Waves of Reform - Analysing a History of Educational Development Concepts

Waves of Reform - Analysing a History of Educational Development Concepts

Luleå University of Technology (LTU) joined the CDIO Initiative in 2015, and a pilot project involving four engineering programs is now well underway. Studying this case, it strikes us as interesting that this happens now, as LTU could obviously have joined CDIO at least a decade earlier. In order to understand the internal processes leading to this outcome, key persons are interviewed. The history of other reform approaches at LTU is analysed, in particular the Arena concept, which appears to have hindered LTU from joining CDIO, and the Pedagogical Idea, which is compatible with CDIO and eventually led to the adoption,.

Using the LTU case as illustration the following questions are addressed: - What makes a university likely to adopt a reform approach (in this case CDIO)? - When can different approaches coexist, and when are they perceived to compete (so that one must replace the other)?

Drawing on neo-institutional theory and literature on change in higher education, we consider two mechanisms for innovation: as "local development" and as "ideas and concepts that travel between institutions". In practice, these mechanisms are in dynamic interplay. Ideas and concepts need local ownership if they are to be successfully implemented. Travelling ideas cannot be just copied, but must be interpreted, translated and transformed according to local conditions and needs.

This leads us to explore the relationship between CDIO and LTU Pedagogical Idea. How can a university assume ownership of CDIO and transform it to the context? What aspects of the LTU Pedagogical Idea could be of particular interest to the CDIO community?

Finally, we critically reflect on some limitations of educational reform concepts.

Proceedings of the 12th International CDIO Conference, Turku, Finland, June 12-16 2016

Authors (New): 
Oskar Gedda
Åsa Wikberg Nilsson
Rickard Garvare
Kristina Edström
Pages: 
11
Affiliations: 
Luleå University of Technology, Sweden
KTH Royal Institute of Technology,Sweden
Keywords: 
Reform concepts
adoption of innovation
travelling ideas
The Creative University
LTU Pedagogical Idea
CDIO adoption
Year: 
2016
Reference: 
Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2008). Förändringsarbete i organisationer – om att utveckla företagskulturer. Malmö: Liber.: 
Brunsson, N. (2009). Reform as routine: Organizational change and stability in the modern world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.: 
Burnes, B. (1996). No Such Thing as ...a “one best way to manage organizational change”. Management Decision, 34(10), 11-18.: 
Burnes, B. (2009). Managing Change. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.: 
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2011). Research Methods in Education. London and New York: Routledge.: 
Czarniawska, B., & Joerges, B. (1996). Travels of ideas. In B. Czarniawska & G. Sevón (Eds.), Translating organizational change. Berlin: de Gruyter.: 
DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American sociological review, 147-160.: 
Durlak, J., & DuPre, E. (2008). Implementation matters: a review of research on the influence of implementation on program outcomes and the factors affecting implementation. American Journal of Communication Psychology, 41(3/4), 327-350.: 
Edström, K. & Kolmos, A. (2014). PBL and CDIO: complementary models for engineering education development. European Journal of Engineering Education, 39:5, 539-555.: 
Garvare, R. (2005). Utvärdering av arenors forskarskolor – analys och förslag till åtgärder, (in Swedish). Report: Luleå University of Technology.: 
Garvare, R., & Lovén, E. (2005). Vad tycker arenastudenterna – resultat av en enkätundersökning, (in Swedish). Report: Luleå University of Technology.: 
Gedda, O. (2008). Perspektiv på undervisning i högskolemiljö: en studie av lärares intentioner och handlingar. Luleå: Luleå tekniska universitet: 
Gedda, O. (2014). Utbildningskultur : Lärande i högre utbildning (Doctoral thesis / Luleå University of Technology). Luleå tekniska universitet.: 
Gedda, O. & Wikberg Nilsson, Å. (2014) Lärarguide för kursutveckling enligt pedagogisk idé LTU. Luleå: Luleå tekniska universitet: 
Greenhalgh, T., Glenn, R., MacFarlane, F., Bate, P., & Kyriakidou, O. (2004), Diffusion of Innovations in Service Organizations: Systematic Review and Recommendations, The Milbank Quarterly, 82(4), 581-629.: 
Hall, M. A., & Wright, R. F. (2008). Systematic content analysis of judicial opinions, California Law Review, 96(1), 63-122.: 
Hallencreutz, J., & Turner, D-M. (2011). Exploring Organizational Change Best Practice – are there any clear cut models and definitions? International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, 3(1), 60-68.: 
Harvey, G., Fitzgerald, L., Fielden, S., McBride, A., Waterman, H., Bamford, D., Kislov, R., & Boaden, R. (2011). The NIHR Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC) for Greater Manchester: combining empirical, theoretical and experiential evidence to design and evaluate a large-scale implementation strategy. Implementation Science, 6(96).: 
Hughes, M. (2011). Do 70 per cent of all organizational change initiatives really fail? Journal of Change Management, 11(4), 451-464.: 
Johnsson, H., Alerby, E., Hyyppä, K., Jonsson, H., Karlberg, M., Stenberg, M., & Strömberg, T. (2009). En pedagogisk idé för ingenjörsutbildningarna vid Luleå tekniska universitet. 2:a utvecklingskonferensen för Sveriges Ingenjörsutbildningar, LTH 2-3 december.: 
Lewin, K. (1951). Field Theory in Social Science. New York: Harper & Row.: 
Malmqvist, J., Hugo, R., & Kjellberg, M. (2015). A survey of CDIO implementation globally – effects on educational quality. Proceedings of the 11th International CDIO Conference, Chengdu University of Information Technology, Chengdu, Sichuan, P.R. China, June 8-11, 2015.: 
Riordan, T., & Sharkey, S. (2010) Hand in hand - the role of culture, faculty identity, and mission in sustaining general education reform. In S. Gano-Philips & R. W. Barnetts (eds) A process approach to general education reform: transforming institutional culture in higher education, 199-219. Madison, WI: Atwood Publishing.: 
Runardotter, M., Brändström, S., Grape, M., Nilsson, H., Nyström, J., Prellwitz, M. Synnes, K., & Westman, A-K. (2011) Pedagogisk utveckling av distansutbildningar vid Luleå tekniska universitet. Rapport. Luleå: Luleå tekniska universitet.: 
Sahlin, K., & Wedlin, L. (2008). Circulating Ideas: Imitation, Translation and Editing. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, K. Sahlin, & R. Suddaby (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism. London: SAGE.: 
Stensaker, B. (2007). Quality as Fashion: Exploring the Translation of a Management Idea into Higher Education. In D. F. Westerheijden, B. Stensaker, & M. J. Rosa (Eds.), Quality Assurance in Higher Education: Trends in Regulation, Translation and Transformation (99- 118). Dordrecht: Springer.: 
Wibeck, V. (2000). Fokusgrupper. Om fokuserade intervjuer som undersökningsmetod. Lund: Stundentlitteratur.: 
Wikberg-Nilsson, Å., & Gedda, O. (2013). Guide 2013: för utbildningsutveckling enligt Pedagogisk idé LTU. Luleå: Luleå tekniska universitet.: 
Go to top
randomness