Co-Creating Higher Education Reform with Actor-Network Theory: Experiences from Involving a Variety of Actors in the Processes of Knowledge Creation

2016 ◽  
pp. 177-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Louise Sarauw
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Higher Education Reform ◽  
Actor Network

ANT and Engineering Education, learning spaces with actors

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 49-59
Author(s):  
Jose Figueiredo
Keyword(s):  
Engineering Education ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Knowledge Engineering ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Basic Goal

Engineering education is a situated process, enacted by empowerment, motivation and enrolment of actors, using different materials, and framed in exploratory attempts. Inscribing technologic design in the use of artefacts is a basic engineering concern and pushes us to sociotechnical ambiences of value earning and sustainability. We think Actor-Network Theory provides a framework that contributes to our understanding of complexity inscribed in the relations and mutual influences that emerge among actors in learning spaces. Using narrative, and exploring ANT concepts, we circulate in learning spaces, observing and deciding about ways we can explore to enhance knowledge creation and learning. Our results are exploratory but they intend to contribute to a different look into educational fields. Our basic goal is to convince researchers to join us in our reflections and experiments. We believe we are tackling with an innovative perspective, consistent with an extension to this area of knowledge – engineering education.

Knowledge Sharing in an Organisation

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee-Anne Lesley Harker ◽  
Michael Twum-Darko
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
Actor Network

This chapter employed the moments of translation of the actor-network theory (ANT) to understand and interpret the sociotechnical knowledge sharing dynamics in organisations. Given the contextual and sociotechnical nature of knowledge sharing, a model constructed on the concepts of the moments of translation of the actor network theory (ANT), developed from a case study of a higher education institution (HEI) in South Africa, is proposed to help to understand and interpret the knowledge sharing challenges in organisations. A conceptual framework was developed within the context of ANT by adopting its ideals and principles to understand how to introduce and develop knowledge sharing within an organisation, using the moments of translation. As such, it was possible to determine why there is no network of aligned interest for knowledge sharing, and how to create a network of aligned interest.

A Critical Review of Actor-Network Theory (ANT) and Its Use in Education Research

2020 ◽  
pp. 135-156
Author(s):  
Denise Mifsud
Keyword(s):  
Education Research ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Main Principle ◽  
Actor Network

This chapter, which expands on a previous publication, presents a critique of actor-network theory as a sociomaterial concept. Furthermore, the author problematizes the relative under-application of this “sensibility” in education research, while simultaneously exploring its contribution as an analytical framework through its central concepts of “actor-network,” “symmetry,” “translation,” and their constituents. This chapter zooms on the concepts of networks and power relations. The author questions the prevalent notion of the “network” metaphor promulgated by globalization discourses, setting it up against the network conception in actor-network theory, where the main principle is multiplicity. Actor-network theory is analyzed as a theory of the mechanics of power, concerning itself with the setting up of hegemony. This chapter is especially targeted for researchers of education reform who are as yet unfamiliar with the concepts of Actor-Network Theory and somewhat wary of the validity of sociomaterialism in the analysis of education issues.

Using Actor-Network Theory to Facilitate a Superior Understanding of Knowledge Creation and Knowledge Transfer

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 30-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nilmini Wickramasinghe ◽  
Arthur Tatnall ◽  
Rajeev K. Bali
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Knowledge Generation ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Intellectual Assets ◽  
Effective Decision ◽  
Effective Decision Making

Given today’s dynamic business environment it becomes essential for organisations to maximise their intellectual assets in order to ensure that they are able to support flexible operations and sustain their competitive advantage. Central to this is the ability to extract germane knowledge to enable rapid and effective decision making. At present, knowledge creation techniques tend to focus on either human or technology aspects of organisational development and less often on process-centric aspects of knowledge generation. However, to truly understand knowledge creation and transfer, thereby enabling an organisation to be better positioned to leverage the full potential of its intellectual capital, it is important to view knowledge creation and all socio-technical organisational operations that result in knowledge generation through a richer lens. Actor-network Theory is proffered in this article as such a lens.

Actor-Network Theory (ANT)

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Mifsud
Keyword(s):  
Education Reform ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
International Growth ◽  
Theoretical Paper

In this theoretical paper, the author provides a critical review of the Actor-Network Theory concept, while considering the relative under-utilization of Actor-Network Theory in education studies, tracing possible ways in which this theory can contribute as an analytical framework through its strands of ‘actor-network', ‘symmetry', ‘translation', and their constituents– thus facilitating its international growth. Two concepts this paper gives prominence to are networks and power relations. The author challenges the widespread conception of the ‘network' metaphor propagated by globalization discourses, contrasting it in turn with the network conception in Actor-Network Theory, where the main premise is multiplicity. The author explores Actor-Network Theory as a theory of the mechanics of power, concerning itself with the establishment of hegemony. This paper is especially aimed at those researchers of education reform who are as yet unfamiliar with Actor-Network Theory and somewhat sceptical of socio-material approaches, in order for them to realize its unrivalled potential contribution to their work.

Key Success Factors of Using Social Media as a Learning Tool

2017 ◽  
pp. 267-282
Author(s):  
Alexander K. Kofinas ◽  
Abdallah Al-Shawakbeh ◽  
Andriew S. Lim
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Learning Tool ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Key Success Factors

Students are dedicated and innovative users of Social Media; in the context of Higher Education they use such media in a pragmatic fashion to enhance their learning. Higher Education institutions are thus in a position to facilitate their students' learning by embedding Social Media in their teaching and learning pedagogy. This chapter will discuss the Key Success Factors of using Social Media as a coordinating, managing, and learning tool to enhance students' education in the context of Higher Education. The Key Success Factors are mapped along the communication and activity flows of the student's study enterprise as viewed from an Actor-Network Theory lenses.

Actors, Networks and Assessment

2011 ◽  
pp. 178-191
Author(s):  
Jonathan Tummons
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Course Assessment ◽  
The University

This chapter is an exploration of one particular form of non-traditional provision of higher education (HE) in England, known as higher education in further education: the provision of HE courses that are offered on a franchise basis in one or more colleges of further education (FE colleges). Focussing on assessment on one teacher-training course, this chapter offers ways of conceptualising the responses of FE colleges where the course is run to the quality assurance systems and procedures established by the university that provides the course. Assessment has been chosen as the specific focus of this paper for several reasons: it is an activity that must be performed in certain ways and must conform to particular outcomes that are standardised across colleges; it is an established focus of research; and it is a focus of specific traceable activities across both the university and the colleges. Drawing on data collected over a three-year period, the chapter suggests that the ways in which assessment processes are regulated and ordered are characterised by complexities for which actor-network theory provides an appropriate conceptual framework.

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