Developing knowledge work skills in a university course

A blended university course whose design is inspired by the Trialogical Learning Approach is presented. The structure, activities, and content of the course are described in detail and followed by an explorative case-study conducted on data collected during the 2017–2018 edition of the course. The general aim was to understand the impact of the course on students’ perceptions of their acquisition of knowledge work skills and on their overall appreciation of the course. One hundred and nine psychology students voluntarily participated in a course titled ‘Experimental Pedagogy’ held at Sapienza, University of Rome (IT). The data collection was informed by the trialogical design principles that inspired the course and defined the knowledge work skills to be observed, i.e. collaboration, continuous improvement, and digital skills. Two anonymous self-report questionnaires were administered. Data was analysed using a mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach. Results indicated that the course was perceived to effectively promote the majority of the intended skills. Moreover, students appreciated the possibility to concretely work on a project-based learning activity that allowed them to create a shared and meaningful object and reflect their actual learning as intended by the theoretical approach.