Meeting the demand of research based education in higher education and training — A case from real estate education

Research based education is required in higher education and training [1, 2]. It is thus necessary to establish research projects that produce results that will have an impact on the education provided. This proposes a “triple helix model” [3] where academia, industry and government will work together in the following pattern: Academia establishes project based on funding from industry and government ; Industry provide access to research material/empirical data ; Results and findings utilization, short term: for academia: develop education ; Results and findings utilization, long term: for industry and government: reduce costs. The project is about the education BA in Estate Agency (EA) at Hedmark University of Applied Sciences, Campus Rena, Norway. A number of estate sales have aftermaths that may result in expenses for agencies, government and the persons selling and/or buying properties. This project will not focus on why sales go wrong. Some sales end with a conflict between buyer and seller after the livery of the property. The conflicts range from minor conflicts solved without the interference of a court, till court cases and the break off of a sale and compensation costs. On the contrary, it is important to look for sales that – against all odds – were successful. This approach focuses on a different perspective and is called Positive Deviance. Positive Deviance is where success is prominent where the environment predicts and sometimes requires failure or a negative outcome [4-6]. Positive Deviance (PD) is mostly used within healthcare and in developing countries [5, 7]. To find the singular factors that end up in a positive outcome where the circumstances are unanimous towards a negative outcome, and use this to prevent negative outcomes, are just as important than always digging in the failures, and about “what went wrong”. The PD found through the project, can be translated in an academic setting into “what to do and keep in mind when broking (/trying to sell) a property with potential significance of failures”. This will raise the standards; prepare the new agents better for the business/industry. Fewer sales will end in expensive negotiations, and fewer cases end in governmental offices such as legal complaints. This represents a win-win-win situation for academia (improved education), industry (better equipped agents), and government (less costs on legal cases).