This paper examines three interventions in three professional programmes in higher education in Europe. The aim of the study is to evaluate the implementation of three learning scenarios that use authentic learning theory to improve professional competence and students’ employability skills. The data come from an Erasmus+ project involving three countries and 120 students. A design-based research approach is used for the first iteration of interventions. The results show how the authentic learning framework was realised in the three contexts and which elements of the framework were challenging. The key findings are that authenticity is not realised in one element of the model in isolation, but through the interaction between several elements, and that some elements of the theoretical model are crucial for realising others.

En ökad digitalisering inom högre utbildning, med tillkomsten av digitala examinationssystem och AI, har förändrat förutsättningarna för universitetslärares examinationspraktik och bedömningsarbete. Det väcker frågor om hur val av digitala examinationer motiveras, konstrueras och uppfattas av universitetslärare vid olika fakulteter inom högre utbildning. Studiens syfte är att undersöka hur och med vilken variation examinationer utformas digitalt, multimodalt och kunskapsmässigt i kurser på tre olika professionsprogram inom högre utbildning. Studien utgår både från ett designorienterat multimodalt perspektiv och ett kunskapstaxonomiskt perspektiv för att uppmärksamma studenters möjligheter att representera olika aspekter av kunskap inom examination. Genom textanalyser av styrdokument och examinationer undersöks hur examinationer i variation integrerar kunskapsmässiga aspekter digitalt och multimodalt samt vilka potentialer för studenters kognitiva aktiviteter och agens som impliceras genom examinationernas design. Vidare görs intervjuer med universitetslärare för att undersöka vilka möjligheter och utmaningar som erfars avseende val av bedömnings- och examinationsform. Vi kommer dessutom uppmärksamma likheter och skillnader inom och mellan utbildningsprogram. Preliminära resultat visar att det förekommer en kunskapsmässig progression inom programmen samt en kunskapsmässig, multimodal och digital variation mellan de olika fakulteternas program.

En ökad digitalisering inom högre utbildning, med tillkomsten av digitala examinationssystem och AI, har förändrat förutsättningarna för universitetslärares bedömningsarbete och praktik. Det väcker frågor om hur val av digitala examinationer motiveras, konstrueras och uppfattas av universitetslärare vid olika fakulteter inom högre utbildning. Studien är uppdelad i tvådelar. Den första delstudien avser att besvara hur och med vilken variation digitala examinationer designas med fokus på kunskapsmässiga förväntningar, användning av multimodalitet och semiotiska resurser. Studien utgår både från ett socialsemiotiskt multimodalt perspektiv på meningsskapande (Kress, 2010; Björklund Boistrup & Selander,2022) och ett kunskapstaxonomiskt perspektiv (Anderson och Krathwohls, 2001) för att uppmärksamma studenters möjligheter att representera olika aspekter av kunskap inom examination. Den andra delstudien bidrar till förståelse för universitetslärares synsätt på bedömning och examination vid fem fakulteter och deras erfarenheter av möjligheter och utmaningar med val av bedömnings- och examinationsformer. I resultatet kommer vi att visa hur digitala examinationer integrerar aspekter av digitala multimodala texter och hur olika designval av digital examination uppfattas av universitetslärare och vad för slags kunskapersom de ser som relevanta vid digital examination inom olika fakulteter i Sverige.

The aim of this on-going practice-based study is partly to explore university teachers' design of digital examinations at five faculties in higher education, and partly to explore university teachers' perspectives on and perceived experiences of varied examination forms, question constructions, assessment and rating practices. This study is framed by theories of disciplinary literacies and assessment (Gee, 1991; Krathwohl, 2002) and by social semiotic multimodal perspective on meaning making (Kress, 2010; Björklund Boistrup & Selander, 2022). The method is qualitative and data is narrowed into two sub-studies; the first sub-study regards digital examinations such as constructions of closed-book exams, project work (open-book and open-web) as well as adaptive tests or other AI-related assignments. This sub-study enables to elucidate how and with what variety of assessment tasks are multimodally designed in courses within and between different educational programs and between faculties. The research questions concern what types of knowledge and cognitive processes are demanded and what potentials (affordances) for students' meaning-making are realised in the design of digital examinations. Data in the first sub-study comprise multimodal texts, which will be derived from various digital examinations. These texts will be analysed multimodally based on the notions of design, affordance and knowledge representation (Björklund Boistrup & Selander, 2022). Knowledge taxonomies such as Krathwohl, 2002 will be used to draw attention to potentials for students to represent different aspects of knowledge. In the second sub-study, interviews with university teachers are conducted. The data collection takes place at two universities in Sweden at five faculties: law, social sciences, natural sciences, humanistic and medical faculties. The results of assessment tasks form the basis for interview analysis, by allowing teachers to reflect upon their own digital examinations, experiences of opportunities and challenges in designing digital examinations. In the result, we will address how digital examinations integrate aspects of digital multimodal texts and how they are perceived by university teachers within various faculties in Sweden. Hence, this study will discern similarities and differences in experiences between teachers, subjects and faculties. 

This article contributes to knowledge about mentoring in preschool, which is important as research on mentoring of preschool teachers is limited. The study examines how in-service preschool teachers perceive their assignment as a mentor. The aim is to develop the understanding of mentoring as support among pre-school teacher mentors in Swedish preschools (children’s age 1–5). The data consists of 75 in-service preschool teachers’ self-reflective texts from a university mentoring course. A phenomenographic approach was adopted and three qualitatively different categories were identified. Mentoring as support was experienced as: mentoring as personal, professional and team support. Apart from the finding that the mentor’s role is complex, the preschool settings present other challenges and place different demands on the mentor because they comprise a team including preschool teachers, childcare attendants and parents, when compared to their counterparts in compulsory school settings. The paper has implications for how to reflect on and problematize concepts of mentoring, and it could also have an impact on mentoring in school, on mentoring education, and on induction programmes internationally. Mentor support for professional practices directed at team building should influence early childhood teacher preparation for pre-and in-service teachers.

This article explores how the teacher is positioned and legitimised in the Swedish Schools Inspectorate’squality audit reports. Using Foucauldian discourse analysis, two main subject positions are identified:activity-based subject positions where the teacher is constructed as an active actor, and competence- and responsibility-based subject positions where the teacher is constructed both as important for the students’results, and as an individual in need of guidance. The teacher is positioned as a professional with limited competence. The reports show ambivalence regarding teachers’position, which could be considered as delegitimising the teaching profession.

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a theoretical framework based on authentic learning approaches that can be taken into consideration in higher education (HE) contexts to design activities that enable students to develop employability skills.

Design/methodology/approach

Three methods were used to develop the framework: desk research on current demand and supply of new graduate’s employability skills; interviews in four European HE institutions to identify authentic learning scenarios; and asynchronous online focus group to validate the framework.

Findings

The paper takes a competence-centred approach to the concept of employability skills and sets out a taxonomy of skills required to enhance new graduates’ employability. It also gives criteria and examples of authentic learning scenarios in HE settings that promote the acquisition of these skills.

Research limitations/implications

The framework developed remains theoretical. In a second phase, the framework will be applied to implement authentic activities in different programmes and subjects of five HE institutions, and the results will be reported in future publications.

Practical implications

The framework gives directions to create real and practical ways to enhance new graduates’ employability skills by improving the connection between HE curricula and the demands of the real world.

Originality/value

The added value of the paper lies in adopting a learner-centred, genuine and effective learning approach, such as authentic learning as a catalyst for bringing work experience to formal learning in HE institutions, in order to better develop graduates’ employability skills.