ENHANCING TRANSFERABLE EDUCATIONAL INNOVATIONS: A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO REPLICABILITY IN TEACHING PRACTICES
J.C. Serrano-Ruiz, M.A. Mateo-Casali, R. Poler
Ensuring the replicability of educational innovations across different environments remains a key challenge in teaching and learning. Despite developing and experimenting with numerous pedagogical strategies and technological tools in diverse educational contexts, their effective transfer to other settings continues to face significant limitations and obstacles. These include disparities in technological infrastructure, lack of institutional support, rigid curricula, and differences in educators' digital competencies and teaching practices, all of which hinder the long-term adoption and sustainability of successful innovations.
This paper proposes a structured approach to integrating replicability principles into educational practices and initiatives, providing educators with a framework to identify, document, and effectively transfer pedagogical innovations. The methodology developed is based on the systematic collection of lessons learned, their transformation into a good practice guide, and their subsequent implementation in different educational contexts. This approach enables educators and instructional designers to assess the transferability of their practices, thereby facilitating their successful application in environments with diverse characteristics.
The core of this proposal is the design of an evaluation framework encompassing four key dimensions: instructional design, technological feasibility, institutional readiness, and pedagogical effectiveness. By integrating this framework into teaching and learning methodologies, both educators and learners actively contribute to the creation of learning experiences that embed a replicable approach from the outset, regardless of the educational context in which they are implemented.
To validate this methodology, an initial phase of experimentation is being conducted within the European project Digital Modelling and Simulation for Design, Processing and Manufacturing of Advanced Materials (DiMAT), which aims to develop digital tools for modelling and simulation in advanced materials manufacturing. The interaction between software developers and pilot companies constitutes a unique educational context designed to capture and structure the knowledge generated during the validation process of digital tools. This systematic approach ensures that knowledge is not only applied but also critically reflected upon from an educational perspective, allowing participants to engage with digital tools while simultaneously analysing their usage and documentation in a manner that facilitates their structured transfer. In this way, the validation of these digital tools has not only contributed to their technical refinement but has also established a replicable training framework for their future use and adoption.
The proposed approach promotes the continuous improvement of the teaching and learning process, equipping educators with strategies to optimise the transfer of teaching innovations. By embedding replicability as a central component in the planning and execution of educational initiatives, this work contributes to the development of more flexible, sustainable, and scalable teaching and learning ecosystems.
This study represents a first step in validating the proposed methodological approach, paving the way for future research exploring its application across a range of educational and training contexts.
Keywords: Educational innovation, knowledge transfer, replicability in education, instructional design, framework for replicability.