, both systemic and systematic professional learning activities are recommended.

Despite the emerging discussions about the growing role of engineers in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a lack of agreement on which competences should be prioritised to prepare engineering students to resolve future sustainability challenges. This study examined and compared the views of key stakeholders of engineering education (Academics, Employers and Students) using twelve focus groups in Denmark, Finland, France and Ireland. The findings were mapped against competences identified in previous studies to highlight gaps and opportunities for development. The results confirm the strong emphasis on normative, strategic and systems thinking competences in engineering. However, the outcomes also lack acknowledgement of anticipatory competence, contradicting the future oriented perspective required to achieve sustainable development. The findings can be used by educators to inform programme development and to implement opportunities for students to develop the competences necessary to support sustainable development and the SDGs.

The development of employees’ skills and competences has become a key driver of economic growth in the developed world. It is widely recognised that enhancing people’s skills and competences will be a major cause of future competitive advantage. Consequently, companies need to be able to identify precise areas where they have, or can build, distinctive competences. To meet these needs, various models and approaches for continuing engineering education have emerged. One such approach is the facilitated work-based learning (FWBL) model, the aim of which is to introduce an approach to tailor-made courses built on work-based learning (WBL) and problem-based learning (PBL). This paper addresses the implementation of tailor-made continuing engineering education in company settings through the use of FWBL. It draws on a huge amount of documentation produced within the Via Nord project, which was supported by the European Social Fund and engaged various companies in northern Denmark. The aim is to investigate how the FWBL model worked in practice when implemented as a means for tailor-made continuing engineering education applied in a company setting.

For more than two decades, Aalborg University has enrolled learners in their part-time engineering master’s programmes. These programmes are designed for employed learners who work full time in the industry and who want to keep their jobs while they study for a master’s degree. Aalborg University’s pedagogical approach is solely based on problem-based learning, which means that learners, to a large extent, implement real-life engineering problems as a means of learning, making the master’s programme attractive for both professional engineers and their employers.

The aim of this paper is to answer the question: What do first-year engineering students, in a PBL environment, identify as a good study-day and what can be said from a motivational theoretical perspective about this kind of day? The ultimate purpose of the paper is to inform students and teachers within engineering education (EE) about how to spur student motivation. Research into this field is very limited in an EE perspective. Empirically the study is based on 8 groups individual students' own written descriptions of what they have experienced as being a good study-day. The analyses identifies indicators of students' individual motivation and discuss what brings the individual students satisfaction and productivity. The study concludes that first year students are mainly motivated by mastering something new and supportive communities.

The concept of Knowledge Triangle (KT) links together research, education and innovation and replaces the traditional ‘one way’ flow of knowledge, essentially from research to education, by a ‘both ways’ circular motion between all the corners of a triangle that, besides research and education, also includes innovation, the ‘poor relation’ of many universities. What are the main issues – barriers and drivers – and what could be done in order to make the concept of KT a strong reality in engineering education? In this paper, the authors intend to bring some answers by analysing three cases coming from actors operating at the three corners of the KT: students, academic staff and engineers in industry.

Udgivelsesdato: 2006-Jun OBJECTIVES: Patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) are at increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). Little is known about how UC impacts CRC prognosis. In a nationwide population-based study we examined the CRC prognosis in UC patients compared to CRC patients without UC. METHODS: From the Danish Cancer Registry and the Danish Hospital Discharge Registry, we identified all CRC patients and all patients with UC in Denmark from 1977 to 1999. We compared survival in 279 UC patients with CRC to all other 71,259 CRC patients and computed mortality rate ratios (MRR). We also compared stage distribution at time of cancer diagnosis. RESULTS: The mean age at time of CRC diagnosis was 62.6 yr in UC patients and 71.2 yr in patients without UC. Cancer stage distribution for localized cancer, regional spread, and distant metastasis were 46.6%, 30.1%, and 16.5% in UC patients compared to 44.0%, 28.3%, and 19.4% in CRC patients without UC. The overall MRR for UC patients with CRC compared with all other CRC patients were 1.24 (95% CI 1.02-1.51) in the first year and 1.17 (95% CI 1.01-1.36) after 5 yr of follow-up. CONCLUSION: UC patients with CRC have a stage distribution similar to patients with CRC without UC. The prognosis of CRC is poorer for UC patients than for patients without UC.

Using the population-based Pharmacoepidemiologic Prescription Database of North Jutland County, Denmark, we identified 113,538 persons who filled prescriptions for ibuprofen during 1989 through 1995 and determined subsequent mortality through 1996. Standardized mortality ratios [SMRs] for 25 specific causes of death were computed compared with the general population. SMRs were elevated for most causes of death, with an overall SMR of 1.21 (95% confidence interval 1.19-1.24) among persons who filled prescriptions for ibuprofen. There was a nearly threefold increase in the number of deaths from gastrointestinal bleeding within 1 year of ibuprofen prescription but no concomitant increase in hemorrhagic stroke. Elevated SMRs were seen for several cancer types, although the mortality ratios were highest within 1 year of prescription and declined with longer follow-up. For colon cancer, SMRs were below 1.0 three or more years after ibuprofen prescription. For hypertensive disease, nonhemorrhagic stroke, and diabetes, we observed slight but significant elevations of the SMRs that persisted beyond the fifth year of follow-up. Our findings indicate a slight increase in overall mortality among persons receiving ibuprofen on prescription. This excess was greatest within the first year, due partially to ibuprofen-related gastrointestinal bleeding but mostly to elevated cancer mortality among ibuprofen users. This temporal pattern is characteristic of an effect of confounding by indication, with ibuprofen being used for pain relief by patients with imminent fatal illnesses such as cancer. The slight excess mortality that persisted beyond the first few years was largely due to elevated death from hypertensive disease and diabetes, which may be explained in part by increased prescription of ibuprofen to patients with long-standing medical problems.