Exploring curriculum-industry misalignment via a Change Laboratory in higher vocational health management education: Report on a pilot project

This report elaborates on a pilot study that lays the groundwork for a broader doctoral-level research project. The doctoral research investigates the collaborative development of curriculum frameworks for a higher vocational education-based Health Management programme to adapt to the complex and dynamically changing needs of the healthcare industry. Centered on four Change Laboratory workshops held in 2026, this pilot study explores how teachers and students of a higher vocational Health Management programme identify core challenges in the programme, analyse their root causes, and co-create innovative solutions. All participants were recruited from the Health Management programme at a vocational university in Chongqing, China, comprising 11 students, two teachers, and the department’s vice director, with the researcher acting as interventionist. The core aim of this pilot study is to adopt the Change Laboratory methodology to evaluate the design and delivery of workshops for curriculum reform within the Health Management programme. It seeks to generate actionable insights to inform the research methodology to be adopted in the subsequent doctoral research. This pilot study yields two distinct contributions. First, it produces practical insights concerning curriculum design derived from workshop practices and participant feedback, reinforcing the necessity and practical feasibility of a Change Laboratory-based reform process within this pilot institutional context. Second, it generates hands-on experiential knowledge of implementing the Change Laboratory methodology, which offers critical guidance for the main doctoral project from the future researcher-interventionist.