Abstract:

The BUFFL project was a two-year pilot project with the aim of creating course modules for professional development in the field of banking and insurance companies. BUFFL is an acronym for the project name in Swedish, and can be translated to English as 'Industry development at banks and insurance companies through flexible lifelong learning'. The BUFFL project could be classified as a project to support the combination of work-integrated learning with lifelong learning. This work-integrated professional development is technology enhanced to enable flexible study conditions that are integrated in course participants' daily working life. According to the concept of micro-credentials, courses have been split into course modules that are provided at a lower study pace than standard university courses.

During the project span the courses were given without fees, which were fully funded by the Swedish Innovation Agency Vinnova. However, as for all other projects, sustainability after the project ends is both important and challenging. This comparative study is based on the evaluation of the first course module that was given after the project span. The answers in the course evaluation questionnaire were analysed and compared to analyses of previous course evaluations for course modules in the BUFFL project. For the comparison, seven factors were selected: technology, teacher presence, study guide, course introduction, active learning, study pace, and the concept of bringing your own data. The aim of the study was to describe, compare, and discuss these selected key factors to evaluate progress and sustainability in the BUFFL project.

Findings show a good overall evaluation score for this first course module, and a positive progress regarding the use of technology and the study guide. The most obvious improvement was seen in the online registration, which now works well, without any reported incidents. Some factors such as teacher presence and active learning still need improvement. The earlier criticised high study pace is better adapted now, but is still seen as high from some participants. This variation may depend on how much support the participants receive from their companies and organisations. One interesting finding was that there was a comment in the free-text answers that the course is primarily designed for private companies, and not for organisations. Finally, the idea that course participants should bring their own data to course assignments was, as in earlier versions of the course, appreciated, with a mean value of 3.4 on a Likert-scale between 1-5. Now the mean value had increased to 4.33 in the new course which is a success for this novel concept. However, this success for the concept of 'bringing your own data' seems to be limited to the individual course participant level. Other evaluations of the BUFFL project indicate a less successful impact of the bring your own data concept on the organisational level.

Keywords:

Professional development, Work-integrated learning, Lifelong learning, Technology enhanced learning, Bring your own data, BUFFL.