Transnational Collaboration On Lifelong Learning Between Higher Engineering Education Institutions: A University Perspective

Lifelong learning (LLL) is in focus in all European countries. Workforce upskilling and reskilling are seen as central elements in ensuring national competitiveness. Universities are main players in this effort but often find it difficult to find sustainable models for LLL activities, in terms of e.g., economy, student intake, and academic resources. Collaboration between universities can be one possible way forward to overcome such obstacles, and given the enhanced post-Covid digitalization is also increasingly made possible, even across borders. However, many universities also find such collaboration challenging, e.g., due to outdated legislation, lacking financial predictability, lacking 1 J. Bennedsen [email protected] academic capacity, or other factors. Studies done by the authors indicate that universities’ perspectives are seldom present in the literature when barriers and enablers for LLL participation are analysed. This motivates us to particularly consider a university perspective here. This paper analyses responses to a questionnaire sent to 28 Nordic and Baltic universities, collecting information about successes, opportunities, and barriers for formal (i.e., ECTSawarding) university-level LLL with professional content within engineering and technology. The respondents were management representatives representing an institutional view and having good knowledge of the institution\u27s LLL offer (e.g., further education centre managers and LLL coordinators). 19 institutions answered, mostly with free text. Our analysis is done following constructivist grounded theory using an open and focused coding approach. The main aim is to identify the main barriers and success factors seen by the universities for upscaling LLL activities, and subsequently to suggest strategies for alleviating barriers and facilitating success factors

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How does the extent of student-active learning in engineering programmes influence students’ perceived learning outcomes?

Through the project “Technology Education of the Future” (FTS), NTNU has developed a framework for re-design of its study programmes in technology and engineering. One of the main findings is the need for a broader, more multidimensional view of graduate competence, showcasing the need to fully integrate training of several important non-technical professional skills in future programmes. To enable such integration, student-active pedagogical methods in combination with integrated learning principles are often seen as key tools. This paper quantitatively investigates to what extent study programmes’ facilitation of active student participation actually makes a difference to perceived learning outcomes across a variety of competence areas. The research question under consideration is “How does the extent of student-active learning in engineering programmes influence students’ perceived learning outcomes?” Using statistical analysis of data from a national student survey, correlation was investigated between students’ perception of how well active student participation is facilitated by the teaching in their study programmes, and their self-evaluated learning outcomes in 10 different competence areas. Regression analysis was done based directly on individual student responses and on responses averaged over study programmes. The results show statistically significant positive correlation for most competence areas. Students’ perception of how well their programmes facilitate active student participation is found in good agreement with actual known programme characteristics. The results thus provide quantitative indication that improving facilitation of student-active learning in engineering programmes indeed improves learning outcomes for a broad set of future-relevant competence areas

Genetiske studier av torsk i Skjerstadfjorden, Nordland

Havforskningsinstituttet fikk høsten 2010 i oppdrag fra Fiskeridirektoratet å gjennomføre en omfattende utredning av oppdrettet torsk sin innflytelse på vill torsk for å vurdere mulige effektindikatorer i forbindelse med rømming fra oppdrettsanlegg. Dette gjaldt både påvirkning fra gyting i merd og effekter av konkrete rømminger. I denne forbindelse ble Havforsk-ningsinstituttet bedt om å gjennomføre en vitenskapelig undersøkelse, med spesielt fokus på Skjerstadfjorden i Nordland. Denne rapporten presenterer det arbeidet som ble gjennomført i Skjerstadfjorden høsten 2010 og våren 2011. For å få et helhetlig bilde av situasjonen i fjordsystemet, ble prøver tatt på gytefelt i Skjerstadfjorden i 2004 og 2005, i tillegg til en prøve samlet inn av Fiskeri-direktoratet i 2009 fra et oppdrettsanlegg i fjorden, inkludert i analysene. De første oppdrettskonsesjonene ble gitt i 2007, og man kan derfor anta at det ikke har vært satt ut oppdrettsfisk i merd av betydning i fjorden før 2008. Den siste oppdrettsfisken ble slaktet ut desember 2010. Det ble funnet signifikant forskjell mellom oppdrettsfisken og villfisken i området, mens prøver tatt av gytefisk i 2011 ikke er forskjellig fra gytefisk fanget inn før oppdrett ble etablert i fjorden (2004 og 2005). Det er heller ikke mulig å påvise tilstedeværelse av oppdrettstorsk i fjorden utenom gytesesongen med genetiske metoder, og analysene viser ingen tegn til innblanding av oppdrettsfisk i yngelen produsert på gytefeltet i 201

Realising A Centre For Educational Development: Experiences, Challenges, Lessons Learnt, And Future Ambitions

In order to develop high-quality engineering education with a focus on students’ learning, academic staff must themselves develop new skills, with a lifelong learning perspective to their own teaching. This requires coordination and support. For this purpose, three faculties at our university decided to jointly fund a Centre for Science and Engineering Education Development. Among the aims were to boost educational quality, strengthen educational competence among academic staff, and build educational quality culture on the institutional level. The faculties also recognized a need to establish a stronger and more focused didactic perspective for the university’s programme STEM portfolio, beyond and in addition to the general pedagogical training already offered by the university. The centre\u27s main responsibility has been to provide various forms of training of and teaching for academic staff and educational leaders, thus indirectly affecting also students’ learning experiences. Strategic advice on educational change, dissemination of results, and strengthening of international and national collaborations, networks, and arenas, have been important additional tasks. This paper reflects upon the centre\u27s activities, strategies, impact, experiences, and challenges from the start-up until today. We identify lessons learnt and propose advice for others planning similar centra. Among the topics covered are capacity and recruitment challenges, coping with diverse faculty cultures, and the need for a shared vision in which to anchor activities and resource usage. We will also describe a recent upscaling of the Centre’s mandate, responsibilities, and capacity, designed to support a major ongoing educational reform in the STEM programmes at our university

Genetic management of mixed-stock fisheries "real-time": The case of the largest remaining cod fishery operating in the Atlantic in 2007-2017

Fish stocks represent fundamental units in fisheries management, and their identification, especially in mixed-fisheries, represents one of the primary challenges to sustainable harvest. Here, we describe the first “real-time” genetic management program used to manage a mixed-stock fishery of a non-salmonid and commercially significant marine fish, the Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L). Based upon the analysis of >18 000 fish sampled from the commercial catch in Lofoten (Norway), which represents the largest remaining cod fishery in the Atlantic, we estimated the fraction of North East Arctic cod (NEAC), and Norwegian Coastal cod (NCC), just 24 h post-landing. These estimates, based upon the analysis of the Pantophysin gene, were performed weekly in the winter and spring of each year in the period 2007–2017. The program has successfully permitted the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries to actively manage the commercial exploitation of the highly abundant NEAC stock, while simultaneously limiting exploitation of the fragile NCC stock, both of which overlap at the spawning grounds. Data from this program have also revealed a distinct temporal increase in the fraction of NEAC on the spawning grounds in this region, which is consistent with the overall increased abundance of this stock as estimated by ICES.publishedVersio

Differential Survival among Batches of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua L.) from Fertilisation through to Post-Metamorphosis

Aquaculture production of cod has decreased from over 20,000 tonnes in 2009 to less than 2,000 tonnes in 2014 and the industry faces many challenges, one of which is high and unpredictably variable mortality rates in the early life stages. Hence, full-cycle farming with hatchery produced juveniles is still considered unprofitable compared to fisheries and on-growing of wild cod. In the present study, potential batch differences in progeny survival of wild-caught, hatchery-spawned Faroe Bank cod (Gadus morhuaL.) were investigated at two defined periods during early life history; i) the embryo stage (60 day degrees post fertilisation) and ii) the fry stage (110 days post hatch), post metamorphosis. The fry stage experiment was conducted in three replicates (N= 300 per replicate), and a panel of three polymorphic microsatellite markers was used for parental analysis. Mean survival rate at the embryo stage was 69% (± 20% SD). Survival was positively associated with egg diameter (P< 0.01), explaining 90% of the variation in egg survival rates. The data were too scarce to conclude either way concerning a possible correlation between survival rates between the two periods (P< 0.10). Offspring from three batches (from a total of eight) dominated in the fry stage, contributing over 90% of the progeny, and results were consistent over all three replicate tanks. The skewed batch representation observed may be of relevance to the effective management of selective breeding programmes for cod

Genome wide analysis reveals genetic divergence between Goldsinny wrasse populations

Marine fish populations are often characterized by high levels of gene flow and correspondingly low genetic divergence. This presents a challenge to define management units. Goldsinny wrasse (Ctenolabrus rupestris) is a heavily exploited species due to its importance as a cleaner-fish in commercial salmonid aquaculture. However, at the present, the population genetic structure of this species is still largely unresolved. Here, full-genome sequencing was used to produce the first genomic reference for this species, to study population-genomic divergence among four geographically distinct populations, and, to identify informative SNP markers for future studies.publishedVersio