FROM THE BOARD OF EDUCATION'S FRAMEWORK REPORT
Summary
For a long time, the world of higher education has been slowly changing. Digitalisation, technological development and global societal developments have changed the world map of higher education. This has meant new forms of courses and programmes, new actors and new behaviours of students and those seeking education and skills development at all levels of education. The universities leading the development of engineering education are no longer naturally located in North America and Western Europe as was previously the case, but increasingly in Latin America and South East Asia. Universities have long had a monopoly on advanced education and research. Alongside the established universities, niche players have emerged: all in a world that is increasingly digital, increasingly accessible and increasingly competitive. This is also disruptive, but not as noticeable as a pandemic and much easier to deny or ignore because the process has been slow.
In the spring of 2020, however, the Covid pandemic hit with full force. Over a weekend, teachers at KTH and other higher education institutions were forced to switch from classroom teaching to digital teaching and examination. This required a huge amount of work from teachers and extensive administrative support. We learned what power, ability and creativity the whole organisation can bring to bear when needed, when there is no alternative. The pandemic was an obvious game-changing event and highly visible crisis, and as such difficult to ignore. The pandemic was global, and it is not far-fetched to think that many other universities also learnt lessons that they are now using to develop their education.
It is these scenarios and events that lie behind KTH's Education Board's assignment from the President to initiate the project Future Education at KTH and this is the report from that work. With the transition due to the pandemic, we see that a lot of work and learning has been done, and much of it is worth taking advantage of in order for KTH to develop both quality and pedagogy so that the organisation is better equipped for the future. It is important to point out that KTH has many good examples of educational activities that are suitable for the leading architectural, teacher and engineering education of the future, but there are also less good examples where teaching is perceived as dated (feedback from KTH's career survey[1]). In order to continue to be leading and relevant, the pedagogical minimum level must be raised and more teachers need to both adopt proven practices and contribute to leading the development forward. And there are many good examples within KTH to share experiences and knowledge from.
Over 10 workshops have been held with teachers, students, administrative staff, strategic partners and social partners, as well as feedback from Chalmers and NTNU in Trondheim. In total, more than 120 people actively contributed to the work. The results include a number of characteristics that are considered important for KTH, both those that are in place and those that must be developed to secure KTH's position as one of the world's leading universities. In order to work systematically to develop KTH, 13 different principles are proposed within 5 thematic areas that will shape the work. These areas capture 1) student learning and the pedagogical environment, 2) learning environment - physical, digital and psychosocial, 3) developed skills and abilities, 4) educational design and lifelong learning, and 5) support, administration and quality development.
