Graduate Lean Leadership Education

A midwestern university in the USA implemented a Lean Leadership Graduate Certification Program in the 2018-2019 academic year for current and emerging leaders seeking to extend, enrich, or establish leadership knowledge, skills, abilities in the workplace. The purpose of this chapter is to share the results of an evaluation on the effectiveness of this Lean Leadership Graduate Certificate Program. The results from this case study on the Lean Leadership Graduate Certification Program indicated a need to market to a larger group of emerging leaders. Leadership development findings suggest the need to further advance knowledge development in Lean students and consideration for program goals that include strategies having a significant impact on Lean student's emotional well-being in meeting leadership challenges. A continuous need to reinforce Lean Leadership competencies as a core dimension of the program resulted in the largest impact of the program with the Lean Leadership students.

PSII-B-21 Development of an industry relevant graduate certificate for regulatory affairs in animal health

Seven years of data collection and industry collaboration identified a longstanding need from the animal health corridor for educational offerings focused on regulatory affairs for animal health products. The animal health corridor, anchored by Manhattan, Kansas and Columbia, Missouri, is home to more than 300 animal health companies, representing the largest concentration in the world. When surveying industry needs, Kansas State University received 446 responses from individuals in this area and found 40% indicated interest in “policy and regulations,” with 64% of interested respondents showing strong interest with programming at the graduate level. Meetings with industry representatives further confirmed results of the survey by highlighting a need for educational programming focused on animal health product license requirements with USDA, FDA, and EPA. At a roundtable with 22 Animal Health organizations, 64% of attendees had strong interest in a program focused on “regulatory aspects of drug and vaccine development in animal health.” In response to these findings, a graduate certificate was launched in 2019 encompassing regulatory development and management of animal health products. Curriculum was crafted in close collaboration with an industry advisory panel, because comparable academic models were not available. Interests to maintain industry contacts within the courses have led to integration of notable engagement techniques as the course format moves toward asynchronous delivery. Curriculum encompasses regulatory development of animal pharmaceuticals, pesticides, biologics, and diagnostics from pre- to post- licensure. The presentation will explain objectives of the certificate, data gathered regarding industry need, process of certificate design and curriculum co-creation with industry partners, and resulting curriculum. Additionally, since the new courses in the regulatory affairs certificate have been offered since spring 2020, the presentation will examine strategies for working with subject matter experts in the online classroom, plans for assessment of student learning, and educational background of enrolled students.

Graduate certificate in local development planning, land use management and disaster risk management: a knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) evaluation

PurposeThis study aims to assess knowledge retention of the graduates of the online graduate certificate on local development planning, land use management and disaster risk management (PDLOTGR, the abbreviation of the certificate's Spanish title). The certificate was offered to practitioners and faculty members of Latin American countries since 2016.Design/methodology/approachThe authors reviewed the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) method to develop a specific approach, which included the preparation of a KAP survey, a composite KAP index and three sub-indices. The survey targeted two groups: (1) experimental group, composed of the certificate's 76 graduates, and (2) control group, comprised of 25 certificate's candidates, who had not yet undergone the training/intervention. The statistical analysis included a one-way multivariate analysis of variance to compare the mean scores on the KAP index and sub-indices for individuals in the experimental and control groups.FindingsThe study results showed significant differences in the knowledge sub-index between those who had completed the PDLOTGR training and those who had not, while the attitudes and practices sub-indices did not show significant differences. When using the KAP index, a statistically significant difference was also observed between the two groups.Originality/valuePerceived knowledge assessment offers an acceptable and non-intimidating option for evaluating continuing education and professional development programs associated to disaster risk. It is particularly helpful in determining whether an intervention or program has a lasting impact. It is not, however, a substitute for direct knowledge assessment, and the use of other methods to evaluate the performance of a capacity building program's graduates.

Exploring the potential of digital teaching portfolios to support in/non-formal professional development for those who teach in Higher Education

It is broadly recognised that professional development (PD) to enhance academic practice amongst those who teach in Higher Education (HE) encompasses a range of approaches; while there is an established culture of accredited PD provision – particularly for early-career academics – literature points to a preference among more established faculty for non-accredited or informal PD activities such as workshops, projects, conferences, professional dialogue, experimental approaches or activities related to the scholarship of teaching and learning (Ashgar and Pilkington 2018; Kálmán et al. 2019; Spowart et al. 2017). The provision of accredited PD is now commonplace in the Irish context and many Irish HE Institutions offer programmes in academic practice at Graduate Certificate, Diploma or Masters Level (Maguire et al. 2017; Maguire et al. 2015). However, evidence also points to a long-standing culture of engagement in in- and non-formal PD activities among Irish HE teachers (Kenny et al. 2015). This has been recognised in the Irish National Professional Development Framework which is underpinned by an ‘acknowledgement of the spectrum of activities that could be considered under the umbrella of PD’ (National Forum 2016a; National Forum 2016b). Thus, a considerable amount of the professional learning that is undertaken to enhance academic practice takes place through experiential or work-based practices including communities of practice, conversations with colleagues and practice-based innovations (Knight et al. 2006; Nerantzi 2015; Warhurst 2008). Furthermore, there is a growing body of literature highlighting the use of portfolios to support academic professional learning activities and reflective practice in Higher Education (Costelloe et al. 2019; Hamilton 2018; Hoekstra and Crocker 2015; O'Farrell 2007; Pelger and Larsson 2018). Described as ‘a purposeful collection of evidence, consisting of descriptions, documents and examples of what is good teaching for the teacher’ (de Rijdt et al. 2006, p.1086), portfolios are being used in multiple ways to support PD: to provide evidence of a quality approach to professional development, to document teaching practices for the purposes of promotion, to showcase and reflect on academic practice and to provide evidence of engagement with PD activities. An eportfolio adds an extra dimension to the affordances of a more traditional portfolio through the potential inclusion of multimedia artefacts such as audio, video and text to capture, share and reflect on academic practice. Bearing in mind the Irish HE context and the recent introduction of the National Professional Development Framework, this paper will explore the potential of eportfolios – and specifically digital teaching or professional practice portfolios – to support, document and evidence the wealth of non-accredited and in/non-formal professional learning undertaken by HE teachers to enhance academic practice. Drawing on semi-structured interviews carried out with Irish HE teachers in three institutions in the Mid-West region, this paper will consider how digital teaching portfolios offer a space to capture, evidence, reflect on and share the wealth of practice-based and in/non-formal PD in which HE teachers engage.

Offering Graduate Evaluation Degrees Online: Comparing Student Engagement in Two Canadian Programs

This Practice Note describes and explores the experiences and lessons learned engaging students in two online graduate evaluation programs offered in Canadian universities: the University of Victoria Graduate Certificate and Diploma in Evaluation Program, offered since 2010; and, Carleton University Graduate Diploma in Public Policy and Program Evaluation (DPPPE), offered online since 2016. Both programs are delivered to maximize the geographic accessibility of graduate evaluation education within and outside of Canada. Each program uses different teaching and learning strategies but there are four lessons learned that are common to the two programs: set and meet (or exceed) clearly stated student expectations; set and then model a respectful and inclusive tone in online discussions; stretch online discussions by taking advantage of student expertise and experience; and use adult-oriented and rigorous teaching and learning methods that engage these mature learners.

Developing a postgraduate professional education framework for emergency nursing: a co-design approach

Background Hospital and university service providers invest significant but separate resources into preparing registered nurses to work in the emergency department setting. This results in the duplication of both curricula and resource investment in the health and higher education sectors. This paper describes an evidence-based co-designed study with clinical-academic stakeholders from hospital and university settings. Methods The study was informed by evidence-based co-design, using emergency nursing as an exemplar. Eighteen hours of co-design workshops were completed with 21 key clinical-academic stakeholders from hospital and university settings. Results Outcomes were matrices synchronising professional and regulatory imperatives of postgraduate nursing coursework; mutually-shaped curriculum content, teaching approaches and assessment strategies relevant for postgraduate education; a new University-Industry Academic Integration Framework; five agreed guiding principles of postgraduate curriculum development for university-industry curriculum co-design; and a Graduate Certificate of Emergency Nursing curriculum exemplar. Conclusion Industry-academic service provider co-design can increase the relevance of postgraduate specialist courses in nursing, strengthening the nexus between both entities to advance learning and employability. The study developed strategies and exemplars for future use in any mutually determined academic-industry education partnership.

Challenging Traditional Programs for Providing International Educational Opportunities in Higher Education

This approach to cross-cultural experiences for students in higher education offers greater accessibility to global experiences by engaging students and faculty in virtual international teams. Built on a partnership agreement between two universities, Appalachian State University in the United States and Novgorod State University in Russia, the ideas developed into a graduate certificate program of study currently composed of four online courses. Each course requires engagement of the students in virtual international teams to solve simulated problems. In this chapter, the authors explore the initial lessons learned in such collaboration from both student and faculty perspectives as well as providing specific course information and student outcomes. They also offer future plans for expanding the project to include other universities in other countries. This model of globalization in higher education challenges the traditional courses, study abroad programs, and student exchanges often found in higher education.

Flipped Class Pedagogy as a Digital Pedagogical Strategy in an Open Distance E-Learning Environment

This chapter explores student teachers' performance and perceptions of a flipped classroom pedagogy vs. a lecture method in a teacher education course at an open distance learning university. The study used an explanatory mixed methods design, employed a pre-test and post-test online survey, and economics blog postings to collect data for the study. Only Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) and Bachelor of Education (BEd: senior and further education and training phase) student teachers (n=371) were purposively selected. It is reported that the flipped classroom pedagogy group outperformed the lecture group in the final examination scores. Furthermore, the flipped classroom pedagogy encouraged an engaging atmosphere and accelerates a collaborative interactive synergy among student teachers. Finally, the findings revealed that the role of the teacher in the flipped classroom pedagogy design is crucial, promoting optimal learning experiences for student teachers in the course. Findings could not be generalized because this study employed only a small sample, but further investigation is needed to compare similar teacher education courses.