Professional development
Higher education programmes and professions are currently developing in a field characterized by increased complexity, new demands and significant societal changes.
This leads to greater demand for research-based knowledge to enhance quality, development and innovation initiatives across the fields of practice and education.
The Research Centre focuses on three themes:
1. Lifelong learning and professional judgement
A society characterized by continuous structural and organisational change places increased demands on how we develop, maintain and change our competencies and skills throughout life. Our focus is on professional judgement, competencies to act and the formation of professional identity in relation to study programmes and labour markets undergoing continuous change.
2. Education equality and well-being in study programmes, professions and businesses
Not everyone has the same starting point when it comes to managing the demands and expectations of education and working life. For this reason, our research centre is particularly interested in how we can develop knowledge about well-being, resilience, coping and equal access to education and development of competencies and skills for children, young people and adults.
3. Technological literacy and educational design
Ongoing digital development is continuously transforming education and professions. We develop research-based knowledge about how to enhance technological literacy in citizens, including pupils, students, and professional practitioners to keep up with technological development. We also focus on how to adapt learning design and teaching methods to changes in the educational landscape and the labour market.
The Research Centre also includes the Research Programme for Reflective Practice-based Learning which develops research-based knowledge on the pedagogic and didactic frameworks underlying the theories and practices applied in our study programmes.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND CROSS-DISCIPLINARY COLLABORATION
This project explores how professionals and their managers in Danish municipalities experience and respond to demands for increased cross-disciplinary collaboration, affecting professional autonomy. It will uncover barriers, dilemmas, and opportunities faced by professionals in the region of Northern Denmark in transition from mono-disciplinary to cross-disciplinary work and providing new insights relevant to the welfare sector and to UCN´s study programmes.
AI IN HIGHER EDUCATION PRACTICE
This project consists of sub-projects as well as development and innovation initiatives that examine students’ experiences and perceptions of using GenAI, as well as educators’ AI literacy and the significance of AI in higher education. The sub-projects are partly locally rooted and are based on international collaborations within the Educere Nordic Network.
CO-PLAY STEAM
Co-Play STEAM, an Erasmus+ project, aims to integrate STEAM learning in early childhood care and primary school settings. In a collaboration between researchers in Sweden, Norway, Portugal and Germany, this project involves school leaders and decision-makers to bridge the gap between research and practice and create better conditions for STEAM learning across Europe. The purpose is to inspire instructors and create lasting effects through playful, inclusive and research-based STEAM learning.