UCE as innovation lab for future education – potentials and limitations
Prof Eva Cendon, Dorothée Schulte, Anita Mörth
02-06-21
Prof Eva Cendon
Dorothée Schulte MA Research Associate Anita Mörth Mphil
Research Associate
Chair University Continuing Education & Teaching and Learning
FernUniversität in Hagen
Institute of Educational Science and Media Research
Chair University Continuing Education & Teaching and Learning
Can UCE innovate the future of
education?
What is your perspective on UCE as innovation lab?
• Research perspective
• Practitioner perspective
• HE management
Can UCE innovate the future of education?
• What innovation is
• Context & methodology
• Findings: UCE’s potential for innovation
• Discussion
Innovation
• Link to third mission: Interaction with / impulses for society
• Synergies by combining education, research, and innovation
(Blättel-Mink & Menez, 2015; Berghaeuser & Hoelscher, 2020; Poetzsch-Heffter & When, 2018)
• Something new – to the world / to the system of reference
• An improvement
• A social process
„Research and the production of knowledge becomes innovation once the knowledge is applied in a new and novel manner to create a new outcome (...).“
(Blass & Hayward, 2014, p. 1)
Innovation
in HE
UCE & innovation – a good match
UCE….
• an in-between entity
• mediating between inside and outside of academia
• a boundary spanner and operating at the fringe
(Poetzsch-Heffter & When, 2018; Thomann, 2019)
Context & methodology
• One quarter of all German HEIs (100 HEIs) developed UCE programmes and measures with federal-Länder funding (2011-2020)
• Innovation in four fields : target groups, formats, organisational structures, and cooperation
• Case study approach
(Ridder, 2017)• Analysis against an innovation matrix
New target groups
Project OPEN – OPen Education in Nursing
La ye rs of in no va tion
Product degree programme
Process theory-practice-integration blended learning
admission
Position target group
Paradigm potential students
improvement novelty
Degree of innovation
Teaching and Learning formats Project Studium? Divers!
La ye rs of in no va tion
Product adjust existing programmes
Process new regulations for studying
part-time and for modularisation
Position new group of learners
Paradigm
HE positions for part-time study despite missing legal
requirements
improvement novelty
Degree of innovation
Organisational structures Project mint.online
La ye rs of in no va tion
Product adjusted programmes new programmes
portfolio as a new product
Process new processes and standards
Position new potential students
Paradigm (new joint mission of the new
structure)
improvement novelty
Degree of innovation
Cooperation Project QUP
La ye rs of in no va tion
Product new thematic field
joint programmes
Process new strategies for quality
development and collaboration
Position new target groups
cooperation between institutions
Paradigm cooperative synergies and
outsourcing
improvement novelty
Degree of innovation
UCE as driver for innovation?
• Direction of innovation:
• inside & outside the organisation
• direct & indirect effects
• Potential of impact on the organisation varies on the
different layers
Discussion
• What potentials and limitations do you see for UCE as driver for innovation in your institutions? Are there
transformations that were particularly initiated through UCE?
• Given disruptive changes such as the Covid-19 pandemic, what potentials has UCE to answering future challenges of higher education?
• Which conceptions of innovation do you use in your
research?
Thank you
for your attention and the discussion!
References
• Berghaeuser, H., & Hoelscher, M. (2020). Reinventing the third mission of higher education in Germany:
Political frameworks and universities’ reactions. Tertiary Education and Management, 26(1), 57–76.
DOI: 10.1007/s11233-019-09030-3.
• Blass, E., & Hayward, P. (2014). Innovation in higher education; will there be a role for “the academe/university” in 2025? European Journal of Futures Research, 2(1), 1–9.
DOI: 10.1007/s40309-014-0041-x.
• Blättel-Mink, B., & Menez, R. (2015). Kompendium der Innovationsforschung. Wiesbaden: VS.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-531-19971-9_3.
• Poetzsch-Heffter, A., & Wehn, N. (2018). Humboldt 2.0: Über die Rolle Innovativer Universitäten im deutschen Wissenschaftssystem. In U. Dittler & C. Kreidl (Eds.), Hochschule der Zukunft: Beiträge zur zukunftsorientierten Gestaltung von Hochschulen (pp. 63–80). Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-20403-7_4.
• Ridder, H.-G. (2017). The theory contribution of case study research designs, Business Research, 10, 281–305. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40685-017-0045-z
• Thomann, G. (2019). Boundary spanning roles: Das Verhältnis von Bindung, Loyalität und Innovation für Transformationsprozesse an Hochschulen. Newsletter der wissenschaftlichen Begleitung des Bund- Länder-Wettbewerbs „Aufstieg durch Bildung: offene Hochschulen“. Retrieved from https://de.offene- hochschulen.de/themen/boundary-spanning-roles
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