Abstract:

Global developments such as climate change, energy transition, food supply, and digitalization ask for professionals who can contribute to solutions not known yet. Higher education needs to prepare these future professionals by offering students experiences in dealing with uncertainty. They will benefit from learning together with partners in the region, such as businesses, public institutions, local government, or other knowledge partners on the problems at stake. Education and its organization need to be reconsidered to remain a relevant partner in transitions to (over) come.

At a University of Applied Sciences, students are trained in so-called transition skills. In order to help them develop these skills, education is organized around a Community of Learners (CoLs) based in the practice of different stakeholders. They work and learn together on complex problems and how to define a direction to solve these problems.

For monitoring the knowledge development of the participants in the CoLs, students, business owners, and officials alike, so-called reflexive monitoring is suggested. This form of monitoring is relatively new and based on monitoring during a transition. If one wants to achieve a fundamental change, uncertainty and discomfort will arise. What has value? Goals cannot be defined beforehand, the outcome is unpredictable: it needs to be different, but how? This asks for a continuous reflection on actions started: what has been done, what was the outcome, what are the challenges and how can they be addressed? A reflexive monitor stimulates this learning process.

For this research, initiatives of reflexive monitoring at this University of Applied Sciences will be described and lessons already learned will be shared.

Keywords:

Higher education, community of learners, reflexive monitoring, transition skills.