Improving What is Learned at University

by John Brennan; Robert Edmunds; Muir Houston; David Jary; Yann Lebeau; Michael Osborne; John T.E. Rich

• ISBN13: 9780203863237
• ISBN10: 0203863232
• eBook ISBN(s): 9781135190972
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2010-01-21
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

What is learned in universities today? Is it what students expect to learn? Is it what universities say they learn? How far do the answers to questions such as these differ according to what, where and how one studies? As higher education has expanded, it has diversified both in terms of its institutional forms and the characteristics of its students. However, what we do not know is the extent to which it has also diversified in terms of #xE2;#xAC;#xDC;what is learned#xE2;#xAC;". In this book, the authors explore this question through the voices of higher education students, using empirical data from students taking 15 different courses at different universities across three subject areas #xE2;#xAC;#x1C; bioscience, business studies and sociology. The study concentrates on the students#xE2;#xAC;" experiences, lives, hopes and aspirations while at university through data from interviews and questionnaires, and this is collated and assessed alongside the perspectives of their teachers and official data from the universities they attend. Through this study the authors provide insights into #xE2;#xAC;#xDC;what is really learned at university#xE2;#xAC;" and how much it differs between individual students and the universities they attend. Notions of #xE2;#xAC;#xDC;best#xE2;#xAC;" or #xE2;#xAC;#xDC;top#xE2;#xAC;" universities are challenged throughout, and both diversities and commonalities of being a student are demonstrated. Posing important questions for higher education institutions about the experiences of their students and the consequences for graduates and society, this book is compelling reading for all those involved in higher education, providing conclusions which do not always follow conventional lines of thought about diversity and difference in UK higher education.

Table of Contents

Commonalities and diversities of UK universities

The social and organisational mediation of university learning

The universities: cultures, organisations and reputations

The subjects: tribes and territories

The students: backgrounds, lifestyles and forms of engagement

What students learned at university

What else students learned at university

Diversities and commonalities in the student experience

Implications for institutions, academic staff and students

Implications for society

Appendix Methods used in the study

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