The study examined what factors determine the use of educational innovations by teachers in higher education. Three sort of factors were compared: teachers' motivation for the enhancement of education, their contact with or exposure to dissemination of educational innovations and institutional factors, that is, support provided by higher education…

While technological change in organizations is fast and eminent to most people, the adoption of Massive Open Online Courses, micro-credentials, and flexible and scalable online courses, appear to be comparatively slow in Higher Education in the Nordic countries. To explore this phenomenon, we completed 10 qualitative interviews at ten different…

This article focuses on the schools' support service related to the Nordic ambition of inclusive education. This ambition entails a somewhat conflicted mandate, which both the schools and the support service find demanding to ensure in their collaboration. As a framework for discussing challenges and opportunities linked to a case study in Norway,…

Institutional change is being called for to renew higher music education (HME). But what institutional pressures, specifically, are driving these calls, and how are HME organisations responding to pressures to change? By turning to institutional theory, we lean on the concept of institutional isomorphism to shed light on how HME organisations may…

Higher education institutions are struggling to elevate the value and status of academic teaching. In this endeavour, rewards for excellence in teaching are becoming a common measure. This study reports on the experience of the first academic teachers who were given the status as rewarded teachers in new reward systems. We explore rewarded…

In this article, I make the case for a methodological turn in the field based on the growing interest in a methodology-oriented RE. That is, the idea that we should make academic methods and methodology not just a part of, but part and parcel of the core of teaching about religion and worldviews in public education. This interest is found in…

Lecturers who are actively engaged in shaping their teaching and teaching practices demonstrate agency. Teacher agency has increasingly been described as a key factor in educational development at universities. Lecturers are expected to innovatively develop courses and continuously improve their teaching practices to respond to, for example,…

As the higher education landscape has shifted and calls for change and improvements have grown louder, researchers have turned to empirical investigations of what makes change possible in higher education. Recent studies on the impact of informal interactions for promoting change have given impetus to social network analysis as an approach to…

Open educational resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that are either in the public domain or published on an open licence which permits various forms of redistribution, reuse and repurposing. Many organisations and higher education institutions around the world are using such resources, and anecdotally many believe this is…

In this case study, the aim was to investigate how primary school teachers in a leading-edge Norwegian primary school use digital technologies to differentiate instruction in order to promote a more inclusive learning environment in academically diverse classrooms. Seven teachers teaching grades 1 and 5 were observed and interviewed to collect…

Skills in interdisciplinary collaboration are required to address many complex problems facing society. As such, interdisciplinarity is a critical competency for students to develop. However, teachers' effectiveness in teaching interdisciplinarity is often hindered by silo structures within university faculties. To address this in the Experts in…

By adopting a situated and interactional approach, we explore students' immersive VR experiences as resources for collaborative meaning making and learning. We draw on data from a project in which teachers and researchers co-developed a learning design for upper secondary students involving immersive VR technology. In this learning design,…

The article addresses the issues surrounding the importance and impact of 'hinterlands' in the construction of European higher education systems and in the formation of sectoral policy. It draws on studies of Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Norway, Portugal and the United Kingdom to illustrate different policy approaches and shows how in some countries…

Social skills play a central role in shaping individuals who are able to adapt and contribute to society. This article analyzes the comparative social studies curriculum in Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway and Sweden), focusing on how students' social skills are developed through their approach to learning. The research method used is a…

Purpose: The study explored how PSTs perceived a learning design, using a decision simulator, a self-reflection guide and a peer mentoring guide as tools to mediate reflections on approaches to the teacher's role. The individual characteristics of PSTs were also considered, including role clarity, self-efficacy and affective commitment, as…