The e-portfolio in higher education: The case of a line of teaching innovation and complex change management

This work proposes a line of innovation to implement possible uses for the e-portfolio in higher education. We present an initial framework for analysis with attention to three main arguments: the validity of the interest of the e-portfolio for higher education in light of the current challenges posed by the knowledge society; the relevance of complex change management within organisations such as universities; and the identification of critical elements in the relevant literature concerning experiences similar to the case analysed here. The milestones for the line of innovation include six projects and three teacher training courses. Once data had been gathered in the respective assessment phases for each milestone by means of document analysis techniques (e-portfolios, teaching materials, usage statistics), questionnaires, discussion groups, in-depth interviews, and self-assessments (responsible academics, teachers, and students), a global analysis of the whole line was conducted from a complex approach to the problems of teaching change and innovation. A technological, political and cultural reading of innovation reveals emerging problems to reconsider: the attainment of deep learning; the standardisation of academic tutoring; the formation of learning and practice communities; the reconceptualisation of the e-portfolio as a personal learning environment; and the transformation of the university institution as a learning organisation. The premature condition of higher education to deal with the change in the teaching paradigm and the urgency to revisit its innovation policies to overcome it stand out among the critical conclusions of this study. Received: 27 April 2021Accepted: 27 October 2021

CONNECTED AND AUTOMATED VEHICLE AS A MODEL OF CHANGE IN OUR SOCIETY: ADVANCES AND PERSPECTIVES

In recent years, automated vehicles (also known asautonomous vehicles), are becoming a more than obvious reality. Many of us believe that this reality is accompanied by a deeper and more complex change in our society, and in the way we understand mobility today.

The impact of audit and feedback to support change behaviour in healthcare organisations - a cross-sectional qualitative study of primary care centre managers

Background This article addresses the role of audit and feedback (A&F) to support change behaviour and quality improvement work in healthcare organisations. It contributes to the sparse literature on primary care centre (PCC) managers´ views on A&F practices, taking into account the broad scope of primary care. The purpose was to explore if and how different types of A&F support change behaviour by influencing different forms of motivation and learning, and what contextual facilitators and barriers enable or obstruct change behaviour in primary care. Methods A qualitative research approach was used. We explored views about the impact of A&F across managers of 27 PCCs, in five Swedish regions, through semi-structured interviews. A purposeful sampling was used to identify both regions and PCC managers, in order to explore multiple perspectives. We used the COM-B framework, which describes how Capability, Opportunity and Motivation interact and generate change behaviour and how different factors might act as facilitators or barriers, when collecting and analysing data. Results Existing forms of A&F were perceived as coercive top-down interventions to secure adherence to contractual obligations, financial targets and clinical guidelines. Support to bottom-up approaches and more complex change at team and organisational levels was perceived as limited. We identified five contextual factors that matter for the impact of A&F on change behaviour and quality improvement work: performance of organisations, continuity in staff, size of organisations, flexibility in leadership and management, and flexibility offered by the external environment. Conclusions External A&F, perceived as coercive by recipients of feedback, can have an impact on change behaviour through ‘know-what’ and ‘know-why’ types of knowledge and ‘have-to’ commitment but provide limited support to complex change. ‘Want-to’ commitment and bottom-up driven processes are important for more complex change. Similar to previous research, identified facilitators and barriers of change consisted of factors that are difficult to influence by A&F activities. Future research is needed on how to ensure co-development of A&F models that are perceived as legitimate by health care professionals and useful to support more complex change.

Colonialism and knowledge transformation: A study of Victorian India

When a civilisation with its own traditional systems of science and philosophy encounters modern knowledge emanating from Europe, a complex change in the former must result. In India, the situation was complicated by the fact that the flagbearers of modern science had also become the masters of the country, and their interests as rulers did not necessarily accord with the pursuit of a full-scale modernising project. The article traces the development of Indian response to the European impact, and how Indian intellectuals began to imbibe modern values, adjusting (not abandoning) their own cultural heritage.

Landscape Models of Complex Change

This chapter reviews recent advances in the NK modeling literature conceptualizing organizational change and innovation as a search over a complex landscape. It discusses both strengths and limitations of this perspective and delineates potential for future research directions. The key argument is that the NK model in its traditional form may be exhausting the theoretical insights that it can provide to the field. However, substantial modifications and extensions of the NK model or new classes of landscape models may provide fresh perspectives. Specifically, we consider the modeling efforts that endogenize the landscape construction as the next frontier in this literature. We also discuss several recent studies that incorporate various extensions of the NK model and allow for agent-driven changes to the landscape.

Innovating at pace during crisis—military lessons for the COVID environment

The challenges of innovating at pace in recent conflicts has encouraged military medical lessons to be codified into an integrated model of innovation, with generic application for the wider healthcare sector and the COVID environment specifically. This ‘Toolset for innovation and change’ emphasises the need to first understand and frame the problem using external (STEEPLE) and internal (TEPID COIL) factor analysis. The conditions that support exemplar innovation adoption by an organisation are described (ADOPTER—Agile, Decisive, Outcome focused, Politically aware, Tolerant of Risk, Empowered and Rewarded) as are the conditions that are necessary for successful innovation translation to another organisation (TRANSL8—Transformational leadership, Relevance, Adaptability/Acceptability, Networks, Simplicity, Life enhancing change, 8-steps of complex change). The obstructions to innovation, or ‘innovation constipation’, are highlighted and remembered as B-OWELS. The toolset was first developed by the author in 2015 from sustained experience of innovation at pace and has been successfully applied to messy problems requiring complex change in both the military and civilian healthcare sectors.