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"learning"

This paper advances some bases for a workplace curriculum. These are premised on conceptions of curriculum as intents directed to individuals' progression towards full and effective workplace performance, yet whose enactment is shaped by workplace factors and is ultimately experienced by workers as learners. So whether the intentions will be realized is likely premised on the support (affordances) for their enactment by interests within the workplace. Workplace affordances, like those in educational institutions, emphasize the role that the norms and social practices that comprise workplaces play in regulating individuals' engagement in and learning through work. The degree to which these affordances invite, structure, support, and guide participation, and are likely to engage workers in the kinds of thinking, acting, and learning required for effective workplace performance, is important for developing effective vocational practice. The conception of an ideal curriculum directed towards full participation is subject to the affordances of the interests of managers, co-workers, and factors affecting production, as well as the intentionalities of worker-learners themselves. These concepts may well provide ways of thinking about curriculum more broadly as participatory practices.

Problem-Based learning (PBL) has been instituted in the graduate and undergraduate curricula in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech. The basic learning unit of the PBL approach is the tutorial group, comprising six to eight students and a facilitator. The role of the facilitator is to asks probing questions at the process level with the intent of explicitly revealing group behaviors by drawing attention to student actions. The target areas for assessment of a PBL class are self-directed inquiry, knowledge building, collaboration skills, and problem solving strategies.

This paper uses the metaphor of a 'theory narrative to discuss the way in which the connections between education, learning and work have been understood. It identifies six theory narratives, and analyses each in turn, leading to an overview that suggests the way in which these explanatory frameworks might evolve in the future. The six narratives are grouped into three types. Functionalist and Marxist narratives constitute modernist, 'structuralist explanations; liberal and progressive emancipatory narratives foreground educational aims and social practice; and boundary-crossing narratives emphasize the integration of learning and work practices. The paper plots the ebb and flow of these narratives in terms of their theoretical assumptions, policy implications and the inferences made for the learner as clear distinctions between educational practices and work practices are challenged.

A synthesis of nearly 2,000 articles to help make engineers better educators While a significant body of knowledge has evolved in the field of engineering education over the years, much of the published information has been restricted to scholarly journals and has not found a broad audience. This publication rectifies that situation by reviewing the findings of nearly 2,000 scholarly articles to help engineers become better educators, devise more effective curricula, and be more effective leaders and advocates in curriculum and research development. The author's first objective is to provide an illustrative review of research and development in engineering education since 1960. His second objective is, with the examples given, to encourage the practice of classroom assessment and research, and his third objective is to promote the idea of curriculum leadership. The publication is divided into four main parts: Part I demonstrates how the underpinnings of education----history, philosophy, psychology, sociology----determine the aims and objectives of the curriculum and the curriculum's internal structure, which integrates assessment, content, teaching, and learning. Part II focuses on the curriculum itself, considering such key issues as content organization, trends, and change. A chapter on interdisciplinary and integrated study and a chapter on project and problem-based models of curriculum are included. Part III examines problem solving, creativity, and design. Part IV delves into teaching, assessment, and evaluation, beginning with a chapter on the lecture, cooperative learning, and teamwork The book ends with a brief, insightful forecast of the future of engineering education. Because this is a practical tool and reference for engineers, each chapter is self-contained and may be read independently of the others. Unlike other works in engineering education, which are generally intended for educational researchers, this publication is written not only for researchers in the field of engineering education, but also for all engineers who teach. All readers acquire a host of practical skills and knowledge in the fields of learning, philosophy, sociology, and history as they specifically apply to the process of engineering curriculum improvement and evaluation. © 2005 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. All rights reserved..

This paper reports on findings from a practice audit and literature review into Integration of learning for Practice, conducted in Scotland between November 2003 and February 2004. Findings from the practice audit suggest that although the integration of learning is one of the key aspirations of social work education, and there are many different approaches currently in use which attempt to enhance learning integration, students, practitioners, service users and social work lecturers all agree that more needs to be done in this area. The review of literature indicates some ways in which this might be taken forward. The paper concludes that for integration of learning for practice to succeed, we need a re-imagining of the traditional boundaries between field and classroom, and practice teacher and social work academic. © 2006, The Board of Social Work Education.