Civic learning outcomes: a step towards an inclusive higher education

An inclusive education goes beyond the acquisition of discipline knowledge or skills. Inclusion is concerned with the participation and integration of all students (regardless of their intrinsic characteristics), helping them to develop civic competences. Civic and democratic values, equality and social justice became critical dimensions in this broader concept of education. This paper argues that the incorporation of civic dimensions, such as civic knowledge, civic skills or civic values in academic curricula could be an effective step towards more inclusive education. Specifically, this work intends to explore what civic dimensions are emphasised as a learning outcome in Portuguese higher education programmes. Adopting a qualitative methodology, typologies and incidence of civic learning outcomes were analysed and compared across three academic levels (first, second and third study cycles). The results provide a better understanding of what civic dimensions are stressed by institutions. All types of civic learning outcomes have been reinforced, defining civic values, civic skills and civic knowledge as expectable learning results. Both civic values and skills are well represented while civic knowledge is the less mentioned category. The enforcement of such civic dimensions is a valuable approach to enhancing education as a collective societal endeavour and as a common good.     

Three in-course assessment reforms to improve higher education learning outcomes

A current international concern is that, for too large a proportion of graduates, their higher order cognitive and practical capabilities are below acceptable levels. The constituent courses of academic programmes are the most logical sites for developing these capabilities. Contributing to patchy attainment are deficiencies in three particular aspects of assessment practice: the design and specifications of many assessment tasks; the minimum requirements for awarding a passing grade in a course and granting credit towards the degree; and the accumulation of points derived from quizzes, assessments or activities completed during the teaching period. Rethinking and reforming these would lead to improvements for significant sub-populations of students. Pursuing such a goal would also have significant positive implications for academic teachers, but be contingent on favourable contextual settings including departmental and institutional priorities.     

Higher education learning outcomes – Ambiguity and change in higher education

The emerging interdependent world order poses new challenges for States and citizens alike. For States, interdependence has meant a new concern with integration, whilst for citizens and authorities alike, greater mobility has raised new concerns about recognition of competences, qualifications, quality and transparency. The introduction of learning outcomes is one of the principal instruments to achieve this in higher education. This article analyses how the implementation of higher education learning outcomes (HELOs) can be seen as ambiguous governance and management tools, manifested as parts of international policy development and policy trends. These ambiguous tools intertwine with different disciplinary and stakeholder networks. The desire to implement HELOs in a more or less uniform way across as diverse contexts (countries, disciplines, institutions) as possible has led to a design strategy that favours generic definitions of learning outcomes. In the implementation process, these generic HELOs are experienced as ambiguous, meaning that they are characterised by an openness to different interpretations. This opens up a space of discretionary and interpretational latitude, either because HELOs are assimilated to traditional path dependencies, or because they allow institutional agents (such as institutional leaders and others) the space to introduce change. The ambiguity of HELOs simultaneously provides the flexibility for contextually‐diverse implementation, ensures less comparability than initially envisaged, and opens up the possibility for change, although change is contingent on structures and processes that are external to the policy process itself. HELOs are thus a paradigm case of the centrality of context in policy implementation studies.     

The place of content and pedagogy in shaping sustainability learning outcomes in higher education

This research investigates the ways in which undergraduate courses dealing with the environment address sustainable development (SD), and contribute to the development of sustainability learning outcomes (SLO). The participants in the study were 13 instructors, and 360 students who were enrolled in 13 courses that addressed the environment in a technical university. Mixed methods were used for data collection and analysis. We found that courses that address the environment are varied in the way that they address sustainable development, and in the pedagogy they use. We also found links between teaching methods and the pattern of reported SLOs: skills development was promoted mainly in courses with a high degree of participatory learning; changes in awareness and attitudes were reported mainly in courses that addressed sustainable development, and motivation to promote sustainable development was reported mainly in courses that addressed sustainable development and also provided opportunities for active and participatory learning. The implications of our research are discussed.     

Preparing professionals for lifelong learning: Comparative examination of master’s education programs

There has been continued debate regarding educational policies and practices regarding the lifelong learning social order with significant focus upon the preparation of educators of children and youth for this global lifelong learning society. However, there has been limited discussion and research regarding the professional preparation of lifelong learning adult educators. This article investigates the current status of graduate professional programs to prepare lifelong learning adult educators (individuals who are prepared and credentialed through a professional graduate master's degree in adult education and human resource development). Because of differing international policies and structures of graduate education, this discussion will present a comparative examination of current structures and characteristics of master's degree programs at two institutional sites located in Denmark and the USA. Current objectives, characteristics, and understandings of graduate professional preparation programs will be delineated between these two case studies. Contextual issues and influences in the preparation of lifelong learning adult educators will be discussed, with comparative discussions of cultural norms and policies regarding graduate professional preparation, innovative programmatic and instructional efforts, engagement of theory and best practices in lifelong learning, and comparative cultural differences between program students and faculty.     

Learning outcomes in professional contexts in higher education

With the policy of developing a, transparent and competitive European higher education sector, learning outcomes (LOs) are attributed a foundation stone role in policy and curriculum development. A premise for their implementation is that they bear fundamental similarities across national, institutional or professional/disciplinary contexts. In contrast, detractors suggest that LOs cannot communicate precisely across programmes or national boundaries. With this as a backdrop, this article analyses how LOs are used to communicate what students are to learn and the extent to which their use drives standardisation. The analysis is based on a case study of how LOs are formulated in study programme documents in two professional education programmes in Norway and the UK. The findings indicate that LOs can be considered to drive standardisation through the same presentation using bullet points. The study also finds that LOs are framed in different ways in the two countries and within the different study programmes and in a web of interconnected documents. This ‘local’ structural use of LOs disrupts their ‘foundation stone’ role as a vehicle for standardisation and weakens the establishment of sameness across institutions and nations.     

Measuring learning outcomes

The growing interest for measurement of learning outcomes relates to long lines of development in higher education, the request for accountability, intensified through international reforms and movements such as the development and implementation of qualifications frameworks. In this article, we discuss relevant literature on different approaches to measurement and how learning outcomes are measured, what kinds of learning outcomes are measured, and why learning outcomes are measured. Three dimensions are used to structure the literature: Whether the approaches emphasise generic or disciplinary skills and competence, self‐assessment or more objective test based measures (including grades), and how the issue of the contribution from the education program or institution (the value‐added) are discussed. It is pointed out that large scales initiatives that compare institutions and even nations seem to fall short because of the implicit and explicit differences in context, whilst small‐scale approaches suffer from a lack of relevance outside local contexts. In addition, competence (actual level of performance) is often confused with learning (gain and development) in many approaches, laying the ground for false assumptions about institutional process‐quality in higher education.     

Preparation for lifelong learning using ePortfolios

Rapid technological change, increasing globalization and a changing world of employment with multiple roles during one's professional life are necessitating a change from knowledge to learning societies. Full participation requires lifelong learning skills, meaning the ability to solve problems, work both independently and in a team, communicate effectively in all formats and on all levels, and self-direct one's learning and professional development needs. Universities need to take responsibility in preparing students for lifelong learning. While engineering and science degrees traditionally do not emphasize the importance of lifelong learning skills new programmes of study are now being introduced, often using electronic portfolios to support engagement with learning objectives and reflection. This article describes an electronic portfolio initiative that is targeted at engineering and computer science students. The initiative aims to create awareness among students on the nature and importance of lifelong learning skills, to facilitate the development of such skills and to assist students in showcasing their competence regarding these skills. Interviews with industry representatives regarding the characteristics of a lifelong learner and the values of constructing and presenting portfolios were conducted and have resulted in strong support for the electronic portfolio initiative. The article provides background on lifelong learning and electronic portfolios, outlines the design of the initiative and then focuses on feedback from industry representatives.     

Towards an electronic independent learning environment for statistics in higher education

This study focuses on the feasibility of implementing independent learning in a traditional university and the feasibility of providing this independent learning by means of an electronic interactive learning environment. The target group contained students enrolled in an applied statistics course at the Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Gent (RUG). Three experimental variables were designed: learning environment, delivery and support. This created five different learning conditions to which subjects were assigned at random. The present study gives empirical evidence that an electronic-based independent learning environment with discernible support devices can take its place in a traditional university setting. Our results indicate that the cognitive outcomes of students' learning in a computer-based environment are neither fostered nor hindered by attitudes towards computers. The merely cognitive aspect of attitude towards computers, i.e., interest in learning about computers, affects the perception of structure in the materials; more interested students have a better perception of structure. Students with better prior knowledge and having fewer problems with statistics have a better perception of the learning access to the contents. In order to construct electronic learning environments, further investigation is needed into student characteristics interacting with learning environment characteristics, and this is currently in progress by our group.     

The relationship between epistemological beliefs and the propensity for lifelong learning

The characteristics of lifelong learners have been extensively discussed in the literature and generally encapsulate two broad dimensions; skills and abilities related to learning, and beliefs about learning and knowledge. This study examined the factors that may predict such characteristics and thus an individual's propensity to engage in lifelong learning in a sample of university students. Together, openness to experience, change readiness, approaches to learning, self-efficacy and epistemological beliefs significantly predicted lifelong learning characteristics. In particular, the unique contribution of epistemological beliefs to the profile of a lifelong learner was supported. Results indicate that these beliefs may be a key predictor of lifelong learning.     

Towards a postcolonial politics of appearance: unsettling lifelong learning as a racial contract

ABSTRACT

In the context of flexible capitalism, lifelong learning has been posed as a pathway for individuals to accumulate skills and actualise potentials. What is overlooked, however, is that the process of accumulation and actualisation is embedded within the culture of recognition. People who are historically constructed as the anthropos, a legacy of the colonial history struggle to appear as equals vis-à-vis the gaze of the humantias. With this critique in view, I reviewed the field of immigrant and lifelong learning in relation to a postcolonial politics of appearance. I sought to understand how lifelong learning settles itself in immigrant consciousness, and how it shapes immigrant experiences in the West. My review points to three metaphors that speak of the challenges and possibilities for immigrants to appear: fixation of the Eurocentric gaze, re-credentialing as precarious investment, and lifelong learning as trans/formation. Together, these metaphors suggest that lifelong learning has conjured a racial contract, which ironically binds immigrants to the labour of learning and yet continuously suppresses their appearance. To unsettle this racial contract, borders need to be reimagined and crossed/vexed by recentring immigrants as knowing subjects.     

Assessment of prior learning in higher education: a review from a validity perspective

The process of giving official acknowledgment to formal, informal and non‐formal prior learning is commonly labelled as assessment, accreditation or recognition of prior learning (APL), representing a practice that is expanding in higher education in many countries. This paper focuses specifically on the assessment part of APL, which undoubtedly is central to the whole process, through a review of research in this area and an analysis of the reviewed studies from a validity perspective. The research reviewed (published 1990–2007) is categorised into empirical as well as more theoretically oriented publications, with a quantitative dominance of the latter. According to the validity analysis, a majority of the studies conducted in this area relate to the evidential basis of test interpretation and use, primarily providing theoretical rationales and theories for a variety of practices. The consequential basis of test interpretation and use has not been studied to any larger extent, resulting in a lack of both theoretical and empirical studies dealing with this aspect of validity.     

Towards a critical re-conceptualization of the purpose of higher education: the role of Ubuntu-Currere in re-imagining teaching and learning in South African higher education

ABSTRACT

The 2015–2016 South African higher education students’ movement proved historical for our country in bringing to our dinner tables: issues of higher education transformation and decolonisation; institutional culture(s); curriculum reform; the need to foreground and make inclusive assessment in education; the coloniality in our knowledge production, and more. Influenced by the emergence of the student movements and the critique they have brought to South African higher education, we bring to the fore the often silent critical reflections on the purposes of higher education in general, and in South Africa especially, as they relate to teaching and learning. We propose that the purposes of higher education in relation to teaching and learning ought to respond to (1) context, (2) democratic difference, and (3) cosmopolitan perspectives. We argue that discourses, phases and logics about South African higher education have tended to disregard and, at times, blur the context and differences as well as cosmopolitan perspectives. Using the notion of Ubuntu-Currere, we re-imagine how teaching and learning could respond to context, difference and cosmopolitanism with examples from the South African higher education experience.     

Professional learning in higher education: making good practice relevant

Professionals working in a range of contexts are increasingly expected to engage in ongoing professional learning to maintain their skills and develop their practices. In this paper, I focus on professional learning in Higher Education and challenge the standardisation of professional learning that is becoming prevalent in a number of countries. I argue that professional learning must challenge accepted wisdom, and that this is possible while still adhering to the standards required for professional legitimacy. Developing praxis is suggested as a way of producing relevant and active professional learners while still addressing the professional standards required for quality assurance.     

Participation in job-related lifelong learning among well-educated employees in the Nordic countries

The purpose of this study was to explore participation in job-related lifelong learning (LLL) among well-educated mature workers and compare it across four Nordic countries. Although this group generally is very active in LLL, the centrality of knowledge work in society, rapid pace of skills-renewal and rising learning demands for all qualifications levels, necessitates a better understanding of the patterns and factors affecting their skill development. The paper builds on theories of learning motivation, human capital and workplace learning. Data from the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) by the OECD were used. In addition to high participation rates, systematic level differences in participation were found across the countries. Results of logit regression analyses revealed clear differences between countries in the models that explained participation, which gave limited support to a single ‘Nordic model’ of LLL. Furthermore, the predictors of participation commonly found among adult populations, low-educated individuals and/or younger adults, appeared less valid for well-educated individuals.     

终身教育形势下新的学习观念的树立

党的十六大报告提出＂形成全民学习、终身学习的学习型社会,促进人的全面发展＂的学习理念,在终身教育形势下,我们应该转变传统观念,树立新的学习理念,每一个社会个体都要学习各种各样的知识,并且持续不断地更新自身的知识体系,否则就不能在社会中生存,只有在整个人生过程中持续不断学习,不断充实自己,才能跟上时代形势不断发展的需要。     

Negotiating co-ownership of learning in higher education: an underexplored practice for adult learning

Adults who enrol in higher education institutions (HEIs) often have contributions that could serve in enhancing the planning and implementation of their programmes. Importantly, while terms such as active learner engagement and knowledge co-creation dominate adult learning discussions, there are unanswered questions pertaining to how adult learners negotiate co-ownership of their learning. The current empirical study explores the relevant factors that could enhance adult learners’ involvement in negotiating co-ownership of learning in a higher education setting. A mixed method of gathering and analysing data from adult learners (n?=?200) was followed. While structural equation modelling (SEM) served as the quantitative data analysis method, codes, categories and themes developed from the focus group discussions and interviews were used to analyse the qualitative data. The study revealed that negotiating co-ownership of learning among adult learners in HEIs is influenced by the level of engagement and adult learners’ acquisition of relevant core knowledge and skills. The authors discuss the implications of the results by reflecting on the pluses of negotiating co-ownership of learning at the institutional and classroom levels while also showing how the lack of these provisions could hinder effective learning among adult learners.     

Communities of practice in higher education: professional learning in an academic career

This article focuses on the life history of a university academic, and the ways in which he learned in different communities of practice during his career. This account raises questions about the applicability of situated learning theory to a knowledge-based organisation, and argues that both the external context and the individuals within the community impinge on learning. It suggests that the role of academic staff developers may vary depending on the CoP and should include developing networks, facilitation, providing relevant expertise, improving harmony within CoPs and harnessing the benefits of internationally dispersed CoPs.