Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse if open courses, including massive open online courses (MOOCs), can be used as professional development despite their openness since the openness not only brings together individuals from different organizations but also may make the results of collaboration public. Design/methodology/approach – The setting is eight companies in different sectors and networks, collaborating with Higher Education Institutions in developing open courses in externally funded projects. The opinions of managers and HR-specialists in the companies are investigated and analysed. Findings – The managers and HR-specialists are positive to open courses that deliver professional development. They consider the openness in this kind of course to be of no significant problem. The employee knows what can be shared and what can be kept secret. The conditions are, however, different depending on the kind of company and the kind of inter-company relationship that exists. Research limitations/implications – Several interesting questions arise for future research about the use of open courses as professional development in different categories of inter-firm relationship and trust. Practical implications – If the openness is not a hindrance open online courses would appear to meet the requirement of flexibility; they have the potential of being suitable for professional development for individuals who want to increase their competence, but also as organized professional development in organizations and businesses. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies of the openness as a potential hindrance when open courses including MOOCs are utilized as professional development.

Abstract:The aim of this study was to find answers to how self-regulated learning (SRL) Keywords: self-regulated learning, inventory of learning styles, supervision, Vermunt JEL Classification: I23, I21Authors: DAVID HALLBERG , The Swedish Red Cross University College, Sweden, Email: hald@rkh.se ULF OLSSON, Stockholm University, Sweden, Email: ulf.olsson@su.se Citation: DAVID HALLBERG , ULF OLSSON (2017). Self-Regulated Learning in Students' Thesis Writing. International Journal of Teaching and Education, Vol. V(1), pp. 13-24., 10.20472/TE.2017.5.1.002 13 Copyright © 2017, DAVID HALLBERG et al., hald@rkh.se Students' thesis writingThe study was triggered by a significant number of students who did not take the thesis course despite being eligible to do so. Another challenge is that many of those who choose to take the thesis course do not complete it within the stipulated time.Focusing on aspects such as the culture and demography of the individual might provide an understanding of this phenomenon. For instance, students from upper classes are more likely to adapt to the university culture compared to their counterparts from lower classes (Georg, 2009). Walsh and Associates (2009) suggests that full-time degree students are more likely to continue the studies in the second year compared to part-time students. It suggests part-time students are more likely to have other commitments apart from studying, such as work or the responsibilities of being a parent. The study also suggests if postgraduate and final-year undergraduate students are engaged in university projects that offer support to first year-students, part-time students are less likely to withdraw from the university. Research also suggests lack of good practice may be one reason for low course completion (Wisker, 2007;Wisker, 2005).Research also suggests that a student's failure to formulate emotion-focused and problem-focused strategies needed to cope with academic stress is another reason (Rijavec & Brdar, 2002). Another concern connected to drop-out rates and learning style is the ability to keep deadlines. Some institutions have tried flexible deadlines with poor results (Hardin, 2004) -the reasons for which is that students tend not to complete their work if not given a fixed deadline. The lack of deadlines increases the number of dropouts. On the other hand, strict deadlines combined with having free rein over their academic responsibilities, such as completing homework, may increase plagiarism (Palazzo, Lee, Warnakulasooriya, & Pritchard, 2010).Often a thesis on master's level is to be written in a language that is not the first language of the student. This may cause problems when the student is to deal with academic arguments. Bacha (2010) has noted this in the context of teaching English as foreign language.Another factor mentioned as a key issue is the degree of self-regulated learning among the students. It has been concluded that when students are self-regulated they are likely to become more successful in their achievements (M...

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Scientists from five Swedish universities were interviewed about open second cycle education. Research groups and scientists collaborate closely with industry, and the selection of scientists for the study was made in relation to an interest in developing technology-enhanced open education, indicated by applications for funding from the Knowledge Foundation 2013. The study is founded on Conole’s (2012) seven organizational purposes for open education, Coursera’s eight models (Daniel, 2012), and Clarke’s (2013) four strategies for open education, and raises the question whether open education and MOOCs might be a way to reinforce research collaborations and research environments. The researchers displayed a positive attitude towards expanding the technology-enhanced learning and openness, and foresee few problems with openness when industry participates in teaching. Nonetheless, the scientists’ operating models and strategies for developing technology-enhanced learning and open education, are vague. Conclusively: although the interest is obvious, in order to succeed with technology-enhanced open education and strengthening the research groups, the variables for purposes, operating models, strategies, pedagogic models, and obstacles need to be calibrated and made more deliberated, preferably in collaboration between the scientists and industry.