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Papers by Anja Overgaard Thomassen

Organizational Learning, Knowledge Capabilities 2021: Organizational Learning and Epistemic Ambiguity, May 26, 2021

Fostering Reflective Teaching Practice in Pre-Service Education

This chapter explores teachers' reflective practice in lifelong learning programs based on a ... more This chapter explores teachers' reflective practice in lifelong learning programs based on a qualitative study of five teachers representing three part-time Master's programs. The theoretical framework for analysis of the interview data is Ellström's (1996) model for categorizing levels of action, knowledge and learning, activity theory (Engeström, 1987) and expansive learning (Engeström & Sannino, 2010). The results show a divergence between what the teachers perceive as the Master students' learning goals and the teachers' goals and objectives. This is highlighted through the teachers' experience with the students' understandings of the theories they are introduced to and how they apply them in relation to their practice context. The insights and the issues raised by the study are relevant for teachers in Higher Education.

This article presents the PBL model applied at Aalborg University in order to discuss research fi... more This article presents the PBL model applied at Aalborg University in order to discuss research findings with regard to the educational effectiveness of the PBL model in securing an efficient transfer of learning from university driven continuing education to the context of the workplace. In recent years Aalborg University has seen a progressive PBL development with regard to our many new continuing educational programs. The empirical data applied in the article is collected from two qualitative Ph.D. studies. Drawing on research findings from these studies, we discuss why the PBL model, in spite of the intentions of closing the gap between education and working life, seems to have some important challenges. The discussion concludes by suggesting some pedagogical guidelines for the design of future PBL organized academic activities within continuing education.

Kravet om effektivitet i form af at levere mere og hojere kvalitet for mindre er allestedsnaervae... more Kravet om effektivitet i form af at levere mere og hojere kvalitet for mindre er allestedsnaervaerende i den offentlige sektor i disse ar. Fokus er i hoj grad rettet imod, hvordan man kan udvikle og anvende medarbejdernes viden og kompetencer pa nye og innovative mader. En stromning, der laegger sig i halen heraf, er den stadig stigende interesse for at udvikle ledelse i den offentlige sektor, da det anses for at vaere et af de midler, der kan bidrage til at understotte udviklingen af mere kvalitet for mindre. Saledes er der de senere ar opstaet en bred vifte af lederuddannelsestilbud rettet saerlig mod den offentlige sektor, hvor et eksempel er Master i Public Governance (MPG). Samtidig hermed har forskellige ledelseskoncepter (Northouse, 2012; Mintzberg, 2009; Yukl, 2010) vundet indpas, idet de giver et bud pa, hvordan der kan arbejdes med ledelse pa struktureret vis med henblik professionalisering af ledelse. Dette bryder til en vis grad med tidligere tiders tilgang til ledelse, ...

Handbook of College and University Teaching: A Global Perspective

Proc. 27th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC), 2019

Lean practitioners have always been very passionate about sharing their experiences and knowledge... more Lean practitioners have always been very passionate about sharing their experiences and knowledge so others also can benefit from better processes and reduced waste. When lean practitioners get together to discuss and spread knowledge, the 'implementation of lean' is often at the core of the conversation. How do we get others to understand the nature of lean and how do we get them to implement it? Despite clearly documented, positive outcomes and strong business cases, we still encounter resistance and it can be challenging to even get our own colleagues to be engaged with lean. This paper explores what motivates individuals with different project roles to work with lean, when some research shows that knowledge and will is not enough to change. It considers why incentive measures and a focus on time and cost savings could have a negative impact on the motivation to change for some groups. This discussion is supported with survey data and experiences from a major infrastructure project and within the organisation of the client, Highways England.

Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education, 2013

In this chapter the notion of ‘the third context’ is presented as a useful perspective in order t... more In this chapter the notion of ‘the third context’ is presented as a useful perspective in order to reduce the gap between work and continuing education, as continuing education is argued to be an activity different from work as well as education, namely as something ‘third’. Consequently, ‘the third context’ is an alternative to the predominant understanding of work and education as two incompatible entities based on different paradigms. The understanding of incompatibility between work and education had extensive influence on learner engagement and learning outcome in two continuing education courses based on Facilitated Work Based Learning (FWBL). FWBL focuses extensively on integrating work and continuing education with the purpose of increasing employee involvement and engagement: Theoretically, FWBL is inspired by John Dewey and Problem Based Learning. Obstacles occurred during the FWBL courses, especially in relation to the question of ‘how can work and continuing education be integrated?’ More extensive use of information technology is argued to be a method supporting the alignment of processes between the FWBL course and the workplace.

Organizational Learning, Knowledge Capabilities 2021: Organizational Learning and Epistemic Ambiguity, May 26, 2021

Fostering Reflective Teaching Practice in Pre-Service Education

This chapter explores teachers' reflective practice in lifelong learning programs based on a ... more This chapter explores teachers' reflective practice in lifelong learning programs based on a qualitative study of five teachers representing three part-time Master's programs. The theoretical framework for analysis of the interview data is Ellström's (1996) model for categorizing levels of action, knowledge and learning, activity theory (Engeström, 1987) and expansive learning (Engeström & Sannino, 2010). The results show a divergence between what the teachers perceive as the Master students' learning goals and the teachers' goals and objectives. This is highlighted through the teachers' experience with the students' understandings of the theories they are introduced to and how they apply them in relation to their practice context. The insights and the issues raised by the study are relevant for teachers in Higher Education.

This article presents the PBL model applied at Aalborg University in order to discuss research fi... more This article presents the PBL model applied at Aalborg University in order to discuss research findings with regard to the educational effectiveness of the PBL model in securing an efficient transfer of learning from university driven continuing education to the context of the workplace. In recent years Aalborg University has seen a progressive PBL development with regard to our many new continuing educational programs. The empirical data applied in the article is collected from two qualitative Ph.D. studies. Drawing on research findings from these studies, we discuss why the PBL model, in spite of the intentions of closing the gap between education and working life, seems to have some important challenges. The discussion concludes by suggesting some pedagogical guidelines for the design of future PBL organized academic activities within continuing education.

Kravet om effektivitet i form af at levere mere og hojere kvalitet for mindre er allestedsnaervae... more Kravet om effektivitet i form af at levere mere og hojere kvalitet for mindre er allestedsnaervaerende i den offentlige sektor i disse ar. Fokus er i hoj grad rettet imod, hvordan man kan udvikle og anvende medarbejdernes viden og kompetencer pa nye og innovative mader. En stromning, der laegger sig i halen heraf, er den stadig stigende interesse for at udvikle ledelse i den offentlige sektor, da det anses for at vaere et af de midler, der kan bidrage til at understotte udviklingen af mere kvalitet for mindre. Saledes er der de senere ar opstaet en bred vifte af lederuddannelsestilbud rettet saerlig mod den offentlige sektor, hvor et eksempel er Master i Public Governance (MPG). Samtidig hermed har forskellige ledelseskoncepter (Northouse, 2012; Mintzberg, 2009; Yukl, 2010) vundet indpas, idet de giver et bud pa, hvordan der kan arbejdes med ledelse pa struktureret vis med henblik professionalisering af ledelse. Dette bryder til en vis grad med tidligere tiders tilgang til ledelse, ...

Handbook of College and University Teaching: A Global Perspective

Proc. 27th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC), 2019

Lean practitioners have always been very passionate about sharing their experiences and knowledge... more Lean practitioners have always been very passionate about sharing their experiences and knowledge so others also can benefit from better processes and reduced waste. When lean practitioners get together to discuss and spread knowledge, the 'implementation of lean' is often at the core of the conversation. How do we get others to understand the nature of lean and how do we get them to implement it? Despite clearly documented, positive outcomes and strong business cases, we still encounter resistance and it can be challenging to even get our own colleagues to be engaged with lean. This paper explores what motivates individuals with different project roles to work with lean, when some research shows that knowledge and will is not enough to change. It considers why incentive measures and a focus on time and cost savings could have a negative impact on the motivation to change for some groups. This discussion is supported with survey data and experiences from a major infrastructure project and within the organisation of the client, Highways England.

Cutting-Edge Technologies in Higher Education, 2013

In this chapter the notion of ‘the third context’ is presented as a useful perspective in order t... more In this chapter the notion of ‘the third context’ is presented as a useful perspective in order to reduce the gap between work and continuing education, as continuing education is argued to be an activity different from work as well as education, namely as something ‘third’. Consequently, ‘the third context’ is an alternative to the predominant understanding of work and education as two incompatible entities based on different paradigms. The understanding of incompatibility between work and education had extensive influence on learner engagement and learning outcome in two continuing education courses based on Facilitated Work Based Learning (FWBL). FWBL focuses extensively on integrating work and continuing education with the purpose of increasing employee involvement and engagement: Theoretically, FWBL is inspired by John Dewey and Problem Based Learning. Obstacles occurred during the FWBL courses, especially in relation to the question of ‘how can work and continuing education be integrated?’ More extensive use of information technology is argued to be a method supporting the alignment of processes between the FWBL course and the workplace.