Kirsten Hofgaard Lycke

Changes in student approaches to learning with the introduction of computer-supported problem-based learning

Objectives  To study changes in student approaches to learning following the introduction of computer‐supported, problem‐based learning.

Content and processes in problem‐based learning: a comparison of computer‐mediated and face‐to‐face communication

Abstract  There has been an increasing interest in the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in problem-based learning. One line of research has been to introduce synchronous, or simultaneous, communication attempting to create text-based digital real-time interaction. Compared with face-to-face (F2F) communication, CMC may be a poorer medium regarding coordination of the activity. Still, we are in need for more knowledge on the possible advantages and problems regarding such digital communication processes. In the present study, we compared activities in digital and F2F problem-based learning (PBL) regarding the content of the communication, turn-taking processes and the emergence of learning issues. The results indicate that when students discussed in the digital learning environment, they focused more on technical and organizational questions, produced relatively more initiatives but less responses, and produced less elaborated and specified learning issues than when they participated in F2F meetings.

The role of academic developers in transforming Bologna regulations to a national and institutional context

Academic developers (ADs) often participate in the implementation of programmes or reforms in higher education. Sometimes they agree with these and sometimes they disagree. This paper discusses possible agentic positions during a genuine policy implementation – the National Qualification Framework at a Norwegian university. Through reflexive interpretation, and by applying concepts from ‘discursive institutionalism’ the process of implementation from the national level to university departments is described and analysed. The actions and arguments of the ADs involved in the process are presented and their educational rationale is described. The ADs’ agency is discussed through educational and political science concepts and in light of power and of a tension between two competing world views: professional accountability and professional responsibility.

Inside PBL groups: observation, confirmations and challenges.

This article is based on a study of nine problem-based learning (PBL) groups with eight medical students and one tutor in each. The groups were observed at their two-weekly meetings for three weeks. The observations were recorded by video and written reports. Three illustrative examples of these observations are presented and discussed. The purpose of the study was to understand how processes in PBL groups correspond with the theory-based intentions for this type of learning and teaching and to discuss the theoretical foundations for problem-based learning. The observations confirm the expectation that groups in the observed program would follow a systematic stepwise progression. The groups were also found to become more flexible and self-directed in their use of PBL as they became more familiar with the approach, provided that the tutor did not dominate the interactions. It is argued that processes in problem-based learning should be understood not only in the light of theories focusing on individual learning and knowledge construction, but also from other theoretical perspectives. Socio-cultural perspectives with constructs such as collaborative learning, apprenticeship and modelling shed new light on what happens inside PBL groups in ways that will enhance learning and tutoring.

Institutional Leadership and Leeway--Important Elements in a National System of Quality Assurance and Accreditation: Experiences from a Pilot Study.

Abstract Experiences from the step‐wise implementation of the Norwegian national system for quality assurance and accreditation provide the empirical base for discussing (1) the readiness among higher education institutions to take an active share in the national system and (2) the potential of a national quality assurance and accreditation system to fulfil a double aim of controlling and enhancing quality. The findings indicate that a key element for a successful implementation of the new system is the institutions’ own understanding of the rationale behind the system. Internal evaluations, annual reports and quantitative institutional basic data must be considered and also used by the institutional leaders and the academic staff members as “tools” for meaningful internal quality work and not just looked upon as strange elements requested from “above”. The institutions’ quality work must be considered a crucial “instrument” for strategic management of the entire institution.

Perspectives on quality assurance in higher education in Norway

Quality assurance is well known internationally but the notion is relatively new in Norway. To understand some of the issues and dilemmas that emerge in the Norwegian reception of quality assurance in higher education, this article traces how quality assurance is gaining its form and how international trends are understood, transposed and adopted in Norwegian higher education. A contextual understanding is provided through a brief look at how ideas about quality work have developed in Norwegian higher education in the past 10 to 15 years. Empirical data comes from a review of the expert committee reports from the first five national quality assurance audits in Norwegian higher education. The review shows dilemmas inherent in quality assurance as well as issues that might be left out by such systems.

Faculty development: Experiences and issues in a Norwegian perspective

Abstract Faculty development activities are flourishing in the 1990s. Attempts to exchange experiences and ideas internationally are not as abundant. In consequence, this paper presents formats and trends in faculty development activities internationally as a basis for discussion of faculty development activities in Norway and in general. Similarities and differences are analysed and indicate the following common issues for the future: 1) The relationship between individual and institutional development. 2) How to document the impact of the activities. 3) How to recruit participants. Since these dilemmas are often resolved in different ways, the comparison should contribute to a firmer basis for future development in this field.

Høyere utdanning på høyt internasjonalt nivå – fortolkninger og mulige konsekvenser

Artikkelen tar utgangspunkt i universitets- og hoyskolelovens formal om a legge til rette for at universiteter og hoyskoler tilbyr utdanning «pa hoyt internasjonalt niva». En innholdsanalyse av de innledende deler av institusjonenes strategiske planer belyser forskjeller mellom institusjonstyper med hensyn til hvordan termen «hoyt internasjonalt niva» brukes og forstas. De ulike forstaelsene speiler det man finner i nasjonale og internasjonale forsok pa a avklare kvalitetsbegrepet. En vanlig forstaelse i det norske materialet og internasjonalt er at hoyt internasjonalt niva betegner «fremragende» og «unike» utdanninger, ofte koblet til en elitistisk tenkning. Artikkelen drofter noen problematiske aspekter ved a gjore dette til formal for sektoren som helhet og argumenterer for a nyansere termen «hoyt internasjonalt niva» slik at den gis et innhold som rommer ulike kvalitetsaspekter.