Boundary Crossing Support in Part-Time Higher Professional Education Programs

Abstract

As learning societies necessitate continuous education, a growing number of part-time programs are being offered. A key challenge for part-time programs is adequately supporting students in connecting their learning within the program to their work life, which in contrast to dual education is not part of the program. To better understand such boundary-crossing support in part-time higher professional education, this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted. A large-scale study, consisting of quantitative data analysis of the Dutch National Student Survey, confirmed that part-time programs (n = 600) differ in perceived boundary crossing, with a medium effect size of η2 = .13, and that factors postulated in the literature are related. An in-depth cross-case analysis of the boundary-crossing support provided in four purposefully selected part-time higher education programs (with high and low perceived support) indicated that brokers, boundary objects, hybrid practices, boundary interactions, degrees of freedom, degrees of clarity, and supervision are ways to support boundary crossing. These findings provide actionable strategies by which parttime higher professional education programs can support student learning across contexts.

Hybridising in and out-of-school learning

“…At the same time, widespread societal movements advocating for emancipation of marginalised groups have raised awareness of how the dominant societal labelling systematically dismisses certain discourses and identities (Philip and Sengupta, 2021), for example, when gender categories are dichotomous and/or ethnicity is singular (see Azevedo and Mann, 2021). In line with this development, we see how educational practices are searching for appropriate ways to differentiate between and be adaptive to individual learners (e.g., Arts andvan Rijswijk et al, 2018).…”

Læring på tvers: Hvordan kan yrkesfag- læreren legge til rette for boundary learning for elever i arbeidslivspraksis?

“…Yrkesdidaktisk fokus knyttet til prosesser i forkant av en praksisperiode, underveis i arbeidslivspraksis og i etterkant av praksisperioden kan legge til rette for laering på arbeidsplassen (Billett, 2019, s. 24). Her kan yrkesfaglaereren benytte et grenseobjekt som konkret e-Portfolio eller produktmanualer, eller abstrakt som refleksjonsverktøy, for å gjøre kryssing av grensene mellom de ulike laeringskontekstene bedre og mer integrert for elevene (Akkerman & Bakker, 2012;Arts & Bronkhorst, 2020;Bakker & Akkerman, 2019).…”

Diplomuddannelse i Erhvervspædagogik

“…På arbejdspladsen kan effektivitet og kvalitet i udførelse af specifikke opgaver vaere det centrale laeringsmål, mens laering på uddannelsesinstitutionen typisk har afsaet i fag og curriculum (Evans et al, 2011). Så selvom en vekseluddannelse som DEP giver mulighed for samtidig laering i flere kontekster, kan det vaere en udfordring for studerende at etablere sammenhaeng imellem disse to kontekster, hvor også vid-ensformer kan vaere forskellige (Guile & Young, 2003;Arts & Bronkhorst, 2019).…”