This article explains and provides the theoretical foundations for and examples of systematization of experiences as a way to plan and evaluate socially engaged university extension programs.

Using social constructivist theories of adult learning, the Faculty Pedagogical Development (PD) Programme was designed to offer faculty a unique professional learning experience at one university in Qatar. This study reports on the evaluation of this PD programme that involved 24 participants from different colleges in its first round of…

Distance learning technology continues to grow and undergo significant changes in higher education settings. Applying strategic planning methods from organizational behavior and operations management can act as a useful guide for the implementation of a sustainable distance learning program. Strong planning can help ensure the distance learning…

Educational developers need to assess the work of their Centres, from program participation and impact to underlying organizational processes. Various frameworks exist, but developers may feel unsure how to get started. We developed a planning model that offers a structured, systematic approach for developing comprehensive assessment systems that…

In this article, we reflect on our experience applying a framework for evaluating systems change to an evaluation of a statewide West Virginia alliance funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve the early persistence of rural, first-generation, and other underrepresented minority science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

From the evaluation literature related to research and innovation policy, calls have long been made for improved evaluation processes especially where projects and programmes may be evaluated from a systems perspective. Drawing on the literature of innovation systems and innovation for inclusive development (I4ID) this research proposes a…

Community-campus engagement (CCE) offers transformative opportunities for collaborative knowledge creation. Over the last few decades, thoughtful energy has gone into identifying the parts of a CCE and then developing tools to study these parts, with discrete focus on community groups, students, and faculty. Bringing a complexity science approach…

The National Academies Global Forum on Innovations in Health Professional Education held a public workshop in November 2023. Speakers explored how health professional educators and providers with health systems science (HSS) training can prepare learners to work together within health systems, resulting in better patient care, improved population…

This article examines the intersection of service-learning with complex systems theory. It is based on a research project we undertook to explore whether complex systems theory might be useful for better understanding the dynamics of service-learning practice and thus for assisting in the design, running, and evaluation of service-learning…

Many geoscience education initiatives now involve cross-departmental or multi-institutional programs. However, the geoscientists who lead such programs typically have little experience or training in program design, leadership, or evaluation. In this commentary, we make the case that geoscientists taking on these ambitious leadership roles can…

The evaluation of learning and teaching is one central activity through which universities monitor the fitness-for-purpose of their education provision. This paper represents the outcomes of the work carried out by the European University Association (EUA) Learning & Teaching Thematic Peer Group on "Evaluation of learning and…

As students graduate and enter the workforce, they face the job market's demand for critical thinking (CT) skills. The demand is caused by the market's increasing need for providing professional services that require performing complex tasks. In response to this demand, institutions of higher education are expected to prepare their graduate…

The paper presents the approach to complex training of managers and faculty staff for system modernisation of Russian engineering education. As a methodological basis of design and implementation of the faculty development programme, the CDIO (Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate) Approach was chosen due to compliance of its concept to the purposes…

Purpose: University campuses behave as complex systems, and sustainability in higher education is best seen as an emergent quality that arises from interactions both within an institution and between the institution and the environmental and social contexts in which it operates. A framework for strategically prioritizing campus sustainability work…

The most pressing social problems facing humanity in the 21st century are what systems theorist Russell Ackoff referred to as "messes"--complex dynamic systems of problems that interact and reinforce each other over time. In this article, the authors argue that the lack of progress in managing messes is in part due to the predominance of…