| 1. |
- Andersson, Mikael, et al.
(author)
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Problem solving, reflection and lifelong learning in the junction between theory and practice
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 80-80
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In 2002 University West was commissioned by the government to develop forms for work integrated learning (WIL) as part of the work with pedagogical renewal of higher education. As a result of this assignment, WIL is now a deeply rooted philosophy and cornerstone of the university but also the main principle for pedagogical approach. We believe that knowledge, both theoretical and practical, is acquired everywhere and not only in institutions of higher learning. In other words, we are striving to connect university studies with everyday work life and the surrounding society. The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate a strategy for improving student awareness and skills for problem solving, reflection and lifelong learning in the junction between theory and practice. At the center of our focus are students from our bachelor's degree programme 3D-animation and visualization and a course on simulation and particle based effects. This is a challenging subject to teach since knowledge, tools and process is evolving rapidly and we rewrite the course curricula every year. The strategy consists of adding five themes focused on reflection and problem solving spread over the weeks of the course, in addition to the more direct subject-related areas. For each theme the students recieved reading material giving an overview of each theme, and then reflection based questions aimed at connecting the theme of each week to the subject of the course. The themes were Lifeling Learning, MoSCoW prioritisation, Schöns desriptions of design challenges and wicked problems and finally Fraylings ideas of Research through design and Schöns Conversation with the material. For the last week, the students wrote a summary of the entire course using the themes they had studied. At first there was some resistance among the students, and it was not easy for them to see the value of these assignments, instead their focus was on the more technical aspects of the course. However, as the course progressed a majority of the students started to see the point of these more reflective based assignments. One example where this became apparent was during the weekly presentations of the technical assignments. While some of the students still struggled with integrating the reflective assignments with the more technical parts of the course, others started to use the terminology and reasoning from the reflective assignments when talking about how they approached the problems they faced when solving the technical assignments. Having the students equipped with these new approaches also facilitated talking about problem solving and learning strategies, both during the course where this strategy was tested, as well as a subsequent course.The strategy was evaluated by analysing the written and oral presentations and reflections of the students, with special attention being paid to their problem solving and their strategies when approaching new technologies and tools. In addition to this, we also observed their reasoning about the theories that was embedded in the tools, i.e not just talk about how to do things in the software, but also the theories and principles underlying the software.Overall, the aim of the strategy was to train the students on problem solving and learning through experimentation, design and reflection. While one single course is a very short time to practice this, differences in reasoning andstrategies in the students from the beginning of the course to the end could be seen. This was both in their written reports as well as their oral presentations. Areas where improvements could be seen was more abstract reasoning, reflection on problem solving, priorities, and the ability to connect and compare different areas of the course. One theme that also was recurring in the texts was the balance between chaotic exploration and structured learning. These are skills that are valuable in a changing industry where they will need to learn new tools and develop new workflows constantly. Overall, a conclusion here is that learning to learn is far more important than learning a specific tool or skill.
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| 2. |
- Areskoug Josefsson, Kristina, 1973-
(author)
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Work integrated learning for a working life in academia : Experiences from working with PhD-students during the covid-19 pandemic
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 35-36
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Work integrated learning in academia and wellbeing for PhD-studentsFew PhD-students have a clear plan for their coming career after completion of their PhD-studies. There can be dreams of starting new enterprises, combining research with innovations in practice, or to pursue a career in academia. In health and welfare research schools there are many PhD-projects involving single PhD-students, as well as part-time PhD-students whose project is connected to their workplace. Research shows risk of low wellbeing and high levels of stress among PhD-students, together with feelings of isolation and impostor syndrome (Seeber and Horta, 2021, Schmidt and Hansson, 2018). Such negative feelings negatively impact the outcome of the PhD period and may also affect the future career of the PhD-student. To promote and sustain PhD-students health and wellbeing, there is a need to test activities that can decrease experienced negative stress during the PhD-period as well as enhancing academic competencies like academic leadership, academic writing skills and pedagogical skills. In addition, successful academics should have excellent competence in their field, collaborate with stakeholders and engage in impact activities. Thus, the PhD period needs to provide work integrated learning in academia to provide learning opportunities to develop those skills. Research conce rning PhD-students’ wellbeing and progress shows that the supervisor has an extremely important role for completion of the PhD and for the wellbeing of the student (Buirski, 2022). However, there are limited resources set up for PhD supervision and mentoring, which can create stress and mismatch in needs and capacities between the supervisor and the PhD-student. During the covid-19 pandemic the risk of losing pace in PhD-projects increased, in addition to disconnectedness with academy due to digital instead of physical meetings. However, this change also provided opportunities for novel and pragmatic ways of structuring supervision and enhancing the self-efficacy of the PhD-students. The purpose is to present learnings and outcomes of work-integrated learning project in academia for PhD-students.The focus is on two novel learning activities: online writing retreats and online monthly meetings, which were tested during the covid-19 pandemic. The aim of the learning activities was to encourage the PhD-students to be the leaders of their projects, to collaborate with others to find their role in academia, and learn the trade of being an academic, while practicing doing so, and promote wellbeing during the PhD period. The project has been performed with Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) in biannual evaluation cycles. The PDSA is a quality improvement tool focusing on the translation of ideas and intentions into action (Reed and Card, 2016). The iterative structure of PDSA is well suited to promote learning of a tested change and help shape organizational culture for the better (Reed and Card, 2016). Evaluation data includes number of participants, types of spin-offs from the learning activities, and participants’ oral and written feedback on the learning activities. The collected data was analyzed from the perspective of usefulness of the learning activities related to theories of work-integrated learning. Online structured digital writing retreats Open to more than the PhD-students supervised by the facilitating supervisor (any PhD-student who considered themselves in need of learning better academic writing structure, master students who wanted to become PhDstudents, other supervisors who wanted to see how a digital writing retreat worked). This activity showed participants the importance and diversity of academic writing. The participants chose their own writing tasks, report on their progress, and plan for their next step – but being their own controller and thus actively practicing self-leadership. At the same time the participants shared their feelings of participating in the writing retreat when reporting their writing progress – thus creating a social, international, and interdisciplinary forum, increasing their networks and enhancing feelings of belonging. This in turn ignited cross-project collaboration, thematic discussions and sharing of scientific literature of importance. As facilitating supervisor, I participated on the same level as other participants, sharing my writing progress and feelings related to academic writing. The 1-hour monthly meetings for PhD students supervised by the same supervisor.The meetings were co-designed by the PhD-students, where the first meeting developed from a shared practical problem concerning digital data safety. Coming meetings were then co-designed depending on experienced needs by the PhD-students. The PhD-students were in different phases of their PhD-process; thus, they could bring in varied perspectives and share learning with each other on the academic processes. They could also discuss issues that they considered important, such as being asked to review for a journal or being asked to teach at bachelor or master programs. Such collaborative working discussions across projects and disciplines are important in academia and the meetings were used to solve problems in academic practice and to test scientific ideas. As the meetings also were led in turn by the participating PhD-students, academic leadership skills were practiced in this setting. As participating supervisor, I had a more passive role than in traditional supervision meetings, and the meetings were inspirational and provided opportunities for shared learning.Outcomes from the novel learning activitiesThe PhD students themselves describe how they have both acquired increased academic skills, and that the online writing retreats have been important in decreasing negative stress, creating a safe social environment which has been important for their wellbeing. The shared learning activities also presented a view of how to work together in academia, which may support the students when thinking of their future career and if this is to relate to academia. As a supervisor, I can clearly see that the activities have enhanced self-efficacy, leadership skills, cross-disciplinary collaboration, national and international networks and decreased dependency on supervisors. The additional bonus of those work-integrated learning activities has been the good progress of the participants’ projects and joy at work!
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| 3. |
- Bergmo-Prvulovic, Ingela, 1970-, et al.
(author)
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Exploring Social Representations of Leadership Development : Designing for Work-Integrated Learning
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 83-86
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper explored social representations of leadership and leadership development shaping an organizations leadership development system (LDS). This study is based on the initial phase of a 4-year collaborative research project on LDSs, adopting an interactive research approach to co-produce knowledge through joint meetings and learning workshops (Ellström et al., 2020). The research project involves researchers from different disciplines, and five organizations operating in different business domains. The participating organizations vary in terms of size, strategies, markets, processes, products, and ways of organizing, but they all share a common interest in how to develop sustainable approaches to leadership development. An LDS encompasses all the metho ds and practices in an organization that contribute to developing and producing effective leaders (McCauley et al 2010). The importance of understanding the characteristics of the context the LDS is embedded in has been highlighted in a previous study (Avby et al., 2022), and serve as a point-of-reference in this study. However, less is known of what underlying assumptions an LDS is based upon. This study paid attention to the underlying values, ideas, and perspectives on leadership and leadership development that shape an organizations’ ways of thinking, communicating, and acting in the LDS. We suggest that the potential to develop a more deliberate practice of leadership development was enhanced by exploring and articulating the tacit knowledge and assumpt ions that an LDS rests upon.Aim The aim of this study was to explore how socially and contextually shaped assumptions on leadership and leadership development can be visualized and practically applied to develop the leadership in the organization. The question addressed was how the awareness of underlying assumptions can support the methods and practices applied, and in what way the disclosing of underlying ideas, values and practices may foster work -integrated learning?Design and methods From a social representation theory approach (Moscovici, 2001, Jovchelovitch, 2007, Markova, 2003, BergmoPrvulovic, 2015), underlying assumptions of leadership and leadership development were explored. In the collaborative project an initial mapping of the participating organizations’ LDSs has been co nducted, based on different sources of data. The results of this mapping have been presented through a metaphorical analysis (Avby et al., 2022), in which the participating organizations are described with certain metaphors of their LDS. This study paid specific attention to the organization entitled The Self-Managing Team, and added to the initial stage of mapping LDSs by exploring the underlying assumptions that underpins the expressions and formulations on leadership and leadership development found in the organization’s documents, websites, formulations in meetings and strategies. The exploration of social representations of LDSs was based upon the free association method (Abric, 1995), further developed, and used in studies exploring social representations of similar abstract and complex phenomena, such as career (Bergmo-Prvulovic, 2013: 2015). The method consists of questions, words and series of words given to the respondents who spontaneously write down their immediate associations towards a specific concept and complex phenomenon with a gradual deepening of questions related to specific words, series of words. In this study, a digital enquiry was created in Esmaker. The enquiry was designed to ask for respondents spontaneous, immediate thoughts on words, and series of words related to leadership and leadership development. The gradually deepening of questions, were designed by paying attention to the five dimensions of representations suggested by Jovchelovitch (2007), by exploring who are concerned, why and for what leadership is needed, what is the content 84 of leadership, when it works and doesn’t work, when and how it occurs as well who is responsible, whose engagement and what conditions are needed. This study was based on 19 respondents’ answers a ll member in the Self-Managing Team. They were selected by the organization, as identified having important roles and functions in the company’s LDS. A facilitator in the organization introduced an online enquiry with 12 questions, given one by one to the respondents, providing 1-2 minutes for each. The respondents wrote down their associations to each question, some background data, and questions about leadership identity. The analytical procedure was made according to qualitative content analysis method as the basic procedure of qualitatively exploring social representations (Bergmo-Prvulovic, 2013; 2015). Expressions were numbered with a certain code for each respondent related to each answered question, thereafter each textual units were condensed, meaning units were coded and grouped into constitutive elements that builds up preliminary and primary themes generating a web of social representations of LDS for the group of respondents.Preliminary results The results disclosed a web of underlying social representations shaping the LDS in The Self-Managing Team. The social representations shape a basic, contextually characterized system of values, ideas, and practices, on which the company at present form their LDS. Given the collaborative design of the project, the results were fed back to the organization to validate the analytical procedure, as well as to support the designing for work -integrated learning and further knowledge use in the organization. The results revealed the respondents’ assumptions on leadership, leadership development, and self-leadership. These assumptions are clearly anchored in the organization’s aim to build in self-management, as a collective way of working with leadership. However, the existing knowledge base encloses both commonalities and contradictions that needs to be further highlighted to create a sustainable LDS. Results showed both stable representations, that occur repeatedly throughout the material, and dynamic social rep resentations, that express a negotiating character between different views, or as being antinomies of thoughts. By identifying and raising awareness of ambiguities deriving from the results, a base of designing for reflective work-integrated learning was provided. A joint learning process to discuss how the results could be utilized as a tool for work-integrated learning was initiated. Some challenges were recognized, and the organization especially addressed the need to work with a second step of workplace reflection. A first learning cycle was initiated to be continuously developed by involving the employees in the process. In all, the contribution of the study explains the basis of leadership development practice, which unnoticed might create ambiguity in service delivery. The mapping of social representations of an LDS can be utilized as a tool for a more deliberate leadership development practice and highlight possibilities and challenges that need to be addressed for integrating methods and practices in everyday work.
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| 4. |
- Carlsson, Linnea, et al.
(author)
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Café seminar : Stimulating Work-Integrated Learning in Research Education
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 19-20
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Many enrolled doctoral students experience a lack of community and uncertainty due to temporary and unpredictable positions. For example, doctoral students in Sweden report feeling lonely and lacking a sense of togetherness regarding their doctoral research program and research community (Akademiet for yngre forskere, 2021; Fackförbundet ST and Sveriges Förenade Studentkårer, 2021). A recent report states that only 15 percent of doctoral students in Norway complete their education by the end of the original contract period (Fodstad-Larsen, 2022), and they are described to battle various psychosocial challenges related to their work, work environment, and work-life. The understanding of research community is, however, by no means a straightforward issue. How research communities develop is unclear, and the role and engagement of doctoral students within the community is equally challenging. Opportunities for social contact, academic discussions with fellow students, integra tion into the departmental community, and the possibility for doctoral students to become involved in the broader research culture are pointed out as triggers for a sense of togetherness (Brew et al., 2017). Nevertheless, these items reflect only a limited notion of a research community. For the triggers to contribute to a sense of togetherness and to a research community where the doctoral students experience learning as an integral part of the research education, it requires an operationalization of the triggers into tools and strategies.Finding tools for building a community and sense of togetherness may be a way to hinder the sense of distress among doctoral students. Furthermore, finding structures to create long-lasting communities may benefit continuous networking among doctoral students contributing to lifelong learning. In this paper, we will explore how "world-café" seminars can be used as a tool and stimulation for community building in research education.The case setting was one seminar session within a series of cross-border doctoral seminars designed to strengthen research collaboration between the participating higher education institutions and promote the exchange of experience and skills between doctoral students and research environments. The seminar series hosted 22 doctoral students from Norway and Sweden, and the participants had different academic backgrounds, belong to different research educations at different academic institutions, and are at different places in the process of the ir research education. The initiators of the seminars were the chairs of the doctoral forums at two academic institutions, one in Sweden and one in Norway. The chairs were also the ones guiding the participants through the café seminar process.A world café is a seminar form which essence is an intervention for organizational change and development or community building amongst individuals, e.g., doctoral students. Its defining characteristic is how communication is based on conversations structured as dialogue. Here, the dialogue is proposed to create a meaning flow between participants, resulting in shared meaning and opportunities for life-long learning as well as learning as an integral part of work or education. Prewitt (2011) describes the caf e's unique contribution as the interventional form; of structured conversation in short cycles, which deliberately mixes participants between cycles to maximize knowledge exchange.To initiate the café seminar, the essence of world café was introduced by the two chairs. The cafés were hosted by the same chairs, in the role as so-called café facilitators guiding the participants throughout the four cycles, each round lasting 20-30 minutes. In the first three cycles, one participant volunteered to be the tab le host with the position to anchor that table's conversation throughout multiple changes of visitors and potential changes of table hosts. The table host was responsible for holding the collective and evolving the topic at this table, and the other participants carried their collective and evolving stories with them. This café had four tables and three topics: i) Knowledge and Life-Long Learning ii) Transformation and Sustainable Development, iii) Social Sustainability. The "transformation and sustainable development" were discussed at two tables and the others at one each. In the first cycle, participants brainstormed in four smaller groups around the three topics the café facilitators presented. The second cycle started when a new composition of doctoral students gathered at each of the four café tablets.The table host presented a summary from the previous discussion before a new brainstorming and discussion started. In the third cycle, participants changed tables again. This time they were encouraged to formalize and concretize the brainstorming notes into a structure containing the research topic, motivation, research question, context, theory and methodology, and contribution. In the fourth and final cycle, the doctoral students formed self -selected writing groups around the three overall topics. At this stage, the café seminar had been going on for 2,5 hours, and the participants were no longer bound to stay in the venue to finish. Hence, the seminar ended with the forming of writing groups. All the writing groups were encouraged to work further with the aim of designing a common abstract. Eight doctoral students chose to continue with the topic of knowledge and life -long learning, four with the topic of transformation and sustainable development, and five chose the topic of social sustainability.Our findings, based on participatory observation, oral feedback from the participants, and evaluation filled in after the seminars, show that a dialogical seminar is well suited for deriving cross-disciplinary research experiences amongst doctoral students. Sharing and exchanging experiences promote work-integrated learning in a research community initiated and led by fellow doctoral students. In the feedback the participants in the café seminar reported a sense of togetherness by being included in a safe community with fellow colleagues. The formal structure of the café seminar provided mutual ground and formalized dialogues amongst doctoral students who would otherwise not meet, and this provided a tool to formulate initiatives for long-lasting communities across disciplines and higher institutions.
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| 5. |
- Carlsson, Sandra, et al.
(author)
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Teaching Here and Now but for the Future : Vocational Teachers' Perspective on Digitalization
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 70-71
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- IntroductionWhen digital technology is introduced into work practice, it means that vocational practice develops and changes (Castells, 2011). New methods, tools, and processes in working life require vocational teachers to develop fundamental vocational competencies and preparedness for this change for their pupil's employability (Persson, 2020). The concept of vocational competencies is understood in different ways (Billett, 2001) yet is often described as tacit and situated (Gåfvels and Paul, 2019). Vocational competence can be described as a symmetric relationship between knowledge, skills, and attitudes (Hiim, 2020, Baartman and De Bruijn, 2011). As working life changes, it places new demands on vocational competence and the use of different technologies. Various attempts have been made to elaborate on the competence needed for teaching in a digitalized society and a digitalized school (Ferrari, 2012, Hatlevik and Christophersen, 2013, Howell, 2012, Kivunja, 2013, Krumsvik, 2008). Vocational practices are intimately associated with physical materials such as objects, bodies, technologies, and these settings permit some actions and prevent others (Carlsson et al., 2022; Fenwick, 2015). In this study, we explore vocational teachers' perspectives on preparing students for future working life and how they relate to teaching in a digitalized society.Theoretical perspectiveThe TPACK framework, expressing Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge, has arisen as a theoretical framework that specifies what knowledge is required for teaching with technology. It emphasizes that teaching involves developing an understanding of the complex relationship between technology, pedagogy, and content and using this understanding to develop suitable context-specific strategies and representations (Mishra and Koehler, 2006; Willermark, 2018; Willermark and Pareto). In this study, we use TPACK as an analytical lens to explore vocational teachers' perspectives on preparing students for future working life and how they relate to teaching in a digitalized society.MethodThe data consists of 10 interviews with vocational teachers from 8 different vocational programs in Swedish upper secondary vocational education. The participants were recruited from a previous survey carried out by the authors (Carlsson & Willermark, 2022) that explored vocational teachers' experiences in using and developing teaching material. A qualitative content analysis was carried out.Findings and contributionsFindings show how teachers benefit from digital technology to support pedagogical strategies as well as facilitate students' content knowledge. Still, digitalization entails challenges of keeping up with changes in professional life and providing students with appropriate vocational digital technologies. It is clear how intimately connected and intertwined digitalization is with pedagogy and the subject content of vocational education (Koehler and Mishra, 2009). Contributions include increased knowledge about digitalization in vocational education, and how it entails navigating tensions between a) teaching practice and vocational practice, b) between different curricula and c) supportive and disruptive digital technologies.
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| 6. |
- Castillo, Ivan Andrés
(author)
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When nursing education becomes political : Norm-critical perspectives in a campus-based clinical learning environment
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 17-18
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- MotivationHigher education institutions have changed from institutions of society into institutions in society, collaborating with other institutions and providing knowledge on contemporary social issues (Kwo et al., 2004). Colleges and universities with nurse educa tional programmes are integrating perspectives of social values and critical thinking in their educations and putting effort into how different sets of skills, such as social skills, could develop nursing students nursing practice. All in the strive to educate nursing students towards a sustainable society. Due to the fusion of social values into nursing educations, this study had the focal point of studying a specific campus-based clinical learning environment (CBCLE) that had implemented norm-critical perspectives in their educational composition.Research aimTherefore, the research aim of this study was to describe and explore the design and implementation of a CBCLE with a norm-critical perspective within a nurse education programme. Resultsresult of this study shows that during the design and implementation of the norm -critical perspective at the CBCLE three prominent themes were the driving force during the construction of the CBCLE. The first theme centres around that the studied nursing program had the objective to educate nursing students beyond traditional nursing education. The second theme, highlights that norm-criticism was implemented in partnership with society. The last theme dwells on that the perspective of norm-criticism implied an educative ambiguity for the CBCLE. Further, this study concludes that during the construction of the CBCLE the perspective of work -integrated learning framed the pedagogical process of implementation, which resulted in that novel layers of the conc ept of learning became relevant, opening up for other pedagogical perspectives to be aggregated. At the CBCLE the perspective of norm-criticism was aggregated and merged with the perspective of work-integrated learning, resulting in that social skills for nursing were emphasized and incorporated within the education at the learning environment. However, the perspective of norm-criticism entailed an ambiguity withing the studied institution because the non-normative approach of composing a CBCLE. The perspective of norm-criticism was elevated from an awareness level to nursing practice, containing social skills, and promoting emancipatory nursing. Moreover, the implementation of norm-criticism at the CBCLE also entailed an educative institutional hesitation due its proximity to politics. Further, by integrating the perspectives of work -integrated learning and norm-criticism, as the studied CBCLE’s, also implicates that the notion of work-integrated educational environments for sustainable societies should be discussed in the future. The result of this study is going to be included in a compilation dissertation consisting of four studies.Research topicResearch has indicated that the Swedish healthcare is not equal (Dahlgren & Pelling, 2020; Friberg, 2018). To achieve society’s demand on providing an equal healthcare nursing educations ought to educate professional nurses that are able to deliver a sustainable, person-centered, and equal nursing care. In the strive to educate professional nurses, nursing education should discuss and illuminate power structures and other societal structures that mirror a society’s diverse nature (Kraft et al., 2017). Additionally, the education that students in higher education are presented with has also to intertwine theory and practice, empower students to reflect about their own learning processes, and ‘teach’ students to use knowledge from several independent sources in the educational endeavor to evolve work-ready students (Cooper et al., 2010; Zegwaard et al., 2017). This study describes and explores the design and implementation of norm-critical perspectives within a campus-based clinical learning environment. The perspective of norm-criticism originates from anti-oppressive, queer, and feminist pedagogies. Norm-criticism uses reflective learning as a pedagogical tool to problematise and reveal how the concept of normality can impact individuals that are perceived as the “other”. A core concept of norm-criticism is not on a focus or a scrutiny of the “other”, rather on the reflective learners understanding of inequalities and how inequalities can be challenged for more equal society (Isaksson et al., 2017; Tengelin et al., 2019; Bengtsson & Bolander, 2020). In nursing education, learning practical nursing is central and learning environments for this purpose have been arranged in different ways (Ewertsson et al., 2015). One way of organizing clinical learning environments are in the so called skills laboratories, clinical simulation centres (Abrandt Dahlgren et al., 2016; Msosa et al., 2021) or campus-based clinical learning environments. Research that focusses on exploring the perspectives of how different pedagogics are combined, such as work-integrated learning and norm-critical pedagogics, within campus-based clinical learning environments is non-existing or at least scant. Context and methodological perspectives The context of this study was a specific clinical learning environment for nursing education within a higher educational institution in a midsized Swedish town. Due to the spatial contextual aspect of the research subject and the explorative nature of the study, a qualitative case study design was chosen to approach the research aim at hand. The data of this study was comprised of two datasets: 7 qualitative semi-structured interviews with key informants, and 64 documents acquired at the archive of the studied university-college. A 6- step Reflective thematic analysis, inspired by Braun and Clarke (2022), was used to analyze the data and three themes were generated during the process. Further on, this study is currently being reviewed by “Advances in Nursing Science”. This is the first study of four in a compilation dissertation. Relevance and Societal impact Hopefully this study is going to contribute to the educative research community’s’ body of knowledge by highlighting the perspectives of work-integrated learning and norm-critical perspectives within the context of nursing education. It might also be an example to other educational organizations when planning for remodeling educational environments that would like to integrate the perspectives of diversity and equality within their educational structure. At a societal level the relevance of this study might consolidate that sustainable and equal nursing care is a natural characteristic in the care that the future professional nurse will provide.
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| 7. |
- Chalachanová, Anna, et al.
(author)
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Critical exploration of researchers’ experiences within the field of participatory research
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 50-51
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Research question: Autoethnographic critical scrutiny as a step towards more inclusive research practices in participatory research?In this presentation we would like to discuss a paper draft. The paper examines the autoethnographic accounts of four researchers to highlight and critically explore our experiences within the participatory action research (PAR) (Schubotz, 2020). PAR is based on the principles of close co-operation between researchers and participants with experience-based knowledge, in this case people with disabilities. Hancock et al. (2012) define three justifications for the participation of people with experience-based competence in research: the ethical, the qualitative and the "therapeutic". The recipients of health and welfare services should have a voice in research in areas that will have a direct impact on their life situation. The qualitative aspect concerns that people with experience -based knowledge can strengthen the quality of the research with new approaches by asking relevant questions or by recruiting participants. This can strengthen the research's relevance, validity and focus on the development of knowledge relevant to those concerned. The third rationale is the therapeutic or empowerment rationale, i.e., that the research can have a positive impact on people who receive services and who are involved in the research (Askheim et al., 2019; Hancock et al., 2012). PAR is connected to democratic values, co-creation of knowledge and the believe that this form of co-operation can influence practice. Participatory action research creates space to develop new research communities where the researcher and the researcher's agenda are pushed aside to create space for the research community that develops as a result of interaction between researchers and participants with different backgrounds (experiences) (Nind, 2014 a; Northway, 2010). PAR is a context-bound research that is most often based on dialogue-based collaboration, and which aims to develop new knowledge or insight that can primarily be recognized in the context in which it takes place (Levin, 2017). It should also be based on local challenges that participants in the research encounter in their everyday lives (Lawson et al., 2015). Collaboration with people with experience-based knowledge in research can be the key to creating opportunities to co -create an inclusive democratic society. All the authors have been doing PAR in different research projects. In various academic meetings, we often discussed methodological approaches, our research role, things not working as expected, or when we felt unsure of whether or what we were doing was right or wrong. This paper will try to bring to light and exemplify some of the tensions and challenges we have met in our research practice with PAR. Based on four autoethnographic accounts and theory on autoethnography as a background, the article will reflect upon, critically analyze, and discuss researchers' roles, power, and epistemic privileges in PAR. The autoethnographic approach is based on the researcher's reflections and critical examination of their identities, roles, power, or penalties within one or several cultural contexts (Hughes & Pennington, 2016). It is a critical reflexive action research in which the researcher takes an active, scientific, and systematic view of personal experience concerning cultural groups identified by the researcher as similar to the self (i.e., us) or as others who differ from the self (i.e., them) (Hughes & Pennington, 2016, s.8).51Establishing data:Four of us wrote two reflections each containing autoethnographic thoughts that reflected tensions in our research practice, for example challenging privileged academic discourses or traditional researcher roles. The logs had roughly the following structure: describe the setting (where, when, why) and your reflections/tensions. Then we read all the logs and wrote down our reactions, keywords, and reflections based on our own research experience. We wrote whether the examples sounded familiar or whether they were unfamiliar or differed from our experiences. All researchers presented the reflections they had written based on the logs, and we summarized central themes based on all the logs.By reading the other authors reflections and at the same time reflecting on their texts using our own experience and taking notes, writing keywords to their texts, started the analysis process in familiarizing with the data (Braun & Clarke, 2014). The analysis was conducted by summarizing the material through the active process of identifying similar themes in the texts, using all the keywords and reflections (Braun & Clarke, 2014). The main themes identified so far were power and power (in)balance, researcher’s role, and epistemic privileges in PAR. Next, we discussed these themes, scrutinizing structures and processes that can influence the research or unconscious processes and power relations tipping the research in one particular direction (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 1994, 2017). Reflections so far The autoethnographic texts touch upon power and power balance in relationships between researchers and participants with experience-based knowledge. The power connects to decision-making for example who is making decisions, what kind of cooperation and co-production of knowledge is happening, and how deadlines sets premises for collaboration. The topic of power may be described on a micro level, what the researchers intend to do in the meetings but may also be connected to the framework of the research projects such as projects goals and progression within the project. Projects depend on a certain pace and effectiveness to fulfil the goals. This has to do with financing and funds that can run out. This effectiveness might be challenging when we do research with people with experience-based knowledge, especially if there is a gap between researchers' starting position, theoretical background and expectations, and co-researchers' needs, interests, or expectations. Although researchers are aware of their power and try to adapt the process so that co-researchers can experience a real contribution, it might seem that the researchers have the final word in the end, and we should discuss whether and how we should address that. Co-researchers must usually adjust to the academic world rather than vice versa.
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| 8. |
- Dahlquist, Karl, 1981-, et al.
(author)
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Bachelor thesis as practice-based WIL education and the role of supervision
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 68-69
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Bachelor thesis writing and supervision as potential practice-based WIL In Sweden, students are required to write a bachelor’s thesis in both vocational and academic university programs, though the writing and supervision process differ across disciplines and institutions. In our research on undergraduate education and work-integrated education (WIE) in the social sciences, we conceive of thesis writing and supervision, as performed in the undergraduate program, International Program in Politics and Economics (IPPE) at University West, as an example of practice-based education. While studying the educational practice of thesis writing from the viewpoint of work-integrated learning (WIL), we pose two sets of questions: how and what kind of knowledge or skills are required and acquired, and what is the role and kind of supervision involved throughout the research-thesis writing process? The second set of questions is whether the practice of thesis writing could be classified as WIE, and ultimately, if WIL is achieved; more precisely, we are investigating what kind of learning is acquired and processed, and in what ways the “knowledge” acquired through this kind of research practice is transferable to “work-life” and result in “life-long-learning”? Is the thesis writing bridging the “gap” between the university and post-graduate professional careers? To answer these interrelated questions, we construct a theoretical framework that conceptualizes work-integrated supervision as cognitive apprenticeship and dissects the supervision process which aims to develop a particular set of skills that will align (i) the aim of highquality academic university education, with; (ii) the new (mass-) diversity of student population, with; (iii) the increasing emphasis on employability and career advancement.Material and methodOur specific object of study is an academic program in political science that according to national curriculum regulations must contain a scientific research thesis, which is closely followed by supervisors assigned to student groups of two. It is a hands-on approach to supervision (Sinclair, 2004) following a strict timeline and structure as well as support. We investigate thesis-writing as a practice, the role of the supervisor therein, and the relation between thesis writing, the curriculum, and work-life. The primary data in this qualitative small-N study is gathered by a combination of interviews and participant observation. We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews and participated in 22 supervision sessions with 4 thesis groups. From the data collected, we identified p atterns, commonalities, and differences around how the students experience the practice of writing a thesis and its relation to their work life. Results and indicationsThe findings indicate that bachelor thesis writing and supervision in the form that it is practiced at IPPE is WIL. This specific model of supervision is that of an apprenticeship. While components of traditional (or vocational) apprenticeship is included in the relationship (especially when it comes to teaching/learning the actual p ractice of research), cognitive apprenticeship with a variety of methods to allow the apprentices to observe and actively engage in the practice through the supervisor’s strategic push toward independence (Collins, Brown, and Newman 1987) provides the basis of the relationship. The one-to-one hands-on cognitive apprenticeship supervision in the program is by far the most extensive task through which the students learn how to reflect on practice and become professional in what is a wide-open career trajectory. WIL is attained through working closely with a professional in their professional capacity as his/her apprentice and being trained in that very profession (as researchers) as a result of which they acquire the skills required for an increasingly intensive knowledge economy and the public sphere. The supervision model designed as an educative, supporting, and controlling process of seven steps ranging over 20 weeks complements the academic social science education students receive up to that point sealing the acquisition of epistemological skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, capacity for relearning, and coworking in groups as well as boosting ontological skills of time and project management in becoming confident professionals. Implications and contributionsWhile there have been previous studies on conceptualizing supervision within a WIL framework, they mostly focus on the supervision of students in the workplace/place of internship in relation to the work practices (Cooper et al., 2010), or supervision, mentorship, and feedback at the workplace (Eraut, 2010), rather than the academic thesis writing. These studies, therefore, focus on supervision more as a WIE practice, i.e., supervision with the intention of making sure that workplace experience of the supervisee serves certain learning outcomes (Billett, 2019), rather than as a WIL practice for learning to process experience for knowledge production. Our finding that the specific model of bachelor supervision within the context of WIL, based on the relationship between the supervisor and the supervisee(s) as a relationship of cognitive apprenticeship achieves WIL, is thus a novel contribution to the field. Thesis writing, at all levels of higher education, is considered the pinnacle of the learning process at that particular level, where the students get the opportunity to turn the core knowledge they acquired from coursework into a reflective experience. The way thesis writing is handled, therefore, seems to have special relevance from a WIE perspective, since the way this reflective experience is organized and guided by the supervisor has a significant impact on the extent to which the candidates can attain WIL: learning from experience as independent researchers and acquire the ability for “reflective” knowledge/learning (Billet 2012) on both practice and learning, as required for “progressive growth” (Dewey 1976-1983; see also Fleming & Haigh, 2018), as well as “critical reflections” (Trede & Mcewen, 2012). The result from our study thus contributes to the problem of knowledge transferability between the university and “work-life” (Eraut, M., 2010) be resolved through a “transformational” WIL model of academic supervision along the lines of Liberal Arts education’s broad appeal to knowledge and critical awareness that both question, analyze, and better prepare a diverse set of students for the knowledge economy, and a labor market that regularly sees people move in and out of different careers, not least as skills and even professions become obsolete (Crisp 2019; DeNis et al., 2003; Gannaway et. al., 2017).
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| 9. |
- Drysdale, Maureen, et al.
(author)
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Belongingness, peer support, social connections, and well-being of WIL students in Canada, Germany, and Sweden
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 30-31
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- IntroductionWIL in the context of higher education is a model of experiential education as per Kolb’s theory (Kolb, 1984; Kolb & Kolb, 2012) - which intentionally integrates students’ theoretical academic studies within a workplace or practical environment The purposeful integration of theory with practice supports learning, with the workplace serving as the mechanism for the enhanced learning, and while students are the primary focus of WIL, the essential philosophy is an educational partnership between universities, employers, and communities with the aim of providing students with an enriched learning experience (Blom, 2013; Johnston, 2017).Students who participate in a work-integrated learning (WIL) program during their higher education studies are often better prepared for work after graduation compared to students who do not receive discipline specific practical experience (Mandal & Edwards, 2021; Smith et al., 2019; Weldon & Ngo, 2019). But does this better preparedness come with a price? Do these students - who often spend months away from their campus community – have adequate access to important support networks and/or do they struggle with their well-being? Research has shown that overall well-being, social and peer support, social connections, and establishing a strong sense of belonging are believed to be important in a successful school-to-work transition and achieving a strong career identity (Conely et al., 2014; Huegaerts et al., 2020; Ruschoff et al., 2018). Students who participate in WIL – however have less access to their peers and the university community due to being away for work terms (McBeath et al., 2018). It is unknown whether this influences their overall well-being and subsequent transition to full-time work after graduation. As such, they deserve attention in the research on participation in WIL programs and the subsequent transition to the labour market.Goal and Research QuestionsThis study furthers our understanding of how support systems and sense of belonging impact student mental health and well-being during work-terms. The results can inform the design of a support intervention aimed at improving and maintaining health and well-being outcomes for WIL students. Results also contribute to the literature regarding WIL, sense of belonging, peer support, social connections, well-being, and preparedness for school-to-work transitions.The study involved developing and administering a quantitative measure to examine aspects of, and the importance of, peer support and sense of belonging on improved mental health and well-being for WIL students. We also examined the role that social media and social connections played in this relationship. More specifically, we addressed the following research questions:1. What perceptions do WIL students have about sense of belonging and peer support?2. What demographic factors impact sense of belonging and peer support?3. How does WIL influence peer support and sense of belonging?4. How are peer support and sense of belonging related to mental health, and other psychological and health related outcomes in our WIL students?5. What role does social media and in particular virtual social connections play in sense of belonging, peer support, and well-being?6. What is the relationship between sense of belonging, peer support, social connections, mental health, and preparedness for school-to-work transitions? MethodsData was collected from three institutions of higher education, namely University of Waterloo in Ca nada, University West in Sweden, and Baden-Heidenheim Cooperative State University (DHBW) in Germany. Ethical clearance was secured at all three institutions prior to data collection. Participants (WIL students) completed an online survey addressing sense of belonging, social and peer support, school-to-work self-efficacy, social media use, and well-being during their WIL placements. In addition to demographic variables (sex, age, year of study, and number of WIL placements) and constructed items measuring school-to-work efficacy and social media use for support and belonging, the survey also contained the following published scales:Sense of Belonging Instrument (SOBI: Hagerty & Patusky, 1995) Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM: Goodenow, 1993) Interpersonal Support Evaluation List (ISEL -shortened version: Cohen et al., 1985)Self-Description Questionnaire III (SDQ-III: Marsh & O’Neill, 1984)Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS: Diener et al., 1985) Well-Being Manifestation Measure Scale (WBMMS: Massé et al., 1998) Consent to participate was indicated by the participant’s voluntary completion of the online survey. The survey took approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. After correcting for missing data, the final data set had a sample size of 480 (University of Waterloo, n=190; University West, n=112, DHBW, n=178).Data AnalysisDescriptive analyses provided frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations for the demographic variables. A series of t-tests were run to determine significant differences on the dependent variables as a function of country and demographics. A series of ANOVAs followed by Tukeys’ HSD post hoc analysis, were run to determine significant main effects. Levene’s test was performed for the demographic independent variables and the assumption of homogeneity of variance was satisfied. Finally, correlational analysis was run to examine significant relationships between the dependent variables – Sense of Belonging, Peer Support, school-to-work efficacy, Mental Health, and Well-Being. Incomplete scales (i.e., missing data) were eliminated from the analysis.ResultsResults indicated that WIL students from the three institutions reported only moderate levels of sense of belonging, however they perceived high levels of support from their peers. Higher levels of sense of belonging to the university community and access to high quality peer support was strongly related to better overall mental health and well-being. Interestingly, while WIL students perceived social media and virtual social connections during work terms as playing an important role in supporting their sense of belonging to peers and the university community, they preferred face to face social interactions for promoting their well-being. Additional results and implications will be provided in the presentation.
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| 10. |
- Eklund, Annika, 1981-, et al.
(author)
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Exploring focus group discussions for building knowledge across emergency services organisations : a foundation for road tunnel incidents responses and future research?
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 65-67
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Introduction and aimRoad tunnels are important parts of today’s infrastructure and society, but also with potential for many injured in case of an incident and a challenging work environment for emergency services organisations. If a mass-casualty incident (MCI) occurs in a road tunnel, specific challenges in terms of safety, heat, smoke, long distances to the injured and lack of and contradictory information will impact the response and how collaboration is established (Holgersson et al., 2020; Lockey et al., 2005). In addition, sharing information during responses is, however, often limited due to the lack of knowledge and understanding of each other’s work processes at an individual and organisational level (Sederholm et al., 2021). A key for collaboration here is a good understanding of how their own, and collaborative organisations interpret and operate in a potentially shared task (Edwards, 2012; Wolbers et al., 2017). Thus, the road tunnel environment is one area where research has pointed to the need for a shared understanding of incidents across the organisations (Casse & Caroly, 2019) and for arenas facilitating exchange of experiences and reflections upon work procedures to develop collaboration (Njå & Svela, 2018; Hylander et al., 2022). This calls for activities that could stimulate work-integrated learning. While exercises and simulations are valuable in enhancing response preparedness, the perceived effects have been reported to vary in terms of learning and usefulness (see e.g., Roud et al., 2021). In addition, exercises and simulations are expensive and time consuming, calling for alternative but still effective learning activities for developing collaboration. This abstract aim to present and critically explore an innovative learning activity for development of joint knowledge to improve MCI response in road tunnel environments.Design and participants The learning activity analysed for this abstract was a series of four focus groups á 4 to 4,5 hours, conducted online in a region of Sweden. The overall aim of the series was to share experiences and develop joint knowledge across emergency organisations in tunnel environments. The participants in the focus groups represented the organisations that typically respond to tunnel incidents, i.e., ambulance service (EMS), police service, rescue service, Swedish Transport Administration (RTCC, Trafikverket) and emergency dispatch center (EDC, SOS Alarm) (Table 1). The study participants had extensive work experience within their organisations and are expected to have a tactical or operational management function in a major response.Table 1 not included in this abstractThe researchers designed the focus group series with the intention to alternate experiences, with procedural, conceptual and practical elements. The study used a partly participatory design. For this study, rather than being co-interpreters of the results, the participants were involved to shape the sessions content and questions to be discussed in ways they found valuable (Baum et al., 2005). The researchers built the following session from what the participants had asked for, discussed, or found challenging in the prior sessions. One week in advance, the overarching theme, goal, and suggestions for discussion questions for the session, and a summary of bullet points from the previous session, was sent out to the participants. Session I was set out to be an open discussion to familiarize themselves with each other’s ways of working, and to discern the participants’ understandings of specific challenges and needs for responses in tunnels, but also to illuminate the impact of internal decisions and actions for saving lives safely. The first approximate 20 minutes was discussed as crucial for establishing a tunnel response, which is why this phase was focused on during Session II: a best-practice discussion based on the initial 20 minutes of a full-scaled exercise where several of the participants had been involved. Information gathering and sharing was highlighted as both crucial and challenging, which lead to the research group introducing and participants discussing practical implications of concepts of “situational awareness” in Session III. Session IV was a ‘digital exercise’ based on a crash and vehicle fire in a tunnel, aiming to wrap up the identified challenges and practicing information sharing and management during the initial 20 minutes of the response.The analysis was conducted as critical discussions in the research group, in-between the sessions and when the full series was conducted, set out to identify potential strengths and weaknesses/challenges of the design and content for knowledge development. The results will present the preliminary findings and contributions.Results The analysis performed for this abstract found that the focus groups series ha s strengths and weaknesses/challenges to build knowledge across organisations regarding potential MCI road tunnel responses. First, the opportunity to discuss the same questions from four “basis”/perspectives, including presenting the organisations own perspectives and exercise experiences, a theoretical concept, and a practical moment was a strength. However, rather than a progression of learning (such as becoming more effective in information sharing), the design primarily allowed analysis of a deeper and more complex understanding of the overall question of joint and timely responses. Second, the iterative and participatory design was a strength in terms of that the sessions could to some extent focus on the issues the participants highlighted. By using this method, the participants also had the possibility to reflect upon prior and upcoming sessions (Baum et al., 2006). This could, however, be a limitation for comparing results across different groups if the issues of concern diverge too much.Third, the focus groups could contribute to the organisations’ knowledge development across practices, such as identifying specifically critical moments when establishing a response or sharing thoughts about safety. Using this design could be a complement to the typical focus on actions in exercises and training (Roud et al., 2021). In addition, the nature of focus group data provides opportunities to analyse interactions (Wilkinson, 2021). Still, how the knowledge developed could be further implemented in and across the organisations remains unknown and needs further consideration in research and practice.Fourth, the focus groups were effective for researchers to explore how knowledge is shared and possible contradictions in interpretations and actions. This approach is valuable for developing knowledge in cross-practice collaborations (Edwards, 2012). Including materials from a full-scale exercise and a practical digital exercise was valuable due to the obvious connection to their work tasks and potential challenges, and to contextualize their learning. Further, the amount and various types of data obtained from each session, such as discussing a theoretical concept and a practical exercise moment, could pose challenges for analysis. However, including both structured discussions and practical exercises as stimuli could strengthen the internal validity of the findings (e.g., reduce the discrepancies between what they say they do and what they actually do).Fifth, using online meetings was time-effective (and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic), allowing participants and researchers to work from where they choose. However, the online setting produced primarily a dialogue between moderator and participants, with less initiatives for dialogues between participants. It co uld be valuable to further evaluate the design in physical meetings. Moreover, it was easier to drop out or pop out, to simultaneously manage other work tasks, from online meetings compared to physical meetings.ConclusionIn conclusion, we would here argue that using inter-organisational focus groups, that acknowledge participants needs for learning and providing various stimuli to engage in a shared problem, can contribute to knowledge development for future tunnel responses. Research and practice should further explore how various interpretations and actions can be used to improve strategies, communication and organizational changes. Further research could 67 also explore how discussion-based learning activities can be used as a platform to develop and main tain collaborative learning networks, and as a complement to exercises and simulations.
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| 11. |
- Engström, Annika, 1964-, et al.
(author)
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A learning perspective on the interdependency between technology-driven and managerial- driven AI-transformation
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 122-124
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Introduction Moving from manual, to automated, to connected AI operations systems implies a significant transformation in the organisation of work (European Parliament, 2015:8) (Brock & von Wangenheim). To understand these “realistic AI” processes, to build competence for certain tasks. it is crucial to understand what organisational competencies that are needed and how to organize knowledge creation processes in practice (Ellström, 2001) Schön used the concept of “knowing–in-action” is nonreflective and solving most everyday practical problems, here understood as executional learning (Engström & Wikner, 2017). Thus, this knowing, according to Schön (1983), is not enough to meet more complex situations. To be aware of tacit knowledge, we need to distance ourselves and learn to reflect. More complex, uncertain and unclear tasks require “knowing-on-action” and collaboration between several competences to create new knowledge or to reach a new solution here understood as developmental learning (Engström&Wikner).. Anton et al. (2020) state that in many organisations there is a lack of AI-related competencies that prevent development of the full AI potential. For the development of the field, it is important to study the dynamic interplay between advanced technology and the social side of work from a learning and competence perspective. Therefore, this paper aims to explore how industrial organisations understand their competencies in relation to AI transformation from a knowledge creation perspective.Research method The study was part of a collaborative research project with an interdisciplinary research team and representatives from five industrial partners. In four-month cycles the industrial partners engaged in “homework” presented, analysed and discussed in common workshops. For this study, the homework was guided by the DIGITAL approach (Brock & von Wangenheim, 2019) and based on the explanatory model (Anton et al., 2020). The industrial partners studied how resources and competencies related to specific organisational tasks in their own organisations could be identified and defined. To aid the data collection (that was done by the industrial partners themselves) a framework capturing Anton et al.’s (2020) 13 dimensions of competencies (Leadership, Communication, Customer-focused decision making, Business development, Data science/STEM, Agile software development, Initiative and engagement, AI technology, Programming, Digital analysis tools, Data and network technology, Digital competencies, and Data management) was used. For each dimension the partners assesses the competence level: Competence central to the process; Competence exists internally; Competence partly exists internally; Competence does not exist internally; Competence can be gained by development internally; Competence needs to be sourced externally. These were in line with Brock & von Wangenheim’s (2019) logic that managers when starting AI project should do “internal resources check”. The data was analysed in four steps. First, focus group data was analysed by the facilitators at each industrial partner. Second, the competence mapping was analysed by the “working groups” at each industrial partner. Third, the transcribed data from the two industrial partners used in this paper were reviewed individually by t he authors. Fourth, the cross-disciplinary group of authors from both academia and industrial partners gathered for a common analysis session. This session primarily focused on the data from the competence mapping but also cross-checked with the input from the cross-functional focus groups to triangulate the outcome. During the common analysis the conceptual framework presented in the discussion section was developed through iterations between the theoretical framework based on the findings by Anton et al. (2020), and the data from the project.Findings The preliminary findings show differences among the industrial partners in how they view their own competencies. For some organisations organisational structures are in place, e.g., dedicated AI Labs, where the work with understanding the benefits and usage of the technology is ongoing on a rather advanced level. In other organisations the work has just been initiated. Overall, all representatives stress the importance of top management support and the need for dedicated forums. Among the organisations that have come the farthest in their AI transformation the structure given by the proposed framework is not enough. They emphasise the need to further frame it into also understanding what the competence is associated with and why it is needed. They view the leadership as almost having to have an evangelistic approach to it, where it does not seem to be enough with “only” technical experts. A conceptual framework, consisting of the relationship between the two dimensions: the managerial competencies and the technical competencies, is developed (Figure 1). The managerial competencies dimension concerns organisation and organising. The technical competencies dimension on the other hand captures the complexity level of the technology that is needed, the system of systems. The diagonal illustrates the relationship between these two dimensions, that is, the relation between technological complexity and organisational ability. The lower part of the diagonal captures isolated, simple processes (presumably internal) while the upper part of the diagonal captures integrated, complex processes (presumably primarily related to external parts and/or actors).. For high levels of technical complexity that requires high levels of technical competencies within the organisation the organisation also needs to advance the managerial competencies and the developmental learning processes. However, while in the long-term perspective we suggest that going off the diagonal will be inefficient and ineffective, hence, waste, it might be needed to do that temporarily, as the organisation develops. We believe that this developmentcan be either technology-driven or organisation-driven.The proposed conceptual framework is intended to help organisations plot their own current position based on the two dimensions and identify what changes are needed to reach the diagonal. It can also be used to define where on the diagonal the organisation ultimately wants to end up. It is not relevant for all companies or even for all sectors overall to be at the top right side. We believe that AI transformation cannot be approached as either technologydriven or managerial-driven, but as an e interdependent process of both dimensions.
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| 12. |
- Febring, Linda
(author)
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Work-integrated learning in Swedish as a second language : a study of vocational directed SFI
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 14-16
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Research topicAdult migrants, coming to Sweden, can attend Swedish courses known as Swedish for immigrants (SFI), in order to learn the language. SFI is a qualified, basic language education (SOU 2020:66). Moreover, there is a possibility to combine the language studies with vocational training. Language learning takes place via language usage, and exposure to the language increases the fluency, as demonstrated by Chiswick and Miller (1995). Thus, when theadult migrant interacts in Swedish, at work or in society, informal language learning takes place. However, little is known about how this informal language learning comes about (Yates, 2017).MotivationIntegrated language programs are arranged by municipalities in the belief that they will expedite language learning and contribute to labour market establishment (Lindberg & Sandwall, 2012). The idea of the programs is that it enhances the possibilities for newly arrived migrants to learn a vocation as well as learning appropriate professional communication in Swedish (Dahlström, 2019). In addition to this, further aims with the programs are reducing unemployment and securing competence in professions that are difficult to recruit to, as well as expediting migrants’ entrance into the labour market (ibid.). However, these effects are not fully investigated (ibid.), and “[n]oteworthy is […] the lack of studies of vocational directed sfi” (SOU 2020:66, p. 460; my translation).Even though many migrants learn the language at the workplace, “we currently know very little about how this ‘informal’ language learning unfolds” (Yates, 2017, p. 429). One way to investigate this is through using boundary crossing theory, as used by Akkerman and Bakker (2012) in vocational education. Akkerman and Bakker (2012) outlined student transitions between school and workplace practice. The ambition with this project is to find out what boundary crossing mechanisms are in use in vocationally directed SFI-programs.Research questions/aimSo far, there are no studies that have investigated vocationally directed SFI, even though these programs are offered by an estimated 61-86 percent of Swedish municipalities (Skolverket, 2022). In addition to this, there is a strong societal discourse which holds that the Swedish language is the key to integration and employment (Lindberg & Sandwall, 2017). The current research attempts to fill this gap by investigating the integration between components, aiming at facilitating learning, in vocational directed SFI. The purpose of this study is to investigate vocational directed SFI-programs and how the integration of components in these programs can contribute to the learning for the students attending them.The research questions are 1. What processes are involved when vocational directed SFI-programs are initiated? How do they come about?2. What affordances for learning at the boundary exist in the studied programs?3. What learning at the boundary exist, and how is it established?4. What role does boundary objects play at mediating learning at the boundary?The context where the research is carried out is in Sweden, at vocational directed SFI-programs. This will be a compilation dissertation that will consist of four case studies. A combination of qualitative methods will be used. Specifically, these are interviews and document analysis (Study I), interviews (Study II), and ethnographic approaches (Study III and IV). The first study is a retrospective case study of three vocational directed SFI-programs, investigating the background of starting up such a program. The purpose of the first study is to find out what processes contributed to the start-up of this type of program and to learn more about why the municipalities started offering the p rogram and how they went about when starting it up. The aim of this study is to answer RQ1.15The second study is an interview case study with 13 participants, both sfi-teachers, vocational teachers and practice supervisors, in five vocational directed SFI-programs from two municipalities. The purpose of the second study is to map out the programs and the boundary crossings of the investigated programs. This study is published (see Febring & Henry, 2022). This study responds to RQ2.The third study is planned to be an ethnographic case study of one vocational directed SFI-program. The researcher will spend a lot of time on site to see the collaboration between the teachers, and also to follow the students at their practice. The purpose of the third study is to investigate how learning at the boundary is established. The focus of this study is to answer RQ3.The fourth study is also planned to be an ethnographic case study of one vocational directed SFI -program. The purpose of the fourth study is to investigate how learning at the boundary is mediated by the use of boundary objects (artefacts mediating at the border) (Engeström et al., 1995). This study relates to RQ4. Theoretical and methodological perspectives The dissertation is underpinned by socio-cultural theories on learning. For study II, III and IV, boundary crossing theory (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) is used. According to Suchman (1993) “crossing boundaries means entering into a process of profound and uncomfortable social change” (p. 25). However, Akkerman and Bakker (2011) states that crossing boundaries has a potential for learning, which is emphasized by both cultural historical activity theory (Engeström, 1987) and communities of practice (Wenger, 1998).Results and implications The research will contribute to the WIL paradigm by considering the use of the concept in relation to Swedish as a Second Language (SSL). A first attempt at defining work integrated language learning (WILL) has been proposed, which reads as follows: “a program or other form of education that primarily targets the development of L2 skills, where classroom and workplace-based learning are intentionally combined, and where connections between settings are actively sought” (Febring & Henry, 2022, p. 19-20). To understand the ways in which formal and informal knowledge and experiences are made relevant in language learning is of importance for teacher training programmes, teachers and teacher educators. Moreover, this study will be important for research about language learning, Swedish as a Second Language (SLL) and teacher training, as well as to SSL-students, sfi- and SSL-teachers, teachers of migrants, vocational supervisors, teacher-educators, but also for policy makers, all of whom can make more informed decisions about classro om practice.
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| 13. |
- Folkman, A. K., et al.
(author)
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Being and becoming critical friends as a sustainable support function in academic work
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 99-100
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- As we strive to teach our students to think critically about health and well-being in professional work, based on cooperation, life-long learning, and sustainability in working life, we need to meet the challenge of applying strategies to achieve this in academia as well. Stolle et al. (2018) underline the need to better understand CF as a research tool, to improve ourselves as self-study researchers versus teacher educators. We need to collaborate, to establish safe ways of working and negotiate shared understandings to develop and growth in professional academic achievement. Addressing sustainability challenges is most effective when coproduced by academics and non-academics in a way that provides solutions and contributions to the related scientific body of knowledge (Schneider et al., 2021). This presentation explores CF as a sustainable support function based on our experiences in a co -produced research project in a Norwegian municipality. The research question is: What characterizes CF as a sustainable support function in a follow-up research project in a Norwegian municipality?The case: The municipality has an ongoing innovation project “The team around the teacher and the pupil (2019 –2023)”. This project has a public health- and preventive perspective based on experienced challenges in the local school setting. The focus of the project is to strengthen the pupils’ learning environment and learning outcomes, by involving the reorganization of interdisciplinary and interprofessional resources to promote coping, belonging and good mental health in all the primary and secondary schools in the municipality (Folkman et al., 2020). The research group was interdisciplinary and worked in close collaboration with the municipality´s project leaders. The project also included master students’ projects. The engagement of master students in a co -produced research project provides the students with work-integrated learning experience of research with practice. Theory: Co-production of knowledge must explicitly recognize multiple ways of knowing and doing (Schneider et al., 2021). CF involves trusting relationships, productive tensions, and two-way learning as mechanism (Knowles et al., 2018; Stolle et al., 2018). The connection between reflection and CF (Stolle et. al, 2018), aligns with core participatory mechanisms that enable ‘dialogue and iteration’ and authentic involvement (Knowles et al., 2018; Norén & Wallin, 2018). Conflicting agendas require that parts reflect on the principles of respect and solidarity to ensure a broader collective goal and that each agenda can be met while maintaining the integrity of the overarching goal of the research (Page, 2022). Reflection is a meaning-making process highlighting relationships (Stolle et al., 2018). Method and analysis: The research question led to an integrated analytic process (Strøm & Fagermoen, 2012), based on the project documents, reports, and articles from the project. The deductive analysis involved the interpretation of the data to explore characteristics of CF as sustainable support in work integrated learning. Two themes emerged through the analysis process: CF and knowledge production in the project and CF: mandate and role. ResultsCF and knowledge production in the project: There was a period of initial negotiations between the project leader and the research group, as the project leader wanted to develop a research design suitable to support the objectives and aims of the project. Therefore, work ascritical friends, started by critical questions from the research group about the operationalization of research objectives in the project and the pre-planned measures of intended results. There were negotiations of understanding in the processes of developing a contract and research plan and considering knowledge from both parties. This time-consuming process was ongoing through the follow-up research, as new perspectives and results emerged. However, this also led to a closer collaboration with more school staff and leaders in the municipality, which was beneficial for understanding the results from the project.CF: mandate and role: Co-production in the research process took place in a field of tension, where the project leaders and the researchers acted as critical friends to each other. The underlying tension, based on the project leader`s mandate, role and knowledge of the context, and the research groups roles and competence in research methodology, proved to enhance the learning for both parties and encompassed continuous need for dialogue. However, through CF the research of the project was also used to inform and improve the project, and then provide additional collaborative research topics. The controverses advanced a dynamic co-creative learning process, linked to knowledge of practice-based evaluation research in this context, but also a nearer friendship that obliged.DiscussionOur results show, that that CF in co-production between practice and research can contribute to promoting the legitimacy of the research contribution in the field of practice the project deals with, supported by Schneider et al., (2021). For researchers’ objectivity and integrity in the research process is essential, but this can be experienced as conflicting with project leaders’ views and need for measurable outcomes. Reflecting rooted in a scientific inquiry, can serve as generating new meaning and learning opportunity for both parties (Stolle et al., 2018). The results underpin the importance of understanding one’s language and respecting each other’s knowledge when co-producing together with academia and practice (Schneider et al., 2021). To push our thinking and learning asking critical questions, can be limited by being “best friends” (Stolle et al., 2018), thus hav ing different views are an asset. Agreement must be reached about different roles, responsibilities and knowledge, and how the objectives of each stakeholder can be achieved (Page, 2022). The participating students could have been even more involved in the CF dialogues. They were invited to result presentation meetings, but work-integrated learning would have been enhanced if they had been able to participate on more equal terms. ConclusionThis paper presents joint learning from a mainly online CF experience, formed by mutual respect and leading to increased learning and increased value of research outcomes. The value of research collaboration and support with CF is increased. This is important in academia and for a sustainable work situation for research ers. The project also provided work-integrated learning for students, but this could have been further enhanced.
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| 14. |
- Galan, Nataliya, 1973-
(author)
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Work-place learning : A way to develop entrepreneurial employees
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 78-79
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The current study has its starting point of departure in a broader understanding of entrepreneurship, which acknowledges that new entrepreneurial opportunities can be recognised and pursued by individuals in different ways. Thus, it can be done by establishing new ventures or by identifying and developing such opportunities within existing organisations (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000). Irrespective of its form, entrepreneurship can be understood as a behavioural process, which implies that individuals, engaged in this process, are involved (alone or in teams) in a broad range of goal-oriented activities. Previous research in the stream, predominantly focusing on venture creation behaviours, recognises that entrepreneurs, through different learning experiences, develop knowledge enabling them to recognise and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities (Politis, 2005; Politis et al., 2019). This reasoning should be equally relevant to entrepreneurial behaviour of employees within existing organisations (Bosma et al., 2012). Entrepreneurial employees, who can also be referred to as intrapreneurs (Bosma et al., 2012), commonly demonstrate behaviours, which are similar to those of entrepreneurs, i.e., proactiveness, risk -taking, and innovativeness (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003). These employees are expected to contribute most to the value creation in their employing organizations by acting at the organisational “frontier” and “not the core” (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003). Such behaviours enable their employing organisations to “depa rt from the customary” (Antoncic & Hisrich, 2003).Intrapreneurs are viewed as exceptional learners (Lackéus et al., 2020), who learn from multiple sources (colleagues, partners, competitors and other stakeholders) as well as through multiple experiences (e.g., observing, doing, re-doing) (Lackéus et al., 2020). Further, several studies emphasize the importance of work -related contexts for developing of intrapreneurial behaviour of employees and suggest that both formal (Mustafa et al., 2018) and informal learning (Keith et al., 2016) opportunities at work play an important role in transforming relevant experiences into entrepreneurial knowledge and herewith shaping entrepreneurial behaviour of employees. At the same time, rigid organisational structures and cultures, certain types of work task design as well as job role clarity may also affect the process of “intrapreneurial” learning in existing organisations (de Jong et al., 2015). This indicates that intrapreneurial learning, being a form of entrepreneurial learning, may develop in a different, compared to entrepreneurial learning, way and, accordingly, have specific dimensions. However, previous research provides limited understanding of how entrepreneurial employees learn at their workplaces (Manuti et al., 2015) as well as where (e.g., within/outside organisational boundaries) (Manuti et al., 2015). The current study aims, via integration of entrepreneurial learning, entrepreneurship, intrapreneurship, and workplace learning literature to advance the current understanding of the role of workplace learning in developing entrepreneurial employees. In doing so, the study adopts a broad approach to defining workplace learning (Stern & Sommerlad, 1999), acknowledging that there exist different degrees of separation between ‘learning’ and ‘work’. Thus, this implies that learning activities can occur within and outside organisational boundaries, as well as they can be integrated with or disintegrated from working tasks and assignments (e.g., Galan, 2018).The study results suggest that intrapreneurial behaviours of employees appear to be the outcome of employees learning through their work tasks which have multiple roles in the process of such learning. First, through their work tasks employees in existing organisations are likely to be exposed to various learning opportunities (both within and outside organisational boundaries). Second, the work task–learning opportunity fit appears to increase the employees’ engagement in learning opportunities and, thus, trigger their pursuit. Finally, task novelty is suggested to moderate the relationship between the pursuit of learning opportunities by employees and developing by them intrapreneurial behaviours. The study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurial learning in existing organisations by clarifying the enabling role of work tasks in this process and incorporating two features of work tasks, namely their fit to learning opportunities and novelty. Future research is encouraged to incorporate other characteristics of work tasks, such as task variety, task complexity, task scope, task importance, task structuredness as well as empirically test newly established relationships.
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| 15. |
- Hattinger, Monika, 1969-, et al.
(author)
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Reviewing human-centric themes in intelligent manufacturing research
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 125-127
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In the era of Industry 4.0, emergent digital technologies generate profound transformations in the industry toward developing intelligent manufacturing. The technologies included in Industry 4.0 are expected to bring new perspectives to the industry on how manufacturing can integrate new solutions to get maximum output with minimum resource utilization (Kamble et al., 2018). Industry 4.0 technologies create a great impact on production systems and processes, however, affect organizational structures and working life conditions by disrupting employees’ everyday practices and knowledge, in which competence and learning, human interaction, and organizational structures are key. Hence, new digital solutions need to be integrated with work and learning to generate more holistic and sustainable businesses (Carlsson et al., 2021).The core Industry 4.0 technologies are built on cyber-physical systems (CPS), cloud computing, and the Internet of things (IoT) (Kagermann et al., 2013; Zhou et al., 2018). In recent years, an array of additional technologies has been developed further, such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), cyber security, robotics, and automation. Industry 4.0 aims to create a potential for faster delivery times, more efficient and automated processes, higher quality, and customized products (Zheng et al., 2021). Hence, the ongoing transformation through the technological shift of production in combination with market demands pushes the industry and its production process.Recent research has substantially contributed to an increased understanding of the technological aspects of Industry 4.0. However, the utilization of technologies is only a part of the complex puzzle making up Industry 4.0 (Kagermann et al., 2013; Zheng et al., 2021). The impact Industry 4.0 technologies and application s have on the industrial context also changes and disrupts existing and traditional work practices (Taylor et al., 2020), management and leadership (Saucedo-Martínez et al., 2018), learning and skills (Tvenge & Martinsen, 2018), and education (Das et al., 2020). This research has shown a growing interest in human-centric aspects of Industry 4.0 (Nahavandi, 2019), i.e., the transformative effects Industry 4.0 has on humans, workplace design, organizational routines, skills, learning, etc. However, these aspects are scarcely considered in-depth. Given this, and from a holistic point of view, there is a need to understand intelligent manufacturing practice from a human-centric perspective, where issues of work practices and learning are integrated, herein refe rred to as industrial work-integrated learning. I-WIL is a research area that particularly pays attention to knowledge production and learning capabilities related to use and development when technology and humans co -exist in industrial work settings (Shahlaei & Lundh Snis, 2022). Even if Industry 4.0 still is relevant for continuous development, a complementary Industry 5.0 has arisen to provide efficiency and productivity as the sole goals to reinforce a sustainable, human-centric, and resilient manufacturing industry (Breque et al., 2021; Nahavandi, 2019).Given this situation, the research question addressed here is: How does state-of-the-art research of Industry 4.0 technologies and applications consider human-centric aspects? A systematic literature review was conducted aiming to identify a future research agenda that emphasizes human-centric aspects of intelligent manufacturing, that will contribute to the field of manufacturing research and practices. This question was based on very few systematic literature reviews, considering Industry 4.0 research incorporating human -centric aspects for developing intelligent manufacturing (Kamble et al., 2018; Zheng et al., 2021). The literature review study was structured by the design of Xiao and Watson’s (2019) methodology consisting of the steps 1) Initial corpus creation, 2) Finalizing corpus, and 3) Analyzing corpus, and we also used a bibliometric approach throughout the search process (Glänzel & Schoepflin, 1999). The keyword selection was categorized into three groups of search terms, “industry 4.0”, “manufacturing”, and “artificial intelligence”, see figure 1. (Not included here)Articles were collected from the meta -databases EBSCOhost, Scopus, Eric, and the database AIS, to quantify the presence of human-centric or human-involved AI approaches in recent manufacturing research. A total of 999 scientific articles were collected and clustered based on a list of application areas to investigate if there is a difference between various areas in which artificial intelligence is used. The application areas are decision -making, digital twin, flexible automation, platformization, predictive maintenance, predictive quality, process optimization, production planning, and quality assessment.Throughout the review process, only articles that included both AI and human -centric aspects were screened and categorized. The final corpus included 386 articles of which only 93 articles were identified as human -centric. These articles were categorized into three themes: 1) organizational change, 2) competence and learning, and 3) human-automation interaction. Theme 1 articles related mostly to the application areas of flexible automation (11), production planning (9), and predictive maintenance (5). Theme 2 concerned the application areas of production planning and quality assessment (7), and process optimization (7).Finally, theme 3 mainly focused on flexible automation (10), digital twin (3), and platformization (3). The rest of the corpus only consisted of one or two articles in related application areas. To conclude, only a few articles were found that reinforce human -centric themes for Industry 4.0 implementations. The literature review identified obstacles and opportu nities that affect manufacturing organizations to reap the benefits of Industry 4.0. Hence, I-WIL is proposed as a research area to inform a new research agenda that captures human and technological integration of Industry 4.0 and to further illuminate human-centric aspects and themes for future sustainable intelligent manufacturing.
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| 16. |
- Hattinger, Monika, 1969-
(author)
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University-Industry Collaboration : From contradictions to transformations in work-integrated e-learning practices
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 130-131
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The manufacturing industry is constantly facing hard times employing key expertise to deploy a digital transformation of Industry 4.0 enabling technologies and applications (Lasi et al., 2014). Challenges of increased industrial digitalization pressure the industry to expand professionals’ future knowledge to be capable of new production systems, virtual manufacturing, and digital services. This requires new types of knowledge applicable to transformative work practices and for future adaptation (Ford, 2015). Becoming a competent expert for an entire working life tends to be harder for today’s professionals because of digital disruptions (Belski et al., 2016; Susskind & Susskind, 2015), and therefore they continuously need to seek new knowledge and learning as integrated part of work combined with new theoretical knowledge through academic studies in higher education. Competence development through university-industry collaboration (UIC), is a vehicle for asserting high-technological change and innovative capacities (Ankrah & Tabba, 2015; Sjöö & Hellström, 2019). Specifically, university tailormade courses that enhance the co-construction of knowledge and develop professionals’ learning and skills to augment the industrial business demands in the context of Industry 4.0 (Abelha et al., 2020). However, there seems to be a dual situation with the industry effectiveness pressure on the one hand, and the blended competence development opportunities offered by the university, on the other. This situation raises challenges with the different stakeholders’ perspectives of inter-organizational collaboration that presumes productive development. Colliding interests and conflicts on different systemic levels may occur, and inter-organizational collaborations may not per se cause benefits and learning, but rather needs to be analyzed through their inner contradictions a s power for change. Contradictions, however, are systemic, embedded in history, developing over time, and cannot be studied directly. Hence, in this study contradictions on various levels are explored, as a power for change (Engeström & Sannino, 2010;2011). Included contradictions are those manifested by the professionals in UIC and intra-organizational situations within the industry organizations. Also, contradictions concerning the professionals’ own motivation for learning related to the industry competence demands and the management’s lack of, or support for such learning initiatives. Hence, the analytical lens is the industry professionals’ knowledge construction that emerges in a work-integrated e-learning (e-WIL) practice of UIC to sustain resilient interorganizational collaboration through UIC (Hattinger & Eriksson, 2020). The study is conducted within a competence development program of short academic courses targeting industry professionals’ knowledge needs, to strengthen individual learning and co-construction of knowledge with the prospect of generating organizational transformations, i.e., the professionals’ knowledge generation in a trajectory growing from participants’ discursive manifestation of contradictions, actionable solutions towards tra nsformations. Such knowledge generation tends to be temporary, riddled with problems and conflicts, therefore, it is argued to identify systemic contradictions to be used as energizing forces and triggers for development and change (Engeström & Sannino, 20 10; 2011). With the perspectives of professionals’ motives, interactions, and experiences, the aim is to grasp inner tensions between different perspectives to reach the kernel of potential future expansive transformations, i.e., the professionals’ views concerning the industry objectives, the learning trajectory of engineering subjects, and the e -learning course design. Given this, the first research question asked is: What kinds of discursive manifestations of contradictions do industry professionals experience as inner learning motives of competence development for organizational purposes?To further the understanding of how professionals assert knowledge to generate actionable solutions, the second question asked is: How are these manifestations negotiated, and turned into actionable solutions and potentially expansive transformations? MethodThe questions investigate the professionals’ experiences of their course participation and knowledge construction on a micro-level using the cultural-historical activity theory, CHAT, (Engeström & Sannino, 2010). Engeström and Sannino (2011) have developed a methodological framework that analyzes contradictions through their discursive manifestations. Contradictions do not speak for themselves, rather they become recognized through people’s articulation of tensions and dilemmas. It is through their discursive manifestations during conversations and actions that they are made visible (Engeström & Sannino, 2011).Data from a longitudinal e-WIL project was collected for three years and consisted of twelve focus group sessions comprising a total of 119 professionals in 15 industry companies. The professionals participated in e -learning courses designed with pedagogy that stimulate work-integrated learning covering knowledge needs such as industrial automation and machine security in robotics, negotiation skills, and machining. A comprehensive analysis of the discursive manifestation of contradictions implies a transition into actionable (possible) solutions toward expansive transformations. The three steps analysis became a powerful approach for grasping learning insights between professionals and understanding the effects of e-learning design and co-construction of knowledge on a systemic level. Results and contributionDiscursive manifestations of contractions occurred on different levels, concerning the dual situation of the industry effectiveness pressure on the one hand, and the e-WIL course opportunity offered by the university, on the other. The most critical conflict was the lack of industry companies’ maturity to support professionals’ time and performance related to individual professional career paths that will trigger future expansive transformations. However, the professionals described actionable solutions to many of the defined dilemmas, concerning practical e-learning design problems, which were easy to overcome. With the concepts of manifestations of contradictions, actionable solutions, and expansive transformations, we have increased our understanding of knowledge and problem-solving processes emerging in UIC networks with many different stakeholders. The article contributes to a developed approach for analyzing discursive manifestations of contradictions toward expansive transformations in workplace practices. It also contributes to empirical findings of inter-organizational collaborations through an innovative work-integrated e-learning context.
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| 17. |
- Karlsson, Erika
(author)
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Local perceptions and definitions of social sustainability : An illustration of Trollhättan municipality
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 60-61
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- More than thirty years after the publication of the the Brundtland report “Our Common Future” (World Commission on Environmental and Development, 1987), the social dimension of sustainability remains theoretically underdeveloped. Sweden has since the adoption of the Global Sustainable Development Goals set out to take a leading role in the implementation of these goals. Granted that Swedish municipalitie s enjoy a considerable degree of autonomy and thus provide citizens with a majority of public services, municipalities are central to the realization of national commitments to international agreements such as the Global Sustainable Development Goals. Consequently, part of the national strategy for realization of the Global Sustainable Development Goals consists of support to municipalities in developing local strategies for implementation of the goals. Previous research on policy implementation highlights the importance of the policy formulation stage for successful implementation of policy (Winter and Nielsen, 2008, Winter, 1986, Bardach, 1977). With the social dimension of sustainability left rather vague and undefined on the international and national level, municipalities are likely to face some challenges both in translating the social dimension of sustainability into local goals but also in the realization of these. Some researchers argue that it is necessary to differentiate between scientific sustainability studies and processes of defining sustainability at the political level (Griessler and Littig, 2005). On the contrary, I argue that one way of developing the concept of social sustainability theoretically could be to study these practical political processes of defining social aspects of sustainability. The aim of this research is thus to explore and understand the complexity of the social sustainability concept in the local context of a municipality in Sweden. This study is part of a collaborative project on sustainable societal development between University West and Trollhättan municipality. The study is designed as an explorative case study of Trollhättan municipality, in which I use theories on policy implementation and social sustainability to conduct a qualitative content analysis of policy documents. In addition to policy documents, I have also included field notes from participant observations from meetings and workshops at Trollhättan municipality during the time-period January-November 2022. The preliminary results of the analysis indicate that Trollhättan municipality understands sustainability as threedimensional consisting of ecological, economic, and social sustainability. Social sustainability is understood as an important dimension in its own right and not merely as a means to support the ecological dimension. The link between the social aspects and the ecological aspects of sustainability is fairly weak. In terms of substantive social sustainability, the local social sustainability strategy has a focus on housing, employment, gender quality, health, and well-being. The understanding of the procedural aspects of social sustainability in Trollhättan is centered around creating pre-conditions, possibilities, and opportunities for social sustainability rather than reaching social sustainability in itself. There is an emphasis on inhabitant participation, but this aspect is not yet clearly defined in terms of how this participation is to be facilitated. The social dimension of sustainable development remains vague and undefined. With this study I exp lore the possibility of using a work-integrated learning approach in order to contribute to the theoretical development of the social dimension of sustainable development. I suggest that one way of gaining a deeper understanding of social sustainability as a concept is to study the practice of formulating, designing, and implementing policy at the level closest to the people affected by it. In Sweden this is the municipal level. This study aims to contribute both to sustainability research, research on public administration and policy implementation as well as work-integrated learning.
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| 18. |
- Lunde, Gerd Hilde, et al.
(author)
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Exploration of patterns of work integrated learning in co-produced online courses in higher education : Findings from the Sexual Health project
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 37-38
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Teaching sexual health to create knowledge useful in practiceSexual health is closely related to general health and quality of life, and needs to be understood within specific social, economic, and political contexts. As sexual health is a topic insufficiently communicated about in health and welfare, there is risk of decreased health and quality of life (WHO, 2022). Professionals in health and welfare often lack competencies in sexual and reproductive health and rights (Areskoug Josefsson et al., 2019) and there is a need to reform teaching of sexual health (Areskoug-Josefsson & Lindroth, 2022). Work integrated learning is essential in providing useful competencies for practice, thus in teaching a topic like sexual health work -integrated learning is essential. To not be able to handle sensitive issues, like, sexual health, affects the health of the person in need of support, but also creates stress for the professional if the professional does not have sufficient competence to support sexual health when needed to (Haboubi & Lincoln, 2003; Jaarsma et al., 2010; Lunde, 2013; Wang et al., 2018). The Sexual Health project, developed seven master level online courses in co-production with more than 100 stakeholders (students, patients, professionals, NGO-representatives, academics). Co-production was used in development of the courses and is also used as a theoretical standpoint in the evaluation of the learning outcomes and patterns of work integrated learning. However, there are challenges in bringing co -production theory into practice (Farr et al., 2021), and thus there is a need to evaluate if the co-production process of this project has been fruitful in creating courses of value for practice. Sexual Health is a taboo-topic, and a topic that can sensitive to teach (Selberg, 2021) and therefore evaluation of the courses is of specific importance.The project took place during 2020-2022 at Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway, and was founded by the Norwegian Directorate of Health and the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education. The courses are designed to meet the needs of professionals working sexual health in various ways, and to use the students working context as. The courses were co-produced with stakeholders, as were the learning outcomes and the forms of examination. The stakeholders were participating in the steering group and the eight reference groups but were also active as subproject leaders for the courses. The courses are designed to promote learning for life and through life regardless, of geographic place and at low costs, aspiring to meet the individual person’s professional needs. The intention has been to use e-books to a large extend to ensure lower costs and promote sustainability and to keep down costs for literature, thus enabling students to be able to afford to take the courses. The intent in the courses is to provide flexible learning opportunities, to enable students to take the course with as much time flexibility as possible. The co-production process in developing and evaluating courses was a key concept to ensure valuable learning outcomes for practice. The student interactive engagement is at various levels in the courses; within the course with the course learning material, by using the course material at the students’ workplaces and between students during the course. The course setup provides strategies for finding knowledge, reflection on needs for knowledge and creation of new knowledge by using different perspectives on the provided learning material and to integrate the new knowledge in practice. As for example the students are encouraged to share films, podcasts, and literature from the course with work colleagues. The first courses are currently on-going and being evaluated concurrently to ensure continuous learning within the project, creation of novel learning spaces and promotion of sustainable lifelong learning. The aim of the research is to explore patterns connected to lifelong learning in evaluations of the co-produced online courses and how the students have been able to integrate their working life into the course work and exa ms. Data is collected with a digital learning tool, Feedbackfruits, external reviews from stakeholders and online discussions in the learning platform with the students. The presentation covers research in progress, which is suitable considering the interactive collaboration which the project is based on. Patterns from evaluations from course testers, students and stakeholders participating in project processes are analyzed together with data from the ongoing courses. The preliminary evaluation results indicate that the co -produced online course design is valid to promote lifelong learning useful in working life. Preliminary patterns are stories of experiencing personal and professional growth, expanded professional perspectives, increased engagement with stakeholders and increased digital literacy. All skills important in working life.The findings which will be further discussed from theories of co-production and work integrated learning. Findings from the project can be useful when working with course design with stakeholders to promote lifelong learning useful in practice.
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| 19. |
- Lundh Snis, Ulrika, 1970-, et al.
(author)
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Enhancing Quality through Work Integrated Learning and Collaboration Partnership
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 90-91
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- For Sweden to be able to compete in the global economy, our students with a degree from higher education must be ready for a career in working life. Today's work life is facing a major ongoing transformation, characterized by increased complexity, higher specialization, and digitalization. This demands competencies beyond traditional theoretical knowledge, such as preparing for uncertainty and unknown outcomes (Barnett, 2000; Vallo Hult & Byström, 2021). Therefore, it is essential to engage students in learning to learn, i.e., lifelong learning so that the tools and methods for learning in higher education can also be developed through future work (Billett, 2014; Islind, Norström, Vallo Hult, & Ramadani Olsson, 2021). For University West, this means that our education programs must be developed in collaboration with industry partners from the surrounding society to provide arelevant and attractive education, which corresponds to the labour market's long-term competence needs. We want our students to develop abilities and skills that enable them to be part of and drive sustainable societal development in practice.Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is University West's overarching profile, based on the concept of advanced knowledge – characterized by complex problem solving – and the mutual acknowledgment of advanced knowledge within the academy and among its partners. What characterizes WIL at University West is that we have developed and refined a combination of different approaches over a long period, including research -based WIL, through fundamental learning concepts such as socio- cultural, critical and action-oriented learning theories. These influences have shaped WIL at University West into a dynamic and academic area of knowledge and subject. In order to achieve a strategic and qualitative development of work-integrated learning, the University West Board decided to WIL-certify all educational programs with a clear sustainability perspective. The quality processis called the WIL certification process. It has now been developed at the university fortwo years.Experience andrefinements are ready to mature into an overall quality framework worth conceptualizing and disseminating to more universities that systematically want to develop WIL as an explicit quality dimension in higher educa tion. The project is still ongoing but have generated some preliminary findings and outcomes from the initial phase. Data collection activities include workshops and focus groups with selected participants from the target groups at the university (managers/prefects and teachers) as well as at the collaborative partner organization (managers and supervisors/mentors). The focus of the workshops was placed on capturing the participants understanding and perspectives on WIL as a concept, and to map the conditions for and experiences of conducting WIL in teaching and learning at work. We aim for identifying good (or less good) examples of WIL, what they are, how they are understood and why they are (or are not) important.The purpose of this paper is to describe the lessons learned so far and present a conceptual quality framework for WIL in higher education with a clear connection to sustainable development. The quality framework may function as a mediating “support object” between higher education institutions, industry partners, and actors in the surrounding society to promote WIL concepts and experiences in collaboration strategies.
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| 20. |
- Masterson, Daniel, et al.
(author)
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Learning from co-creating an online, flexible distance course in co-production in health and welfare
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 57-59
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- BackgroundCo-creation and shared learning between actors and institutions on all levels of society are important for an inclusive society. In order to realise the potential of these participatory concepts in society, there is a requirement to improve reporting and evaluation of the activities involved (Slattery, Saeri & Bragge, 2020). This suggests a need for guidance on how to apply co-creation and related concepts in practice. Work-integrated learning provides an opportunity for learning within higher education to be applied directly into a relevant context, and to problematize the relation between practical and theoretical knowledge of co -production. Learning integrated in the students’ present or future workplace can be built on practical tasks and work situation s to meet needs in practice (Hattinger et al., 2014).The purpose of this paper is to report learning and the pedagogical underpinning, co-creation and evaluation of a flexible distance course which is integrated into the working life of the students. The Co-production in Health and Welfare course is available as free-standing, English, online distance course held at Jönköping University and available to all international students. The course is offered both as a part-time course (7.5 ECTS credits) a full-time course. With each course, we have co-produced with students and patient and public contributors which has improved the learning journey.MethodThis discussion paper is based on our own experiences from a selected case of co-creation, supported by literature and pedagogical theories incorporating pedagogy from cognitive behaviourist, social constructivist and connectivist perspectives. Through this reflection, we explain how co-creation with students takes place, how dialogue is encouraged, how this is documented, co-refined and how agreement is reached. The co-creation of course content survey and frequent feedback survey which have been used to co -create and co-evaluate the course are presented. Co-creation of a learning communityAs noted by Keller & Hrastinski (2009), a key challenge of online education is to “create an interactive context, a learning community, with appropriate levels of social presence, providing higher-order learning” (Keller & Hrastinski, 2009, p104). During each course, we set out to create a Community of Inquiry (Garrison, 2007). This framework identifies three factors which interconnect to form the student’s educational experience of a given course. These include the cognitive presence; the teaching presence; and the social presence. These were achieved through a practical and applied group assignment which is encouraged to be applied to their workplace and professional background. In their group assignment, students consider a specific context and issue relevant to their work. In collaboration with their student group, patient public contributors and the course facilitator, students co-produce a tool to be applied on a specific issue within an applied setting. By the end of the course, not only do students complete their learning objectives, but they also have a co-produced resource to take with them into practice. Through their experience of co-producing, students reflect on the process and consider areas for their professional and personal development in future. To ensure that we ‘practice what we preach’, each course is co-created with those who were about to embark upon this learning journey. Students co-produce their learning journey via a ‘co-creating course content survey’ to gain an understanding of how students want to engage with the course. This is followed by interactive dialogue in the first live session to refine the learning journey, clarify the objectives and establish the ways of working with students, teachers and patient and public contributors. This is an essential step as without this dialogue, the learning content of the course may not match the students’ needs which can lead to lack of motivation and consequently surface learning (Winefield, 2004).Co-evaluationTo promote interaction between students and the course lead within this distance course, there were a number of tools employed in addition to a traditional course evaluation. There was an open discussion forum (co -production café), two dedicated discussions for the group assignment and reflective assignment and a ‘thought board’ within the student digital whiteboard. The ‘frequent feedback’ survey is live throughout the course and encouraged to be completed at the end of each topic and live event. This provides an opportunity for continuous dialogue with students and allows us to respond to students needs as they develop and within the timescales of the course. At the start of each session, any thoughts, concerns or issues from students or the wider learning community are added to a ‘thought board’. These are reviewed and agreed when to be discussed (at the start/end of each live session, or to be discussed asynchronously within the co-production café.FindingsThrough applying the Community of Inquiry framework (Garrison, 2007) and frequent feedback, we have been able to highlight the interconnecting elements of the course design and establish which elements of the course have worked well in forming a positive educational experience and identify areas which required improvement.The vast majority of students rated their experience with the course positively and we see improvements in perceived understanding of co-production during the course. The majority of positive feedback related to opportunities for engagement and interaction within the course, the flexible course structure and course content. Recommendations for improvement related to navigation in canvas, more interactive discussions, less reading material and clearer communication on upcoming activities. The learning presented is relevant to application of theories of work-integrated learning, collaborative learning and distance learning pedagogics. Two practical tools are provided for those interested in co-creating courses to apply and build upon, with examples of how to apply these in practice.ConclusionThis case study highlights the elements of the course design which promoted a positive educational experience through co-creation with students and provides tools for application of co-creation of courses in practice. Co-creating curriculum enhances work-integrated learning, but demands adaptation to novel roles from teachers in higher education. It is hoped that these reflections prvoides guidance and tools for these adaptations to take place. Our focus for quality improvement in future will be co-evaluating the ‘learning community’ with students and patient and public contributors.
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| 21. |
- Muniz, Jorge, et al.
(author)
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Challenges of Engineering Education 5.0 based on I4.0 Policies in Brazil, India, Japan, and Sweden
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 95-96
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Introduction: Industry and academia have placed increasing attention on implementing Industry 4.0 (I4.0) in the production ofgoods and services. Named as Industry 4.0 in Brazil, Made in India in India, Society 5.0 in Japan, andProduktion2030 in Sweden (Ribeiro et al., 2022). Hereafter, we apply I4.0 to simplify, which promises customizedproducts produced in smaller lots, and that repetitive manufacturing tasks can be automated very soon (Karre etal., 2017).Country policies play an important role in pushing different sectors of the economy, aligned as new with theregulatory framework of national and international trade, especially industrial (Aguinis et al., 2020). The implementation of I4.0 literature indicates different specificities in each country, including culture, R&D targets,education and vocational training, and their research opportunities related to how I4.0 affects workers (Jerman etal., 2020). The research-question is: How do different countries approach the opportunities and challenges of Engineering Education 4.0 through similar or different country policies?This study aims to discuss engineering education related to I4.0 policies. This discussion is based on policies fromBrazil, India, Japan, and Sweden related to education and workers 5.0, which include students and employees.Investigating how these countries are adjusting to I4.0 is relevant for national industrial sectors to wish to actefficiently in this new technological context. Industry 4.0 demands new professional skills and will impactemployment. It is noteworthy that this research is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposedby the United Nations (UN): Quality Education (SDG-4); o Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG-8); andIndustry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (ODS-9) which seeks to promote inclusive and sustainableindustrialization and foster innovation. This research aims to contribute to sustainable o rganizational practices;formulation of public policies that alleviate social problems; guidance of professional curricula affected by I 4.0.Papers and Data Selection: A literature search was conducted in the Scopus database, which gathers some of the most important journalsrelated to manufacturing technologies with high impact factors, based on the PRISMA method, which refers to aminimum set of evidence-based items to report studies in systematic reviews and meta -analyses (MOHER et al.,2009). The paper set was assembled from the Scopus core collection, using the following search string: “industry4.0” OR “industry 5.0” AND “policies” AND ". The results were narrowed to texts in English, which yielded 1496papers. All titles and abstracts were read, which resulted in a set composed of 14 papers. We also use official documents relating to I4.0 raised from official government websites.Comparison of Countries’ Education policies and Industry 4.0: The literature addresses difficulties associated with the implementation of I4.0 in emerging economies (Dalagnore,2018; Hong and Muniz Jr., 2022). Not surprisingly, current literature I4.0 related to technology adoption is themost prevalent theme discussed from a hard, technology-oriented perspective rather than a people-oriented.Production systems are sociotechnical systems, with an explicit understanding that all systems involve ongoinginteractions between people and technology, and they are rapidly transforming virtually all areas of human life,work, and interaction.The European Commission’s (Breque et al., 2021) vision for ‘Industry 5.0’ proposes moves past a narrow andtraditional focus on technology-or economic enabled growth of the existing extractive, production andconsumption driven economic model to a more transformative view of growth that is focused on human progressand well-being based on reducing and shifting consumption to new forms of sustainable, circular and regenerativeeconomic value creation and equitable prosperity. This Human-centric production system design and managementapproach (Industry 5.0) is necessary to support skill development, learning, continuous improvement andcollaboration in the organization (Ribeiro et al., 2022).Conclusion: Brazil, India, Japan and Sweden create policies to support their own technological independence. All countriesindicate concern about education and development of skills related to I4.0.It can be concluded that the four countries studied from the perspective of Industry 4.0 an d Engineering Education4.0 are all embarking on their journeys towards increased digitalization in industry and society as a whole. Therealization of the human-centered Society 5.0 was realized and highlighted comparatively early for Japan, whereasin the Europe Union and thus in Sweden the focus of the importance of Industry 5.0 development in parallelIndustry 4.0 has risen up since year 2021.The results indicate that although there are many initiatives of meeting the needs for new competence andknowledge in the era of I4.0 to accommodate Engineering Education 4.0 there are still challenges for futureresearch to move forward in the nexus between I4.0 and I5.0. The result, of studying different countries'policies, highlights that it is imperative, when approaching novel technologies in I4.0 and designing Engineering Education 4.0, to in parallel consider technological implementations with the inclusion of I5.0 aspects and humancentric perspectives.
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| 22. |
- Olsson, Anna Karin, 1966-, et al.
(author)
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What are the prerequisites for a successful industrial PhD education collaboration?
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 87-89
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- BackgroundUniversity-industry collaboration is a widespread phenomenon in response to complex societal challenges. All sectors of society struggle to meet contemporary challenges by including various perspectives and competences (Bernhard and Olsson, 2020; Olsson et al., 2021; Stegeager and Thomassen, 2021). There is a need to continuously learn at work and redevelop work practices by relating to new concepts, technologies, and organizational principles. University-industry interactions are of importance for mutual learning in higher education as well as in industry (Bölling & Eriksson, 2016; Olsson et al., 2021). Universities have an essential role supporting life -long learning and acting as knowledge hubs embedded in society (Lind et al., 2013) providing trained res earchers prepared to meet these challenges (Altbach et al., 2019; Hayes, 2021). There is an emerging interest for collaboration with university in third-cycle education as the importance of PhD education is recognized in contemporary society (Bernhard & Olsson, 2020; Bin et al., 2016; Borrell-Damian et al., 2010; Gill & Mullarkey, 2015; Gustavsson et al., 2016; Jones, 2018; Roolaht, 2015). European higher education policies call for PhD educations that are transformed along with societal needs and labor markets for PhDs. Especially since PhD education does not merely aim for academic careers (Malfroy, 2011; Santos & Patricio, 2020; Valencia -Forrester, 2019). Industrial PhD education is emerging as one way of increasing collaboration between university and wo rklife during the PhD education. Industrial PhD students here refer to students who originate from and are fully employed in industry (industry funded) during their PhD education, i.e., the company is investing in an employee to become a PhD. Accordingly, industrial PhD students are acting in the intersection of academia and work-life, but with the same academic demands as traditionally enrolled academic PhD students. One transdisciplinary approach to increase collaboration between university and society is work-integrated learning (WIL) to integrate theoretical knowledge with practice work bridging research, higher education, and practice for mutual learning outcomes (Bates, 2008; Billett, 2009; 2014; Gellerstedt et al., 2015; 2018; Rampersad, 2015). WIL is here applied as theory and a model for academia-society collaboration aiming at knowledge exchange and research together with industry.AimThe aim of this study is to expand research on university-industry collaboration by focusing on industrial PhD education exploring the prerequisites for a successful industrial PhD education collaboration. This paper reveals the perspectives of industrial PhD students, university, and industry.MethodologyQualitative methods are applied to capture several disciplines and perspectives during three years (2019-2022).The empirical research context is University West in Sweden. The sample includes three categories of respondents (in total 38): 19 industrial PhD students within the three disciplines of Work-integrated Learning, Informatics with a specialization in WIL, and Production Technology; nine representatives from academia and 10 respondents from industry. The academy perspective was represented by the main supervisors and head of PhD education. The industry perspective was represented by industrial supervisors/mentors covering both the private and public sectors. WIL is applied as a theoretical lens to identify the perspectives of industrial PhD students, academia, and industry. All collected data was analysed to identify patterns and themes following iterative phases, as the perspectives of industrial PhD students, academia and industry were explored along the progression of the theoretical framework and collected data.Findings and ConclusionFindings show that industrial PhD students are contributing to learning by acting in the intersection of university and industry across PhD education and research. The mutual benefits of industrial PhD education collaboration such as access to data and current research, contextual understanding, are strongly emphasized by respondents. The relationship embraces industrial PhD education, research and collaboration generating work -integrated learning and understanding across sectors and industries. However, this study implicates that the following prerequisites need to be considered by university and industry to reach a successful industrial PhD education collaboration: (i) To operationalize continuous activities and processes that increase and strengthen the understanding and expectations during the entire industrial PhD education. Continuous dialogues and close interactions are needed to build long-term relations and trust for knowledge creation by operationalizing the collaboration in actions, practices, and routines over time. (ii) To design detailed formal agreementsfor industrial PhD education collaboration to avoid conflicts of interest and negative impacts on the industrial PhD students’ work conditions. (iii) To continuously maintain activities for industrial PhD students’ inclusion and access to dual contexts to ensure belonging, visibility and legitimacy. (iv) To integrate research in practice and practice in research. The scope of the industrial PhD students’ thesis needs to be carefully anchored in industry and research to achieve an integration of theory and practice based on a mutual understanding of the work -integrated learning approach. There are limitations as this study originates from one single university. The study was partly conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic which may have affected the results. Further research is of importance to deepen and broaden work-integrated learning in third-cycle collaborations to meet the demands and development of contemporary society.
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| 23. |
- Piper, Laurence, et al.
(author)
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Learning to become change agents through international collaboration : insights and challenges from the Global Classroom Initiative
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 52-53
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- This paper engages with the ambition of some forms of work-integrated learning (WIL) programmes to produce graduates who are not just well equipped for the world of work, but who are also capable of being change agents to bring about a more sustainable and democratic world. More specifically, we explore an innovative pedagogic practice termed the ‘Global Classroom Initiative’ (GCI) that has been piloted between colleagues at the University of Toronto, Canada, University West, Sweden, and in various iterations, the University of Stellenbosch, and the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. The key focus of the paper is on the impact of the GCI experience on the disposition of participants to act as democratic citizens. In exploring this research problem, the paper draws on the views of participating students, facilitators, and the organising team over three iterations of the GCI. Our initial findings are that the GCI has a significant and even profound impact on participants express desire to act for sustainability, but it is unclear how enduring this view may be, and whether our findings are impacted by the self-selection into the programme of students already inclined to be activists.The mainstream approach to WIL is a pedagogic one where students learn both through traditional teaching and practical doing, and this learning occurs both at the university and in the workplace, to better prepare graduates for working life. However, a great variety of WIL approaches exist, and some, such as at University West (Högskolan Väst) in Sweden, include the ambition to produce graduates who are better prepared for life in ge neral, and who are empowered to be change agents for a more sustainable and democratic world (Sunnemark et al 2022: forthcoming). Thus, the WIL process is orientated both to producing new kinds of knowledge but also a new kind of knower. This knower may even be deeply critical of the status quo and desire to bring about a more just world (Piper et al 2022: forthcoming). In the context of this framing of WIL at University West as committed to producing graduates who are change agents for democracy and sustainability, over the last 18months we have been experimenting with the ‘Global Classroom Initiative’ (GCI). While the concept of a global classroom long exists in American secondary schooling where it is associated with the Model UN programme (UN 2008) and has also been used at post-secondary level as a space for international engagement between University students around research (see https://globalmaryland.umd.edu/content/welcome-global-classrooms), the approach adopted in the GCI is distinctive. Thus, while it is international like many other versions, and it happens online, as most other versions do, it is also explicitly conceived as a space orientated to inspiring active citizenship – agency – among the participants, who must collaborate around a tangible project as the outcome of the engagement. Furthermore, it is underwritten by a normative commitment to sustainability and democracy too, and thus is well-suited to express desire by Högskolan Väst that WIL graduates become change agents for these social goods. Indeed, a key feature of the design of the GCI is that it follows a design theory model that is deliberately horizontal and participatory (Manzini 2015). Thus, while the process of the GCIs is design and facilitated, and do include some background academic reading, academic staff do not participate. Rather there is some input from various civil society organizations or activists to give examples of the kind of work they do, and then it is up to the participants, working in teams, to frame the problem as they see fit, and design a practical project to address it, one that they can implement where they live. Thus, the focus is on ownership of the whole process by participants, and the generation of an actionable outcome.The paper reflects on the experiences of two GCIs conducted to date, and whether they do contribute to making graduates change agents. To this end, we draw on the views of participants, especially the students who have been through the process, but also the facilitator team and supporting academic staff. While our findings are largely positive there are two major caveats: first it is hard to judge how enduring the commitment to being a change agent is, especially in a world of work that does not necessarily support it. Second, to date the recruitment for our GCI events has been through voluntary and open calls. So, we cannot rule out that we students already likely to be change agents self-select into the events. Going forward however, we are institutionalising the GCI as part of a module at University West, and this should provide a more robust test of the innovation.
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| 24. |
- Risenfors, Signild, 1957-
(author)
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Kunskapsöversikt med fokus på olika former av läxhjälp och dess effekter på elevers skolprestationer
- 2022
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In: Child and Youth Studies Conference, University West November 10-11 2022, Trollhättan, Sweden. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 9-10
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Även om läxor inte är föreskrivna i skolans styrdokument betraktas de ofta som en självklar del i skolans tradition, både för elevernas kunskapsutveckling och som ett sätt för skolan att få kontakt med hemmen. Fenomenet läxor har undersökts i forskning utifrån olika aspekter, men också ifrågasatts utifrån forskning som visar att de skapar stress och på sikt en ojämlik skola. För att råda bot på detta har läxhjälp ökat i omfattning - privat, ideell och skolornas egen organiserade läxhjälp.Denna kunskapsöversikt sätter fokus på läxhjälp utifrån tre övergripande forskningsfrågor:1. Vilken typ av läxhjälp ges utanför skoltid, internationellt och i Sverige, och vad leder den till?2. Hur är läxhjälp organiserad och finansierad i Sverige?3. Når läxhjälpen de elever som bäst behöver den i Sverige och i så fall på vilket sätt?Insamling av data har gjorts på relevanta databaser som fångar upp såväl svensk sominternationell forskning. I Sverige utvärderas och diskuteras läxhjälp i relation tillorganisation, ekonomi, pedagogik och utifrån sociala faktorer. Internationell forskning visar en lång tradition av läxhjälp, som kan vara intressant att jämföra med svenskaförhållanden. Men det framkommer också att det saknas forskning, bland annat omelevernas inställning till läxhjälp.
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| 25. |
- Sunnemark, Fredrik, 1970-, et al.
(author)
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Achieving Quality Education through Internationalization using Digital Technology : Reflections on a Collaborative International Masters Programme in Work-Integrated Political Studies
- 2022
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In: International Conference on Work Integrated Learning. - Trollhättan : University West. - 9789189325302 ; , s. 72-73
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- In recent decades, internationalization has become an important component of higher education for universities. The rationale behind the internationalizing of university courses and programs varies, depending on focus and interest, with some being of more marketing/economical character and other more concerned to deepen the quality of higher education. Irrespective of the main reasons behind the process, the internationalization of higher education tends to expand even further, not least due to the possibilities connected to digital technology.Indeed, in more recent times the Covid-19 pandemic, has deeply digitalised educational and working life, raising deep questions not just about the modalities of learning, but the possibilities of new kinds of learning too. It is this concern that is the ma in focus of this paper: in what ways does deepening digitalisation enable internationalisation, and what are some of the dynamics, positive or negative, associated with this new trend?This paper answers this question through an initial high-level study of a joint international master’s program in Work Integrated Political Studies (WIPS), developed between University West (UW), Sweden, and the University of Western Cape (UWC), South Africa. The collaboration is unique in that it introduces new academic ways of learning and substantive content, formed through the development of Work Integrated Learning (WIL) as an academic subject and postgraduate degree. Central to WIL is the idea that learning happens equally through doing real world tasks as much as through traditional teaching, and this involves workplace as well as University activities. Consequently, and important part of the WIPS programme is a final year research internship, integrated with a compilation thesis, which provides the students with a possibility to study and conduct research on real world challenges, for a host organization. The paper employs an analytical framework using six concepts from the literature: (i) neo-liberal versus (ii) better quality education; (ii) pedagogically integrated a nd (iv) accessible digital technology; (iv) learning through doing as well as teaching; as well as (v) better life readiness.The internationalisation literature highlights the distinction between the development of programmes aimed to secure more short-term, elite status and financial ends, and those orientated to better quality education through longer term, multicultural engagement of difference. This gives the first two concepts to look for: neo -liberal internationalisation versus internationalisation for better quality education. The digitalisation literature notes the importance of digital technologies that are thoughtfully integrated into a coherent pedagogical approach, and that are accessible to users, whether through public infrastructure or skills development. This gives the pedagogically integrated and accessible digital technologies. Finally, the WIL literature identifies an approach to education that integrates traditional teaching with real world practice, through synergies between the university, the student and the workplace, and that better prepares students for life after the University. This highlights the learning through doing as well as teaching and better life readiness concepts. Based on the primary data gathered from students and staff at both Universities during the first year of the masters, the paper demonstrates how digital technology, complemented with student and staff exchange, helps make the programme a more international, and a more educational environment. Interestingly, this remains true, even while the collaboration between Sweden and South Africa exposes real and important differences in practices and meanings of university teaching, working life and the significance of employability across context – indeed, it is the confrontation of these differences from which much new learning emerges. At the same time, there are limitations or challenges to internationalisation using digitalisation, and a key one is the uneven access to digital infrastructure across the two contexts, a s well as the limitations to boding in an online only environment. The article concludes by arguing that to develop a truly international educational environment, digital technologies should also be organized alongside real-world interactions in a way that enhances students’ interaction, nvolvement, and feeling of belonging. Done correctly, long-term sustainable international collaboration using digital technology, and thereto connected pedagogics, can bring the world closer, and can also reduce the economic and environmental cost of internationalization.
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