The usage of learning journals in a Technology Management Education

Place Technology Management is a unique program at Lund University, where a selected number (40) of students from the Faculty of Economics and from the Faculty of Engineering are taught together during their last 2 years of study. Their degree will be a Master´s degree. Their views on problems and challenges in today´s industry often complement each other. In addition it is important to complement their academic knowledge with insights about themselves and their own behavior. The introduction of so-called Learning Journals has proved to be a successful step in this direction. The learning journals are introduced in the course Project Leadership. Throughout the whole course (2 semesters) the students are writing learning journals and supervisors are commenting monthly. The learning journals have the purpose of 1) enabling personal reflection on the own process, 2) enabling reflection on the own position and part in the group, and 3) through the longitudinal effect of the course; it provides an opportunity to compare journals over time to become aware of and able to analyze the own learning process. In a newly performed Placement report, students that have graduated from the Technology Management programme the last 10 years, rate their education 4.37 out of 5. Some students even consider the Learning Journals among the most valuable parts of the whole programme in retrospect.