Partnered research and emergent variation: developing a set of characteristics for identifying complexity in higher education partnerships

Role of knowledge management in developing higher education partnerships: Towards a conceptual framework

“…Although there are numerous studies investigating elements of KM in HEIs or in the context of HE collaborative initiatives (see Table 1), the existing body of literature appears to limit its discussion on issues related to operationalization of managerial activities within or between HEIs. This paper acknowledges the complexity of HEIs and the landscape they operate in and argues x x Alavi & Leidner, 2001;Aliasghar et al, 2019;Ardichvili, 2008;Bratianu, 2011;Bratianu & Bejinaru, 2019Dalkir, 2013;Davenport & Prusak, 2000;Hansen, 2002;Hislop et al, 2018;Husted & Michailova, 2002;Rhee & Choi, 2017;Srivastava et al, 2006;Tiwana, 2002;Wiig, 2012 x x Hauptman Komotar, 2019; Jiang et al, 2015;Khvatova et al, 2016;Kim & Rehg, 2018;Lilles & Rõigas, 2017;Uslu et al, 2019 x x Barnes & Phillips, 2000;Bennell, 2019;Bhayani, 2015;Gray, 2016;Gregory, 2008;Kirby & Floyd, 2016;Osborne, 2006;Woolcott et al, 2020 x x x Lee, 2018;Lioukas & Reuer, 2015;Nasim et al, 2020;Natek & Zwilling, 2014;Zhang et al, 2019 x x x x Gold et al, 2001;Goodman & Schieman, 2010;Gast et al, 2019;Grotenhuis & Weggeman, 2002;…”

“…Although the success factors may differ depending on the individual characteristics of an institution, work undertaken by Reid et al (2001) provides academics and practitioners with the opportunity to identify success factors according to their institutional capabilities and partnership objectives. It is worth highlighting that development of strategic partnerships is a very complex process (Woolcott et al, 2020) and revolves around the management of knowledge with the purpose of adding value to the current or future educational products and services of an HEI. From this perspective, it becomes particularly important to explore the role that KM can play in assisting the development of collaborative undertakings between HEIs with the purpose of operating sustainably, increasing market share and promoting innovative practices.…”

Differentiating Instruction: Development of a Practice Framework for and with Secondary Mathematics Classroom Teachers

“…At the same time, complexity thinking provides for the innovative and creative outcomes that may not necessarily occur in collaborative interventions that are defined by solution rather than effect (Jörg, 2017;Sandfort, 2018). A particular feature of maintaining interventions in complex educational environments is the establishment of boundary systems using project priorities and goals-collaborative decision-making that remains consistently within these boundaries can be effective in determining productive and goal-oriented implementation that is both effective and efficient, but which allows for emergent variation and its evaluation (Gilstrap, 2020;Woolcott et al, 2020;Zhang & Ahmed, 2020).…”

“…Emergent behaviours in complex systems interventions are defined by the intervention rules, the project priorities and goals that define the intervention, that act as boundaries for a complex creative space (Davis & Samara, 2014;Woolcott et al, 2020). In a study which engages co-development, such as that envisaged in the current article, such boundaries can be determined collaboratively ensuring that agency and intentionality, whether individual or shared, are recognised as equitable (see e.g., Tomasello, 2014).…”

“…The current article, therefore, argues for consideration of complexity theory in determining whether the study contexts are complex (dynamical) systems, as educational contexts are increasingly understood to be (Koopmans & Stamovlasis, 2016). A recent study of initial teacher education research in mathematics and science (Woolcott et al, 2020) reports on protocol that can be used, within the iterative processes of DBIR, to determine and describe accurately, and then account for, any such complexity. Once the parameters of any complex system are determined and described, including any boundary conditions, this protocol directs attention to examining complex system features such as emergent unpredictability and variation (Davis & Sumara, 2014), in addition to other features already noted as significant in DBIR approaches (Penuel et al, 2016;Woolcott et al, 2019a).…”