Search

As decolonization?of the curriculum in higher education (HE) gains traction, academics?may question?their positionality and role as actors in the field. The concept of decolonization is contentious, but primarily focuses on uncentering the?Western?filter through which the world is viewed both socially and academically. Just as Gavin Sanderson has argued, that internationalization of HE requires the internationalization of the academic self, so we discuss how decolonizing the internationalized HE curriculum must begin with the decolonization of the individual. The strategic directions of our three European institutions reflect the tensions reported in international literature between HE as an income generator, and as a public good. In the autoethnographic project underpinning this article, we employed the unconventional Collaborative Analytics methodology and its iterations of "share data, share results, share decisions" to explore institutional strategy as experienced by academics. Our novel approach may help others reflect on decolonizing as a process of 'forever becoming'.

In this study, it was hypothesized that collaborative learning in international higher education contributes to the development of intercultural competence. Two hundred fifty-two students of an International Business and Management Study program of a Dutch university participated in two surveys on collaboration in a group-learning activity and one survey on their development of intercultural competence. In addition, three groups of four to six students took part in focus group interviews. The results indicated that when students perceive that the group process improves, the quality of the collaboration in terms of verbal interaction and equal contribution will also improve. Furthermore, the results revealed that a higher perceived quality of the collaboration relates to an increasing development of intercultural competence. The findings are discussed and related to implications for the use of group-learning activities in international higher education.

Curriculum development initiatives, especially those involving educational technologies, provide a rich learning space for university teachers. In-depth interviews with teaching staff (n = 11) were qualitatively analysed to gain insight into the variety of individual learning paths and to identify potential relationships between learning paths, motivation, and conceptions of teaching and learning through educational technology. Three distinct learning paths relating to teachers' learning preferences and activities were identified: learning by performing daily teaching activities; deliberately experimenting with new teaching approaches; and reflecting on teaching experiences. The relationships between learning paths and relevant factors are described and implications for professional development practices are discussed.

In expertise research, the focus is shifting from how one becomes an expert in a specific field towards understanding how workers sustain the value and recognition of their expertise by being flexible. This so‐called flexpertise requires that workers meet new expertise needs within and across the boundaries of their current expertise domains and working contexts. The current study grounds a new theoretical paradigm regarding this individual adaptivity by introducing a 'dynamic process model of flexpertise'. By deploying a system dynamics lens, it synthesizes the scholarly knowledge from different disciplines about flexible or adaptive forms of expertise. The model incorporates six categories of adaptation processes that involve intra‐individual changes and social interactions over time, and that are interconnected by means of feedback loops without a single start‐ or endpoint. This enables scholars and practitioners to identify leverage points where small interventions can have a large effect on the individual's adaptivity. As such, the dynamic model provides a new paradigm on how to foster workers' continued possession of expertise that is valuable to organizations' competitive advantage and enables organizational and societal transitions and innovations, while safeguarding an individual's career sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group learning activities (GLAs) are commonly used curriculum activities in teacher education. The aim of this study was to determine which components of GLAs students perceive as significant for their learning. Student teachers from six Dutch universities of applied sciences completed a survey about GLAs they participated in. Findings show that students' evaluations of task characteristics and group constellation are related to their perceived increase in domain knowledge. Furthermore task characteristics and guidance are related to students' perceived development as primary school teachers. Verbal interaction and engagement partially and fully mediate several relationships between GLA components and learning outcomes.

In honours programmes, teachers face the task of designing courses in which students feel challenged and learn from accomplishing demanding assignments. The aim of this study was to investigate students' and teachers' perceptions of challenge and learning in an honours programme. From 2016 to 2019, students and teachers rated the learning activities during the programme and explained their ratings. The results showed that in the first two years, teachers estimated challenge and learning significantly higher than the students did. However, both students and teachers viewed the tasks as the factor with the strongest impact on challenge and learning. In the first year, students also identified group dynamics as challenging and a source for learning. Enhancing task complexity and supporting group dynamics are the main factors to adjust the level of challenge in an honours programme. Monitoring students' and teachers' perceptions can help to adapt the programme to improve students' learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to describe how teacher educators design and implement group learning activities (GLAs). We used the Group Learning Activities Instructional Design (GLAID) framework to analyse their descriptions. The GLAID framework includes eight components: (1) interaction, (2) learning objectives and outcomes, (3) assessment, (4) task characteristics, (5) structuring, (6) guidance, (7) group constellation and (8) facilities. Interviews with 23 teacher educators were analysed to acquire an in-depth understanding of how they design and implement GLAs. We conclude that teacher educators use all the components of the framework, but they report difficulties with structuring GLAs. The facilities component was mentioned by only nine teacher educators. We discuss these findings and comment on the usefulness of the GLAID framework for teacher education.

In this study, we examine a professional learning community of primary school teachers developing a joint school-based curriculum for science and technology (S&T) education. Team meetings were observed over the course of one school year and the participating teachers and school head were interviewed. An essential factor in the team's collaboration was its ability to achieve synthesis, that is, the extent to which the teachers were able to abstract from concrete experiences in S&T education in order to formulate and develop a shared vision and curriculum. They exchanged many examples and were able to create a shared idea highlighting critical elements in their approach to teaching this school subject. However, the teachers experienced difficulties in determining the level at which a school-based curriculum should be defined. The outcomes of this team's collaboration are discussed in terms of leadership and the aims of the S&T innovation.

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.

Collaborative learning can, if designed and implemented properly, contribute to student learning outcomes and prepare them for teamwork. However, the design and implementation of collaborative learning in practice depend on beliefs of lecturers about teaching and learning in general, and collaborative learning in particular. One hundred and fifteen lecturers in higher education completed a survey on collaborative learning practices and beliefs. Additionally, 10 lecturers participated in a semi-structured interview. Lecturers considered the design of collaborative learning to be complicated. Their beliefs about the contribution of collaborative learning to (a) learning outcomes and (b) student motivation were more positive than beliefs about the effort that students are willing to dedicate to collaborative learning. Lecturers' arguments for applying collaborative learning were consistently more student-oriented than lecturer-oriented. More student-oriented lecturers varied more in their collaborative learning practices. To enhance the benefit of collaborative learning, teachers need more support in the design and implementation of collaborative learning to translate knowledge about collaborative learning into effective practice.

Purpose--The purpose of this paper is to report on a research project, the aim of which was to identify the potential loss of company knowledge and expertise as experienced and expert employees retire. Design/methodology/approach--The methodology used in this research was based on interviewing experienced and expert people who had retired or were approaching retirement: An application of expert interviewing. The interviews were conducted in five countries, across a number of sectors and involving a range of company sizes. The work of the research team was guided by an advisory panel of people with significant, senior level industrial experience. Findings--In addition to the potential loss of technical product and process knowledge and expertise, there is a loss of expertise in interpersonal communication skill both in the company and in communication with companies and people who are suppliers and customers, in knowing the company culture and the way things are done and in the loss of maturity and stabilising influence. Research limitations/implications--The number of people interviewed was relatively small. However, the research pointed out the need for companies, both large and small, to put in place succession planning, talent management and knowledge management processes as well as training in transferable skills or soft skills. Practical implications--Management training programmes and courses need to include aspects of succession planning, talent management and knowledge management processes as well as training in transferable skills or soft skills. Originality/value--The research team and the advisory panel involved participants from five EU countries large and small, east and west, north and south, developed and developing, EU founder members and newer accession states. It involved working in five languages and cultures. Despite this diversity there was great agreement on the findings and implications.

Learning objects and learning content management systems are considered to be "the next wave in engineering education". The results of experiments with these new trends in ICT in engineering education are described in this paper. The prospects were examined and the concepts of reusability of content for teachers and for personalized education using learning objects delivered on demand to students were put to the test. The hurdles that need to be overcome and the benefits of using learning objects and learning content management systems are discussed. This paper is concluded with a discussion of the findings for future developments in engineering education. (Contains 3 figures.)

This article describes the possibilities offered by the online assessment system Etude to achieve the benefits of formative assessment. In order to find out the way this works in practice, we carried out an experiment with the use of Etude for formative assessment in the course on collaborative report writing. Results show that online formative assessment has a lot to offer for improving students' learning process, but that a number of aspects should be taken into account in order to achieve the benefits. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)

Explains the implementation of an electronic learning environment at the Delft University Of Technology in The Netherlands. Consists of three line activities: first line of the activities is technology oriented, second line is aimed at creating and using a web site for each course, and third line of activities is geared towards developing new learning environments for courses. (Author/YDS)

Transformative curriculum innovation is needed in engineering education programmes, to continuously keep up to date with developments in the professional and research disciplines, in society, technology and pedagogy, and in the characteristics and needs of its diverse students. To enable and facilitate such innovations, both the curriculum's design and its institutional organisation need to be easily adaptable. This paper introduces Curriculum Agility, a concept that has been developed between 2018 and 2023 in a series of focus group sessions with engineering education practitioners and experts. Throughout these co-creational and iterative sessions, Curriculum Agility was defined as a responsively organised education, with dynamic learning contents and flexible pedagogics and didactics, while all involved staff is continuously developing competency to deal with the necessary transitions. Ten principles of Curriculum Agility are presented to guide curriculum innovators at programme and course level towards continuous transformation that is desirable, feasible, and viable within their context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexperts are a particular category of experts who are in the possession of in‐depth domain‐specific knowledge and skills combined with the ability to develop and materialize new areas of expertise, that is, expertise renewal. This ability enables them to decisively respond to new expertise demands that arise as a result of changes in their expertise territories. Thus far, there is a limited understanding of how flexperts develop new areas of expertise in a complex, professional setting, and how they accomplish to materialize this new expertise for multiple stakeholders, both inside and outside organizations. In this qualitative interview study, we aim to increase our understanding of the processes by which flexperts accomplish the renewal of their expertise. Ten Dutch flexperts, known for their high level of expert performance and ability to renew their expertise, and from a variety of disciplines, were interviewed. Based on the findings of our study, we have developed a model that summarizes their expertise renewal processes. This Model of Expertise Renewal extends process models on expertise redevelopment and adaptive expertise, and provides directions for future research on how the ability of expertise renewal contributes to the career sustainability of experts. Furthermore, it provides experts, Human Resource Development (HRD) practitioners, and line managers with a framework for creating learning paths and interventions for renewing expertise in case expertise territories are about to change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]