How Differences in Motivation and Identification Shape Four Types of Student Experiences with Problem-Based Learning

This article examines why students experience Problem-Based Learning (PBL) environments differently and discusses considerations for improving PBL environments to support a more diverse student population. Based on theoretical perspectives regarding motivation, identification, and learning, we present a new typology consisting of four types of students with distinctly different ways of creating motivation and identity in a PBL environment. While some principles in the examined PBL model motivate and validate certain types of students, the same principles can also challenge identification or result in demotivation among other types of students. Both results are important to consider when developing an inclusive PBL environment. The typology can serve as a theoretical framework for understanding, analysing, and discussing how and why students experience contemporary or new learning environments differently. Additionally, the typology provides a tool for organizations and teachers to motivate and validate students with different type characteristics and improve PBL practices accordingly

What do Social Processes mean for Quality of Human Resource Practice?

Well implemented human resource practice (HRP) is linked to increased performance, innovation, and the well-being of both managers and employees. In the literature, a distinction between the hard and the soft HRM-models is drawn: the hard model focuses on employees as a cost, whereas the soft HRM-model treats them as a potential Nielsen (2008a). However, little is known about the informal aspects of HRP and which social processes actually lead to implementation success or failure. The purpose of this paper is to develop a concept of social processes between managers and employees that can increase the implementation and quality of HR-performance Two studies of HRP within two manufacturing companies are used to illustrate the pros and cons of this new theoretical concept from a performance perspective. Involvement, commitment, and competence development are identified as key aspects of the quality of HRP. Moreover, a good psychological working environment and systematic priority of HRP are essential contextual factors that can enable or hinder social processes. Otherwise, production pressure and power relations between managers and employees can hinder the implementation of the new concept. The concept of social processes can help HRP to contribute on social processes between managers and employees as important aspects of quality in work with human resources. However, the influence of team organization and the social processes between employees needs to be explored further

Gruppebaserede øvelser: en empirisk analyse af muligheder og udfordringer

Gruppebaseret øvelsesundervisning har et vigtigt, men stadig ikke fuldt (an)er-kendt læringspotentiale som redskab i universitetspædagogikken. I denne artikel formidles hovedresultaterne fra den første større danske undersøgelse af erfaringer med gruppebaseret øvelsesundervisning gennemført blandt samtlige studerende og undervisere på sociologistudiet på Aalborg Universitet. Undersøgelsen viser, at undervisere og studerende er enige om øvelsernes læringsmæssige relevans. Endvidere er der enighed om, at øvelsernes primære formål er at diskutere metodiske og teoretiske begreber samt at koble undervisningens begreber til praksis. Dog er deres incitamenter forskellige; underviserene er ofte orienterede mod at træne kritisk og kreativ tænkning gennem aktiv involvering og kollektiv vidensdeling, mens de studerende er ek-samensorienterede. Undersøgelsen viser desuden udfordringer dels i forhold til koordinering underviserne imellem og dels i forhold til de studerendes faglige diversitet og aktivitetsniveau i forbindelse med øvelsesundervisningen. Artiklen slutter derfor af med at diskutere en række organisatoriske og praktiske tiltag, som kan forbedre de studerendes aktivitet, læring og oplevelse af ’alignment’ mellem øvelsesundervisningen, læringsmålene og eksamen. Group-based exercises have an important but still not fully acknowledged role as a learning tool in university pedagogy. This article reports key findings from a study of the experiences of sociology students and teachers at Aalborg University who participated in group-based exercises. The study reveals that teachers and students agree on the relevance of the exercises and that the main purposes of these are to discuss theoretical and methodological concepts and to connect concepts to practice. However, the incentives they stress are different; teachers are often focused on training academic thinking through collective involvement and knowledge sharing, while students are focused on their exam. The study also indicates challenges in terms of coordination between the teachers and in relation to the students' academic diversity and varied activity during the group-based exercises. The article concludes with a discussion of organizational and practical initiatives that can improve student activity, learning and their experience of 'alignment' between the exercises, the learning objectives and the exam

Arbejdsmigration fra de nye EU-lande: En kilde til vækst eller en trussel mod de (u)faglærte danske arbejdstagere?

This article examines the consequences of low-skilled labour migration to Denmark from the new EU member countries in Eastern Europe. The article investigates the potentials, limitations and conflicts of interests that are connected with temporary employment of Eastern European migrant workers seen from the perspective of Danish labour market actors; politicians, labour market unions, one employer union, Danish employers, Danish and Eastern European employees and Danish unemployed workers. During the past four years more than 52,500 Eastern European EU citizens have relocated to Denmark. The migrant workers from the new EU countries can be characterized by a high degree of mobility flexibility and high motivations to get a job, poorer socioeconomic and working conditions in their home countries as well as being of another cultural background than their Danish colleagues. The tendency among employers, their organizations and some of the liberal political parties is that the cheap and flexible foreign labour is crucial for business’s ability to compete on the global market. Trade unions, on the other hand, are concerned about the developments on the labour market and the protection of workers’ rights, safety and equal treatment. Danish workers express on the one hand solidarity with their foreign colleagues and on the other concern about the situation of the many unemployed Danish workers. Finally, the escalated labour migration from Eastern European EU countries challenges the negotiation model, which is central to the structure of the Danish labour market.Igennem de seneste fire år har der opholdt sig minimum 52.500 østeuropæiske EU-borgere i Danmark, heraf cirka halvdelen fra Polen. Sammen med den gradvise udfasning af Østaftalen fra 2006/8 samt ophævelsen af fagforeningernes eksklusivaftaler i 2006 har denne udvikling skabt en ny situation på det danske arbejdsmarked. Migrantarbejderne fra de nye EU-lande er karakteriseret ved høj grad af fleksibilitet, mobilitet og villighed til at arbejde, dårligere socio- økonomiske forhold og arbejdsmæssige vilkår i deres hjemlande samt en anden kulturel bag- grund end deres danske kolleger. Denne artikel giver et indblik i nogle af konsekvenserne ved arbejdsmigration fra de nye EU-lande på det (u)faglærte danske arbejdsmarked belyst ud fra en analyse af henholdsvis et politisk, et fagforenings-, et brancheorganisations, et virksomheds- ejer-, et arbejdsleder- og et medarbejderperspektiv

Arbejdsmigration fra de nye EU-lande: En kilde til vækst eller en trussel mod de (u)faglærte danske arbejdstagere?

This article examines the consequences of low-skilled labour migration to Denmark from the new EU member countries in Eastern Europe. The article investigates the potentials, limitations and conflicts of interests that are connected with temporary employment of Eastern European migrant workers seen from the perspective of Danish labour market actors; politicians, labour market unions, one employer union, Danish employers, Danish and Eastern European employees and Danish unemployed workers. During the past four years more than 52,500 Eastern European EU citizens have relocated to Denmark. The migrant workers from the new EU countries can be characterized by a high degree of mobility flexibility and high motivations to get a job, poorer socioeconomic and working conditions in their home countries as well as being of another cultural background than their Danish colleagues. The tendency among employers, their organizations and some of the liberal political parties is that the cheap and flexible foreign labour is crucial for business’s ability to compete on the global market. Trade unions, on the other hand, are concerned about the developments on the labour market and the protection of workers’ rights, safety and equal treatment. Danish workers express on the one hand solidarity with their foreign colleagues and on the other concern about the situation of the many unemployed Danish workers. Finally, the escalated labour migration from Eastern European EU countries challenges the negotiation model, which is central to the structure of the Danish labour market.Igennem de seneste fire år har der opholdt sig minimum 52.500 østeuropæiske EU-borgere i Danmark, heraf cirka halvdelen fra Polen. Sammen med den gradvise udfasning af Østaftalen fra 2006/8 samt ophævelsen af fagforeningernes eksklusivaftaler i 2006 har denne udvikling skabt en ny situation på det danske arbejdsmarked. Migrantarbejderne fra de nye EU-lande er karakteriseret ved høj grad af fleksibilitet, mobilitet og villighed til at arbejde, dårligere socio- økonomiske forhold og arbejdsmæssige vilkår i deres hjemlande samt en anden kulturel bag- grund end deres danske kolleger. Denne artikel giver et indblik i nogle af konsekvenserne ved arbejdsmigration fra de nye EU-lande på det (u)faglærte danske arbejdsmarked belyst ud fra en analyse af henholdsvis et politisk, et fagforenings-, et brancheorganisations, et virksomheds- ejer-, et arbejdsleder- og et medarbejderperspektiv