The academic education system is facing very fundamental changes that follow a completely different knowledge ecology than the one that was traditionally the basis of a relatively monopolistic institutional hierarchy. It can both lead to a marginalization of the knowledge practices we know today (especially educational institutions and professions) in favor of new knowledge monopolies and practices (tech and AI). But it may also open the way for a democratization of knowledge which takes the consequence of the fact that both formalized education and other sources of knowledge for the individual are part of a multiple lifelong learning process where subjective orientation is a stronger factor in the learning process than seen before.

PPL and PBL were and are reform concepts that anticipated these challenges. Meanwhile, they are under pressure from reduced resources, structural reforms (the “study progress reform”) and the pressure on university teachers to deliver on multiple platforms.

It is difficult to predict in what form, but remarkable changes will happen, and it will a political battlefield between capitalism-conformity and knowledge-democracy, which will be fought through educational principles, institutional interests and self-understanding of professional groups. The outcome is both dependent on structural power relations, but also on educational practice and innovation in the broadest sense. RUC and Ålborg University have some experience and resources that could place these universities centrally in the process. But it will require that we can at the same time anticipate the structural overhaul of formal education and re-vitalize the pedagogical insights that were the basis of the problem-oriented project work for a new era and a new learning context. PPL/PBL cannot simply be generalized or scaled up. The current situation requires that we at once solve some acute real problems, deal with errant reform plans from the government, and initiate quality development processes. In particular, I want to talk about two interrelated processes: revitalization of the problem-oriented project work and development of practice-based recurrent education.

RUC Som Social Innovation. Fortid - Nutid - Fremtid

Olesen, H.S., Andersen, A.S. (2015). The Roskilde Model and the Challenges for Universities in the Future. In: Andersen, A., Heilesen, S. (eds) The Roskilde Model: Problem-Oriented Learning and Project Work. Innovation and Change in Professional Education, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09716-9_17

In this keynote, I will present some key challenges related to designing sustainable assessment practices and tools in education. Drawing on examples from the past and present, I will connect these challenges to educational reforms that have been influenced by various continuities and disruptions in assessment. Finally, I will discuss to what extent and on what conditions PBL (Problem-Based Learning) can be a solution to these challenges.