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The thesis aims to provide an empirical study ofan attempt to introduce an Action Learning Set at departmental level within the organizational context of a College of Higher Education. The starting-point for the study is the notion that an academic leader introducing action learning to a department for which he or she is responsible might reduce the dissonance often experienced in educational organizations when institutional management paradigms conflict with the educational values and pedagogical principles underpiIming the institution. A range ofliterature is examined, from that on leadership, organizational culture and change management, to a number of specific texts on higher education management. The use of action learning is considered within and beyond higher education, particularly in its use as a means of strategic leadership. A discussion on methodological issues focuses on specific research questions which were revised over the course ofthe study, and considers ethical and ./ practical issues which underline the study. The thesis presents a case study narrative based on the experience ofthe Action Learning Set over a sequence of six set meetings, and the resultant analysis of data gathered. The data is supplemented by post-experience interviews. The period ofthe study coincided with a time of considerable turbulence in the higher education sector in the wake of the 2003 White Paper, including the introduction of top-up fees in September 2006. This made a significant impact on the specific institution and the department in which the research was based, and this is evident in the data gathered and analysed. The research concludes that the success of action learning, particularly in a setting where professional education is practised, depends not only on the interplay ofprofessional knowledge, questioning and reflection, identified originally by Revans (1980) as P, Q and R, but also on appropriate tension between affective factors and those concerning the organizational politics of the institution where action learning is situated. A number ofpoints are identified for potential action by future researchers, including the need to investigate the transferability from the team learning in an action learning set to the development of collective capacity for leadership development across an institution ofhigher education. It is also suggested that it would be valuable to conduct empirical research on the use ofaction learning in other settings in higher education, including those of senior management teams.

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In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in the development and use of computer based learning technology in tertiary education. At the same time, researchers in the field of education have begun to develop an understanding of student learning in terms of learning strategies. Such constructs represent motives, behaviours and thought processes adopted by the student that are believed to mediate learning. This thesis investigates the learning strategies adopted by students using a computer-assisted learning system as part of their studies. Furthermore, the thesis examines the extent to which these computer-based strategies differ from learning strategies related to traditional teaching methods and tools. The computer-based learning strategies of a population of distance education students were investigated using a CD-ROM. The students were studying the course Biology, Brain and Behaviour at the Open University and the Human Brain CD-ROM was an optional component of their learning materials. Data collected from questionnaires, interviews and observations over four studies led to the proposal of a framework of computei-based strategies. This framework comprises ten strategies that cover motivation, information processing and management of resources on the CD-ROM. When these strategies were compared to a framework of strategies related to the study of traditional teaching materials a number of differences emerged between the strategies used in the computer and traditional learning contexts.

In the late 1980s and 1990s, like other sections of the UK education system, Further Education (FE) was subjected to major institutional change. Furthermore, there were significant government interventions in the curriculum of FE colleges: the introduction of General National Vocational Qualifications (GNVQs) and subsequently of the Advanced Vocational Certificate in Education (AVCE). The introduction of GNVQs in the early 1990s involved a substantial change in the working practices of FE lecturers. Not only was there modification to the content to be taught but the roles of lecturer and student were transformed. In 2000, GNVQ was replaced by AVCE. This too involved considerable modification in the work of FE lecturers, in some respects a shift back towards the situation prior to the introduction of GNVQ, but also introducing new elements. These changes are the focus of this thesis. The fundamental character of the switch to GNVQ, and the subsequent move away from it, provide a distinctive context for exploring lecturers’ responses and adaptations to dramatic and rapid change. Understanding these is important if we are to grasp the factors shaping the implementation of curricular policies, and their effects. This case study attempts to deepen understanding of the significant factors which influence policy implementation by investigating how recent curricular reforms in FE came about, and how lecturers responded to them, on the basis of data from documents and interviews. The conclusion reached is that how a policy gets implemented will reflect previously prevailing working practices, along with practitioners’ views about the sort of education they are engaged in, about their central professional task, and about how it ought to be carried out; views which will be shaped by different career trajectories. These factors determine attitudes both towards the goals of any new policy and towards the operational procedures it imposes.