Study Program Innovation in the Triple Helix Context: The Case of Cooperative Study Programs at a German University of Applied Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand how Triple Helix linkages foster study program innovation at the micro-level and how the entrepreneurial university shapes support structures and processes to foster this innovation at the meso-level. We draw on the case of cooperative study programs from a German university of applied sciences. We selected business administration and nursing as two different disciplinary examples. Cooperative study programs are delivered partly at university and partly in industry and illustrate the hybridity that shapes the knowledge transfer at a university. Our study draws on semi-structured interviews with professors, industry representatives, students and policy makers as well as on pertinent documents. Our data show that Triple-Helix interactions generate program innovations and, depending on the discipline, have a focus on a Double Helix. In addition, the study shows the processes and their limitations by which teaching is transferred in partnership with industry in the entrepreneurial university context.

Curricular integration of academic and vocational education: a theory-based empirical typology of dual study programmes in Germany

“…In this section, we review empirical research on dual programmes in Germany using Table 1 as a frame of reference to provide an overview of the state of research on characteristics relevant for our analysis. Theoretical concepts on dual studies are not reviewed as there are hardly any (Gerstung & Deuer, 2021;Mordhorst & Gössling, 2020;Schiller & Leišytė, 2020) and none refer to curriculum theory.…”

“…As far as we know, there is no empirical study investigating curricular integration as a core theme. Extant research often focuses on structural issues within systems and on an institutional level (Graf, 2017(Graf, , 2018Krone et al, 2019;Schiller & Leišytė, 2020). While the measures in Table 1 are occasionally part of such studies, they have not been investigated from the viewpoint of curriculum theory.…”

“…We focus on the pedagogical implications of different curricular characteristics, exploring the extent of variation in the degree of integration among dual study programmes. We contribute to the ongoing discourse on the design and the quality of dual programmes by first introducing a pedagogical perspective, where hitherto theory-based empirical contributions have focused on system-related aspects or structural issues (Graf, 2017(Graf, , 2018Krone et al, 2019;Schiller & Leišytė, 2020). Second, we contribute by identifying different types of curricular integration in dual programmes.…”