SMILLA: SMall-scale live cases to Integrate Life-long Learning and Access to work-life examples

Research Project, 2021 – 2024

Purpose and goal
The project aim is to establish critical aspects for long-term collaboration between higher education institutions and need owners, with a goal to develop small-scale live cases to operationalize this collaboration. SMILLA (SMall-scale live cases to Integrate Life-long Learning and Access to work-life examples) is a model for short live cases that integrate continuous and basic education. Practitioners develop problem descriptions within the framework of their own continuous education that the full-time students work with as a week-long case in an existing course.

Expected results and effects
The long-term effect is expected to be a more resource-efficient and long-term sustainable integration of basic education and training for professionals. Examples of concrete project results are: a framework for collaboration on continuous education and working life connection in undergraduate education, a new form of lifelong learning that is based on undergraduate education and at the same time supports skills development of professionals, new opportunities for full-time students to establish contacts in professional life, and a model for small scale live cases (SMILLA).

Planned approach and implementation
The project has five work packages (WP). AP1 establishes "Critical aspects for long-term educational collaboration", e.g. through focus groups. AP2 is developing "a concept model for small-scale live cases" based on literature studies and interviews, and produces digital lectures and case templates. The concept model is used in AP3 "Testing, evaluation and model development" where two pilot rounds of the live case are run. AP4 "Documentation and packaging" supports the dissemination of the model. AP5 "Dissemination and knowledge transfer" is continuous throughout the project.