Jamissen and Moulton describe how digital storytelling (DS) supported an interprofessional group ... more Jamissen and Moulton describe how digital storytelling (DS) supported an interprofessional group of academics in overcoming challenges in their efforts to develop a holistic Master’s degree in Public Health. The DS workshop, part of a continuous formative evaluation program, invited the researchers to explore their own and each other’s professional identity and commitment to public health issues. The authors observed a change in the nature and degree of participation with an increased recognition of one’s own and other’s contributions to the interprofessional study program. As examples of boundary objects, digital stories, seen both as products (the finished stories) and as a process (constructing the narrative in a collaborative setting), help facilitate interprofessional collaboration.
This paper outlines a strategy for a faculty development program with respect to netsupported lea... more This paper outlines a strategy for a faculty development program with respect to netsupported learning. Many universities and colleges are struggling with meeting the demands of a rapidly changing world. Reflections in this paper are based on experiences from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Attention has been given to the intelligent use of technology as a means of meeting pressing challenges. What does this mean? I ask a series of questions, the answers of which form the basis for a faculty development program. What qualities and skills should our graduates have? What consequences does this have for the way we approach teaching and learning? And what role does technology play? In short, we must focus on faculty training courses and the ensuing development cycles of trial, error, refinement and sharing. Guiding principles for these activities should be: 1. It is about learning. 2. It is about easy access. 3. It is about emphasizing collaboration. 4. It is about support.
The paper presents the activities and developments in Master level education over the last 18 yea... more The paper presents the activities and developments in Master level education over the last 18 years in European aquaculture specifically with regard to the ERASMUS Thematic network AQUA-TNET and its partners. The Master group's progress is described alongside its response to the ever-evolving challenges posed by the Bologna reforms. The differences and variations in the way that Master degrees were conducted throughout Europe are clearly documented, a situation that led to substantial changes in Master degrees within a relatively short time period. The dedication of the AQUA-TNET network enabled its partners to meet European challenges within aquaculture education through its cooperative activities. Keywords AQUACASE Á Common curricular entry point for aquaculture courses Á European Master degrees Á Mutual accreditation Á Recognition of short courses Á Virtual mobility
Issues in Agroecology – Present Status and Future Prospectus, 2012
Experiential learning is gaining momentum as the favored educational strategy in agroecology and ... more Experiential learning is gaining momentum as the favored educational strategy in agroecology and similar applied fields in agriculture, food systems, and other sectors of university education. Based on centuries-old methods of apprenticeship and hands-on learning, this approach has gained recognition in the academic community starting with the pioneering research and applications by John Dewey more than a century ago. With the added theoretical rigor of David Kolb’s learning cycle, experiential learning as a cyclical process is now at the forefront of educational innovation. With a goal of preparing agroecologists for responsible dedication to the goals of stakeholders in farming and in rural communities, strategies in systems action education are being developed to move important structured learning activities out of the ivory towers of academia and into the context of real world challenges. Systemic analysis and evaluation of current systems and development of viable future alternatives using multiple criteria for measuring success are central to the learning process. Moving from a focus on systems components to holistic visions of how those systems can better meet human needs, we help students articulate their personal goals to preserve the environment and increase future production potential. Building competencies in future agroecologists requires learning and practicing biological, ecological and social science methods, and both individual and social learning are essential to the process. Several models that have been implemented in the Nordic Region, United States, and France are presented to illustrate the learning approach, and open-ended case study methods in the field and community provide the heart of this education. Agroecology students acquire and develop new knowledge and skills, examine and critique their personal attitudes toward stakeholders and integrated systems, and recognize the importance of underlying values in the conduct of their work. Agroecology as the ecology of food systems provides a framework for students to understand and integrate multiple objectives in production, economics, environmental impacts, and social viability of farming and food systems, and experiential learning is central to their education.
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 2008
Students in agricultural universities follow a rather conventional and structured sequence of cou... more Students in agricultural universities follow a rather conventional and structured sequence of courses in specific discipline subjects. Here, a BSc programme in agroecology is proposed that will build on the unique competencies and prior experiences of each student, and will combine individual paths through the learning landscape with team projects and other group work to ensure social learning. Drawing on experiential learning theory and action learning, and confronting some of the perceived weaknesses in these theories, the programme is geared to build confidence in graduates to deal with complexity and uncertainty in future agricultural and food systems. Academic study will therefore be combined with field internships and frequent interactions with a range of people who are active in the farming and food system. Much of the learning will be accomplished outside of traditional academic boundaries. This, as well as the proposed blended use of electronic media in education, may present challenges to teachers and faculties. Teachers will need support to reconsider their roles and to redesign courses. Yet, we believe that steps can be taken in the direction of the proposed programme. There are already several examples of models for organizing teaching that can offer inspiration.
Organic farming struggles for legitimacy in the academic community, in spite of a credible resear... more Organic farming struggles for legitimacy in the academic community, in spite of a credible research record and a large number of scientific publications over the past several decades. Among the reasons are disagreements among farmers and scientists about non-chemical ...
This article reports the experiences from designing and running a Nordic net-based course, Ecolog... more This article reports the experiences from designing and running a Nordic net-based course, Ecology of Farming and Food Systems, during the spring of 2004. Our aim was two-fold: to design a course which uses an explicit experiential learning approach, and to design a clear structure for ...
Agroecology is described as an integrative and systemic approach to research and education in far... more Agroecology is described as an integrative and systemic approach to research and education in farming and food systems. This emerging area involves the ecology of food systems and the complexity of multiple challenges and stakeholders whose interests must be addressed. The quest for resilient and sustainable production and food systems is taking place in a time of growing scarcity of non-renewable production resources and an increasingly unstable climate. Over two decades, Nordic researchers and educators have conceptualised and implemented a series of PhD courses in agriculture and food systems, and used this experience as a platform to design an MSc degree programmeme in Agroecology that has attracted students from the region as well as from many other countries. Action-oriented learning has been the keystone for the programme activities, and much of student time has been spent on farms and in rural Norwegian communities. Students pursue education through group and individual exercises and progress up a learning ladder that leads to responsible action. They learn to deal with a wide range of stakeholder challenges and to bridge the divide between academic learning and needs of the real world. The Agroecology MSc programme in Norway is described as an effective model of open-ended case studies in the field, and the prerequisites and challenges for introducing this type of learning landscape into the mainstream university curricula are discussed. Examples of organic production and food systems provide many of the working examples used in the programme.
Jamissen and Moulton describe how digital storytelling (DS) supported an interprofessional group ... more Jamissen and Moulton describe how digital storytelling (DS) supported an interprofessional group of academics in overcoming challenges in their efforts to develop a holistic Master’s degree in Public Health. The DS workshop, part of a continuous formative evaluation program, invited the researchers to explore their own and each other’s professional identity and commitment to public health issues. The authors observed a change in the nature and degree of participation with an increased recognition of one’s own and other’s contributions to the interprofessional study program. As examples of boundary objects, digital stories, seen both as products (the finished stories) and as a process (constructing the narrative in a collaborative setting), help facilitate interprofessional collaboration.
This paper outlines a strategy for a faculty development program with respect to netsupported lea... more This paper outlines a strategy for a faculty development program with respect to netsupported learning. Many universities and colleges are struggling with meeting the demands of a rapidly changing world. Reflections in this paper are based on experiences from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Attention has been given to the intelligent use of technology as a means of meeting pressing challenges. What does this mean? I ask a series of questions, the answers of which form the basis for a faculty development program. What qualities and skills should our graduates have? What consequences does this have for the way we approach teaching and learning? And what role does technology play? In short, we must focus on faculty training courses and the ensuing development cycles of trial, error, refinement and sharing. Guiding principles for these activities should be: 1. It is about learning. 2. It is about easy access. 3. It is about emphasizing collaboration. 4. It is about support.
The paper presents the activities and developments in Master level education over the last 18 yea... more The paper presents the activities and developments in Master level education over the last 18 years in European aquaculture specifically with regard to the ERASMUS Thematic network AQUA-TNET and its partners. The Master group's progress is described alongside its response to the ever-evolving challenges posed by the Bologna reforms. The differences and variations in the way that Master degrees were conducted throughout Europe are clearly documented, a situation that led to substantial changes in Master degrees within a relatively short time period. The dedication of the AQUA-TNET network enabled its partners to meet European challenges within aquaculture education through its cooperative activities. Keywords AQUACASE Á Common curricular entry point for aquaculture courses Á European Master degrees Á Mutual accreditation Á Recognition of short courses Á Virtual mobility
Issues in Agroecology – Present Status and Future Prospectus, 2012
Experiential learning is gaining momentum as the favored educational strategy in agroecology and ... more Experiential learning is gaining momentum as the favored educational strategy in agroecology and similar applied fields in agriculture, food systems, and other sectors of university education. Based on centuries-old methods of apprenticeship and hands-on learning, this approach has gained recognition in the academic community starting with the pioneering research and applications by John Dewey more than a century ago. With the added theoretical rigor of David Kolb’s learning cycle, experiential learning as a cyclical process is now at the forefront of educational innovation. With a goal of preparing agroecologists for responsible dedication to the goals of stakeholders in farming and in rural communities, strategies in systems action education are being developed to move important structured learning activities out of the ivory towers of academia and into the context of real world challenges. Systemic analysis and evaluation of current systems and development of viable future alternatives using multiple criteria for measuring success are central to the learning process. Moving from a focus on systems components to holistic visions of how those systems can better meet human needs, we help students articulate their personal goals to preserve the environment and increase future production potential. Building competencies in future agroecologists requires learning and practicing biological, ecological and social science methods, and both individual and social learning are essential to the process. Several models that have been implemented in the Nordic Region, United States, and France are presented to illustrate the learning approach, and open-ended case study methods in the field and community provide the heart of this education. Agroecology students acquire and develop new knowledge and skills, examine and critique their personal attitudes toward stakeholders and integrated systems, and recognize the importance of underlying values in the conduct of their work. Agroecology as the ecology of food systems provides a framework for students to understand and integrate multiple objectives in production, economics, environmental impacts, and social viability of farming and food systems, and experiential learning is central to their education.
International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 2008
Students in agricultural universities follow a rather conventional and structured sequence of cou... more Students in agricultural universities follow a rather conventional and structured sequence of courses in specific discipline subjects. Here, a BSc programme in agroecology is proposed that will build on the unique competencies and prior experiences of each student, and will combine individual paths through the learning landscape with team projects and other group work to ensure social learning. Drawing on experiential learning theory and action learning, and confronting some of the perceived weaknesses in these theories, the programme is geared to build confidence in graduates to deal with complexity and uncertainty in future agricultural and food systems. Academic study will therefore be combined with field internships and frequent interactions with a range of people who are active in the farming and food system. Much of the learning will be accomplished outside of traditional academic boundaries. This, as well as the proposed blended use of electronic media in education, may present challenges to teachers and faculties. Teachers will need support to reconsider their roles and to redesign courses. Yet, we believe that steps can be taken in the direction of the proposed programme. There are already several examples of models for organizing teaching that can offer inspiration.
Organic farming struggles for legitimacy in the academic community, in spite of a credible resear... more Organic farming struggles for legitimacy in the academic community, in spite of a credible research record and a large number of scientific publications over the past several decades. Among the reasons are disagreements among farmers and scientists about non-chemical ...
This article reports the experiences from designing and running a Nordic net-based course, Ecolog... more This article reports the experiences from designing and running a Nordic net-based course, Ecology of Farming and Food Systems, during the spring of 2004. Our aim was two-fold: to design a course which uses an explicit experiential learning approach, and to design a clear structure for ...
Agroecology is described as an integrative and systemic approach to research and education in far... more Agroecology is described as an integrative and systemic approach to research and education in farming and food systems. This emerging area involves the ecology of food systems and the complexity of multiple challenges and stakeholders whose interests must be addressed. The quest for resilient and sustainable production and food systems is taking place in a time of growing scarcity of non-renewable production resources and an increasingly unstable climate. Over two decades, Nordic researchers and educators have conceptualised and implemented a series of PhD courses in agriculture and food systems, and used this experience as a platform to design an MSc degree programmeme in Agroecology that has attracted students from the region as well as from many other countries. Action-oriented learning has been the keystone for the programme activities, and much of student time has been spent on farms and in rural Norwegian communities. Students pursue education through group and individual exercises and progress up a learning ladder that leads to responsible action. They learn to deal with a wide range of stakeholder challenges and to bridge the divide between academic learning and needs of the real world. The Agroecology MSc programme in Norway is described as an effective model of open-ended case studies in the field, and the prerequisites and challenges for introducing this type of learning landscape into the mainstream university curricula are discussed. Examples of organic production and food systems provide many of the working examples used in the programme.
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Papers by Mike Moulton