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This article examines the goals of employers when they organise work placements for students. It explores how far, in cooperating with polytechnics, employers adhere to a connective model of students’ work experiences within their organisations. The paper makes use of a quantitative study based on employers’ responses to a questionnaire (n = 269). The study identifies four groups of employers: employers who emphasise the employment perspective, cooperative developers, employers with multiple goals and employers concerned with the development of their own work. The differences in employer profiles are discussed with respect to development of curricula and the higher education system. The paper raises questions concerning how curriculum development at various institutional levels may develop, depending on whether the emphasis is on work-based learning or on work-related learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polytechnics are newcomers in companies' regional innovation environments in Finland. Particularly in regions with no university of their own or with only few knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) providers, they may become, and in some cases already are, important providers of science-and-technology-related services. The aim of this article is to analyse the roles, possibilities and challenges of polytechnics as public KIBS providers. Also, the position of polytechnics as a tool of Finnish innovation policy will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2002, the first students enrolled on part-time postgraduate courses in polytechnics (ammattikorkeakoulut) in Finland. These programmes were controversial; they were established on an experimental basis until July 2005, when the decision to make the degrees permanent (or not) must be taken. The Finnish Parliament required an evaluation of the programmes before this could happen, and it took place during 2003 and 2004 under the auspices of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council. This article sets out some of the background to the development of the programmes and summarises the outcome of the final evaluation, published in late 2004. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]