tpo_dossier_action-plan-for-innovation-and-learning_201406

282.13CONTACTS:GEIR LIEBLEINGEIR.LIEBLEIN@NMBU.NOCHARLES FRANCISCHARLES.FRANCIS@NMBU.NOWEBSITE:WWW.NMBU.NO/EN/STUDIES/STUDY-OPTIONS/MASTER/MASTER_OF_SCIENCE_IN_AGROECOLOGYPHENOMENON-BASED, EXPERIENTIAL ANDJUST-IN-TIME LEARNING AT THE NORWEGIANUNIVERSITY OF LIFE SCIENCESto identify and deal with a wide range of challengesat the farm and community levels. Innovative learningintegrates experience and reflection. The best way ofdoing this it to enable the students to use the “world outthere” as their classroom, where they can meet farmers,business people and consumers, and can engage withtheir problems and visions and help to improve theirsituations.The approach demonstrates that learning fromthe experience of farmers and other extra-universitystakeholders are valued as equally important as readingscientific and theoretical articles and book chapters.Recognizing multiple sources of knowledge is key tobecome competent to work constructively with farmingand food systems as complex and dynamic entities.Phenomenon-based Learning onFarms and in CommunitiesRather than beginning in the classroom with theoryand facts about farming and food systems, studentsstart out on the farm with the farmer, with the studentsfully immersed in the phenomenon itself (Østergaardet al., 2010; Francis et al., 2012; Lieblein et al., 2012). Aparallel learning situation in the food system is achievedby placing students in rural communities in Norway andhaving them begin by interviewing key stakeholderssuch as processors, marketers, food providers in schoolsand public agencies, and consumers. Further, theybegin the semester’s immersion on the farm and in thecommunity conceptually at the level of practice.Experiential Learning using OpenendedCase Studies and VisionaryThinkingDecision case studies have long been a staplecomponent of practical learning, originating over acentury ago in business, law, and medical colleges.The conventional decision case deals with a real-worldsituation that has been studied and resolved, and thusthe instructor is familiar with the outcome. In this course,much more excitement has been generated amongstudents by using open-ended cases that deal withcontemporary issues that are not yet resolved (Franciset al., 2009). Instead of seeking the ‘correct answer’, thestudents cooperate with clients who are facing difficultdecisions, and as a team the students/clients/teacherssearch together for a series of action steps that couldlead to a more viable and socially acceptable solution.The students are envisioning a desired future that couldbe pursued by the clients or stakeholders in the field.This method fully involves students in the study oflocal context, including natural resources, economicmeans, and human capital of current systems. Bypracticing visionary thinking together with extrauniversitystakeholders, the students are able to imaginealternatives that may not appear feasible in the shortterm but could be a part of an improved future situationif they can assist clients in looking ‘outside the box’,beyond present constraints, and imagine a desirableset of positive steps toward the future. The visions thatare developed serve the purpose of providing directionfor the action steps to be taken in the present situation.