Abstract:

This article examines how the educational quality of blended police education can be evaluated in a valid and comprehensive way within the context of Norwegian police education. Taking the Alta pilot at the Norwegian Police University College (NPUC) as its point of departure, the study does not assess student outcomes directly, but instead analyzes whether the evaluation model currently proposed for the pilot is adequate for capturing learning quality, transfer to practice, and professional formation. The article’s main aim is to develop and justify a comparative evaluation framework that can assess whether blended police education provides learning outcomes and professional competence equivalent to those of the traditional campus-based programme. This study employs a qualitative and theory informed design to examine the extent to which the proposed evaluation of the Alta pilot is suitable for providing a valid and holistic understanding of learning quality and professional formation in blended police education. More specifically, the study proposes a theory-informed evaluation model that combines formative and summative outcome measures with process- and context-sensitive data across the two educational formats. In this way, the article seeks to clarify both what should be evaluated in the Alta pilot and how such evaluation can provide a stronger basis for future decisions about flexible police education in Norway.

Keywords:

Blended learning, distance learning, police education, professional and vocational education, learning outcomes.