Background: Ongoing educational development is essential to ensure the effectiveness of professional nurses’ learning experiences. Understanding the ways in which workplace learning occurs is fundamental to enabling nurse educators to deliver that knowledge. Induced hypothermia was introduced as a new treatment modality in 2005 and education surrounding the care of the hypothermia patient is lacking in the literature. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to illuminate how nurses learn new knowledge in the clinical setting. Theoretical Framework: The learning theory chosen for this study is the three dimensions of learning by Illeris (2004). Methods: Semistructured interviews were conducted with each participant in one individual, face-to-face session to examine the lived experiences of nurses providing care to induced hypothermia patients. A hermeneutic phenomenology method was chosen based on the work of van Manen. Hycner’s methodological approach was utilized to analyze data. Results: In this study, four learning areas emerged which corresponded to Illeris’ (2003b) three dimensions of learning, including cognitive, emotional, and environmental-social dimensions. The main theme described by every nurse interviewed was the necessity to have hands-on experience to feel competent in their care for induced hypothermia patients. The unit had a special identity because of their unique work of providing hypothermia care and one nurse explained, “We are making history.” Conclusions: Nurses preferred hands-on learning or experiential learning and they helped construct their learning environment. Nurse educators and nurse leaders fueled this synergetic learning process.

Syftet med studien är att undersöka reflektionens inverkan på arbetsplatslärande. Den tidigare forskningen visar att reflektionen har en positiv effekt på minnet och således även på lärandet, vare sig det handlar om skolväsendet, informellt lärande eller lärande på arbetsplatsen. Datan som analyserats togs fram genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer med sex informanter från helt skilda yrken och arbetsplatser. Intervjuerna hade som utgångspunkt hur förutsättningarna ser ut för lärandet i sin allmänhet i deras respektive yrken, för att sedan övergå till att handla om hur respondenterna uppfattar reflektion och hur det skulle kunna påverka deras dagliga arbetsliv. Det insamlade materialet har analyserats utifrån två teoretiska perspektiv som dels berör individuellt lärande och reflektion, men också organisatoriskt lärande. Resultatet från studien indikerar att trots möjligheten till en flexibel och lärande organisation, upplever medarbetare att den tid som skulle behövas till den egna och gruppens reflektion inte finns. Istället för att göra utrymme för utvärdering som skulle kunna gynna organisationen your ett längre perspektiv, så fokuseras tiden till produktion och arbete. Studien indikerar också att inställningen hos medarbetare generellt är positiv till reflektion och att de själva upplever det vara ett verktyg för lärande på arbetsplatsen. / The aim of this study was to investigate how reflection could impact workplace learning. Previous studies have shown that reflection has had a positive effect on memory, and therefore also on learning, whether it may be in schools, informal learning or workplace learning. The data that was analyzedwas extracted from semi-structured interviews with six informants from completely different professions and workplaces. The starting point of the interviews was investigating how the prerequisites were for workplace learning, and transferred into questions about the informants view of reflection and how it may affect their daily working life. The gathered material has been analyzed through two theoretical perspectives that partly involve the individual person's learning and reflection, but also the organizational learning. The results indicate that despite the possibility of a flexible and learning organization, coworkers experience that the time necessary for their own and the group’s reflection does not exist. Instead of making space for evaluation that could benefit the organization in the long run, their time is focused upon production of labour. The study also indicates that the coworkers’ attitude toward reflection is positive, and that they in their experience feel that it could be a tool for workplace learning.

This thesis is about information technology for learning and acquiring of work knowledge among production workers in a manufacturing company. Focus is on production or factory workers in workplaces where the job workers do have a routine character. The thesis builds upon a research project aiming at developing an information system for learning and acquiring of work knowledge among production workers. The system manages manufacturing related operational disturbances and production workers use the system to learn from operational disturbances in such a way that workers do the job grounded on knowledge of prior disturbances. The thesis covers intervention measures aiming at integrating learning and work by developing an information system. The thesis presents and elaborates on the process and outcome of such a development. The empirical work in this thesis is based on an action case study research approach. The thesis proposes three interrelated aspects concerning use of information technology for learning and acquiring work knowledge among production workers. Such aspects are the (a)work practice, (b)learning and acquiring of work knowledge and (c)information systems. These aspects must be considered as a coherent whole to seek to integrate learning and work (i.e. to create a learning environment). The work practice sets the scope for workplace learning (to what extent learning takes place at work). The scope for learning is related to for example, machinery and equipment, management and the organizing principle of work. Learning and acquiring of work knowledge is related to in what ways workers learn about the job. Information systems must be in alignment with the practice and the ways workers learn and acquire work knowledge.

Syftet med den här studien är att bidra med kunskap som kan utveckla räddningstjänstens arbetsplatslärande. Studien är en kvalitativ fallstudie med en ontologisk ståndpunkt som kan beskrivas som konstruktivistisk. Forskningsprocessen involverar kvalitativa intervjuer av fyra chefer på strategisk ledningsnivå, och fyra fokusgruppdiskussioner med fyra skift (arbetsgrupper) på en brandstation. Datamaterialet har därefter bearbetats med stöd av tematisk analys. Studien frågeställningar avser att besvara hur brandstationens lärande kan beskrivas och förstås utifrån chefernas ledningsperspektiv, respektive skiftens medarbetarperspektiv. I resultatet framgår att både chefer och skift behöver förhålla sig till samhälleliga förväntningar, lagstiftning och politiskt utformade krav och riktlinjer. Samtidigt som det framkommer att en stor del av brandstationens lärande sker i samband med brandmännens vardagliga yrkespraktik. Brandstationens arbetsplatslärande främjas å ena sidan av brandmännens gemenskap, drivkraft och yrkesstolthet. Samtidigt som skiftens starka samhörigheten å andra sidan riskerar att bidra till att fastna i etablerade rutiner och tankemönster. Vidare framkommer att chefer på ledningsnivå betraktar brandstationens förebyggande arbetet som central för att organisationens ska kunna möta upp mot politiskt utformade krav och förväntningar. Till skillnad från gruppchefernas och brandmännens utsagor som främst lyfter fram det operativa arbetet i relation till skiftens yrkespraktik. Sammantaget pekar resultatet på att det finns motsättningar mellan ledningsperspektiv och medarbetarperspektiv på brandstationens lärande. Fallstudiens synliggörande av dessa motsättningar betraktas som betydelsefulla för att organisera formella läraktiviteter och skapa goda förutsättningar för arbetsplatslärande i vardagen, men kan även ses i ljuset av rekryteringsutmaningar inom räddningstjänsten. / The purpose of this study is to contribute knowledge that can develop the workplace learning of the rescue service. The study is a qualitative case study with an ontological standpoint that can be described as constructivist. The research process involves qualitative interviews of four managers at strategic management level, and four focus group discussions with four shifts (work groups) at a fire station. The data material has then been processed with the support of thematic analysis. The study's questions aim to answer how the fire station's learning can be described and understood based on the managers' management perspective, and the shift's employee perspective. The results show that the fire station's surrounding external context what is seen as relevant knowledge, processes, activities that largely is derives from legislation and politically designed requirements and guidelines. At the same time, it appears that a large part of the fire station's learning takes place in connection with the firefighters' everyday professional practice. The fire station's workplace learning is promoted on the one hand by the employees' community, drive, and professional pride. At the same time, on the other hand, the strong cohesion in the shift’s risks contributing to getting stuck in established routines and thought patterns. Furthermore, it appears that managers at management level regard the fire station's preventive work as central to the organisation's ability to meet politically shaped demands and expectations. In contrast to the group managers' and firefighters' statements, which primarily highlight the operative work in relation to the professional practice of the shifts. Overall, the results indicate that there are contradictions between strategic management orientation and the employees' perspective on the fire station's learning. The case study's visibility of these contradictions is considered significant for organizing formal learning activities and creating good conditions for workplace learning in everyday life but can also be seen in the light of recruitment issues within the rescue service.

Workplace learning can contribute to a reformative change in an economy’s workforce development.  Learning, whether formal or informal, is subject to various power balances in each context. Factors affecting learning decisions can include legal framework, market requirements, organizational culture, organization of work, and financing limits. This research explores the application of learning practices in workplace, in addition to the institutionalization of the application and its sustainability’s enforcement factors from the participants’ perspective. Through a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews’ outcome, a sample from several departments in two organizations in the Egyptian services sector share their impression, experience, and recommendations for fostering learning in workplace practice. The data was analysed thematically in the light of Lave and Wenger’s (1991) communities of practice theory, Ellstrom’s (2011) competency development study, and Fuller and Unwin’s (2006) expansive learning environment framework. The findings highlights the various initiatives for organizational development logic and  investigates both the barriers and the enforcers for practical continuity. The study is aligned with the constructivist approach as it identifies opportunities and organizational settlement through social interaction to ensure inclusive learning for its population.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is an indispensable part of the educational system that sustains significant responsibilities in creating sophisticated, high-skilled, and application-oriented talents and their comprehensive moral development. TVET metal cutting and welding teachers' learning in the workplace is a practice-based, complex cross-integration process of teachers' knowledge growth, competence acquisition, and professional development that links actual work processes and on-the-job activities. Workplace learning is undergoing a shift from a focus on teacher knowledge, expertise, and teaching methods, to an increasing focus on promoting instructional improvements centred on “student learning” (Imants & Van Veen, 2010). This research uses qualitative research methods to explore teachers' real and complex learning and development conditions, enrich the existing theoretical system of teachers' professional learning in the field of TVET metal cutting and welding based on actual work situations, and further deepen these teachers' professional development awareness. This study, which employs reflection level theory (Hartmann, 2005), situated learning theory (Lave & Wenger, 1991), action learning theory (Revans, 1982; 1998), and constructivism (Brooks & Brooks, 1999; Vygotsky & Cole, 1978; Piaget, 1970) as theoretical underpinnings, is guided by the following research questions: • What learning activities do TVET metal cutting and welding teachers utilize to learn in the workplace? • What factors (e.g., personal characteristics, working conditions) positively influence or restrict the involvement of TVET metal cutting and welding teachers in workplace learning? • What learning outcomes do TVET metal cutting and welding teachers perceive as professional development? Fourteen Chinese TVET instructors in the field of metal cutting and welding participated in this study. Semi-structured interviews, observations, and documentary material were chosen as the main strategies for collecting data. Hartmann's (2005) “the theory and methods of reflection levels” and Creswell's (2012) “six interrelated steps” (p.261) are utilized to guide the process of organizing, transforming, modelling, and interpreting data collected from these 14 teachers. Research Findings encompass three parts: Research Findings - Part I Based on qualitative data, the research findings (Part I) indicate that the main workplace learning activities of TVET metal cutting and welding teachers include four dimensions: learning by doing, learning through work-related interactions with others, reflection, and learning from media. The dimension of 'learning by doing' covers practical enterprise activities, participating in the staff group's skill competition, self-directed learning activities during lesson planning, the training and practice, using cloud-based teaching platforms, writing teaching journal/teaching logs, learning by teaching and experimentation, participation in the development and evaluation of curriculum implementation standards, involvement in school-based curriculum development. The dimension of 'learning through work-related interactions with others' encompasses lesson observation, collaborative group study, learning from experts, colleagues, trainees, etc. The dimension of 'reflection' involves teaching experience reflection and feedback reflection. The dimension of 'learning from media' encompasses viewing industrial documentaries, reading industry news, watching TV programs related to the teaching subjects, etc. Research Findings - Part II The research findings (Part II) show that the main factors influencing the workplace learning of TVET metal cutting and welding teachers include facilitating and constraining factors. The facilitating factors encompass career advancement, adequate learning resources, harmonious interpersonal relationships, occupational identity or professional self-identity, cooperative learning environments, and intrinsic motivation for the learning. The constraining factors cover teachers' heavy workloads, lack of time, insufficient school support, and the shortage of school facilities and equipment. Research Findings - Part III The research findings (part III) indicate that the outcomes of TVET metal cutting and welding teachers' workplace learning include three dimensions: accumulation of knowledge, competence enhancement, and emotional or attitudinal changes. The 'accumulation of knowledge' dimension covers educational theory, subject knowledge, teaching methods, and student psychology. The 'emotional or attitudinal change' dimension encompasses items like a greater love for the teaching profession and being more open-minded. The dimension of 'competence enhancement' involves class management, instructional design and overall teaching skills, practical operation ability, collaborative communication skills, teaching evaluation skills, reflection skills, analytical competence, lifelong learning ability, resource integration capability, etc.

Organizations rely on their training departments to deliver adequate training for effective use of knowledge on the job to new and tenured employees. The transfer of learned knowledge and skills yields many positive outcomes for the employees, the trainers, and the organization as a whole. Such outcomes include improved productivity and efficiency, increased morale, work enjoyment, improved customer service, and improved shareholder satisfaction. In order to achieve these outcomes, training departments must employ skilled training personnel knowledgeable about curriculum design and creative with training delivery and learning environments. These requirements implementation will depends heavily on the experience level of training professionals. Training professionals need to understand their own learning styles and how to appropriately utilize strategies to target the various learning styles that exist in the classroom. Instructors must constantly monitor the learning environment and be able to make immediate changes to meet the needs of the participants when necessary. Participants themselves play an integral role in the effective transfer of learning from the classroom to the job. Learners’ backgrounds, life experiences, and motivation to learn are important considerations for designing a positive learning experience. When training programs cater to learners’ preferred learning styles with an appropriate learning environment in mind, the instructor, the learner, and the organization reap numerous benefits. More specifically, when learners’ learning styles are supported by their instructors’ teaching styles, the overall learning experience becomes optimized to the benefit of all stakeholders.

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I denna uppsats har jag undersökt metoder för förvaltande av kunskap samt lärande på arbetsplatsen genom att utgå ifrån personalens expertkunskaper inom sitt arbete och hur företag kan ta tillvara dessa. Den samlade kunskapen som finns på företag är ett värdefullt verktyg. Om den skulle varit möjligt att ta tillvara den på ett effektivt sätt skulle både medarbetare och företagets utveckling kunna dra stor nytta av det. Jag har undersökt hur denna kunskap skulle kunna förvaltas för att de anställda ska kunna få mer ansvar och möjlighet att förbättra sin arbetsplats med hjälp av olika metoder. Detta har jag gjort i samarbete med företaget Jidoka Innovation och deras metoder under samlingsnamnet HelpMe. Mitt case har varit Santa Marias tortillafabrik i Vadensjö. Där har jag tillsammans med personalen utvecklat och utvärderat HelpMe:s metodik för att skapa en effektivare produktionsprocess. / In this essay I’ve researched workplace based knowledge and how companies can benefit from using it. The combined knowledge of a company work force is a powerful tool, and if you could tap that resource both the employees and the company can benefit. I have researched how this knowledge can be used in educating new employees and how this can empower the employees by giving them more control of their workplace. I advocate handing over more control of the factory to the employees. They work with the machines everyday, and often know the best way to run them, and therefore should be the first to be consulted when optimizing the workflow. I have done this thesis project with the Swedish company Jidoka Innovation AB which with their method set by the name HelpMe, specializes in workplace learning and optimization. My case the Santa Maria tortilla factory in the south of Sweden where I evaluated and developed Jidoka’s methods to see if this way of working could make a more efficient production process.

In Norway research on immigrants and the labour market has to a large degree focused on immigrants’ shortcomings, be it their lacking knowledge, competence and skills (KCS) or their failures in being recruited to available jobs. This study seeks to refocus current academic interest and investigates the potential benefits of recruiting immigrant employees. It explores highly skilled immigrants and how their KCS is valued, shared and used in a Norwegian workplace. In this study seven immigrant employees in a State organisation (the Directorate) are interviewed about their experiences with having their KCS validated, shared and used. In addition they reflect on the Directorate’s framework conditions for sharing learning, and whether the organisation is able to expand the organisational culture to embrace immigrants’ values, opinions and practices. The study adopts a socio-cultural view on learning and operationalises this approach through the use of Lave and Wenger’s concept of communities of practice (CoPs). Employees in the Directorate are thus seen as members of CoPs and new immigrant employees as novices going through a participative process to gain access to the CoPs’ repertoire of accepted practices. Findings indicate that the negotiation of meaning taking place when new, immigrant KCS enters CoPs is a contested process in which both new employees and veteran members go through a process of identity formation. Findings also indicate that although an organisation may have an inclusive work environment regarding surface-level diversity, the inclusion of foreign values, opinions and practices and the development of a diverse learning environment is dependent on a conscious strategy on harvesting foreign KCS.