Filling up silences—first in family students,capital and university talk in the home

Internationally, research has indicated that returning to education for older learners provides the means for growth and change, for some students this can translate into a sense of ‘empowerment’ and control in their personal lives. However, what is not so well researched is how having a significant ‘other’ present within the university landscape impacts the household and other family members. Exploring how this return to education influences others provides a basis for institutional approaches to engaging with and supporting the lifelong learning of family members, ultimately assisting in the access and participation of current and future generations. This article draws on research conducted with first in family students to explore how their participation in the higher education environment led to conversations in the family around learning. Drawing upon theories of social and cultural capital, this article reflects upon the flow of capitals between home and university.     

Learning Environment Perceptions of European University Students

This article describes a study of the experiences of 610 Dutch students and 241 European students who studied at least three months abroad within the framework of an international exchange program. The Dutch students went to a university in another European country and the foreign students went to a Dutch university. Using a new questionnaire called the Inventory of Perceived Study Environment (IPSE), students, perceptions of eight characteristics of the university learning environment were measured concerning the home university, the host university and the ideal learning environment. With this instrument, the learning environment can be described in terms analogous to the learning strategies performed. Large differences were found between the different countries in university learning environments, but students from different countries had strikingly similar opinions concerning their desired learning environment. There was a strong preference for activating instruction with a low threshold in teacher-student interaction and more room for student alternatives.     

The Cultivation of Learning Dispositions among First-Generation Disadvantaged Students at a South African University

This article discusses the learning dispositions of first-generation disadvantaged students at a university in South Africa’s Western Cape Province. Based on qualitative data collected over a 2-year period, it focuses on findings from 7 purposively selected students at this university. Utilizing Bourdieu’s concept of habitus and Wacquant’s conceptual elaboration of this concept, the article explores the affective, cognitive, and conative (practices) dimensions of the students’ habitus as interrelated aspects crucial to understanding how they develop their dispositions to learn. The article illustrates how the students’ learning dispositions are produced through the active and strategic exercise of each of these 3 (affective, conative, and cognitive) interrelated embodied dimensions. I argue that understanding these embodied habitus generating practices are crucial for comprehending how they establish effective learning dispositions for successful educational engagement at their university. The significance of this article lies in offering a perspective of first-generation disadvantaged students’ learning dispositions in respect of establishing their educational engagement practices at the university.     

大学生学习动力的因素分析与对策研究——基于对肇庆学院的调查

当代大学生学习动力不足的现象在高校正越来越普遍,如何提高大学生的学习积极性、激发其动力,已成为各高校教学工作的重中之重。文章以广东省肇庆学院为例,通过调查问卷的形式,从学生本身、家庭环境、学校环境、社会环境等方面,深入剖析、探讨研究影响大学生学习动力因素及改善对策。     

The impact of the university context on European students' learning approaches and learning environment preferences

This article describesexperiences of 610 Dutch students and 241students from other European countries whostudied at least three months abroad within theframework of an international exchange program.The Dutch students went to a university inanother European country and the foreignstudents went to a Dutch university. By meansof a questionnaire students' perceptions ofthree main characteristics of the universitylearning environment were measured concerningthe home university, the host university andthe ideal learning environment. The studentswere also asked about their way of learning atthe home university and at the host university,in particular about the extent of constructivelearning and reproductive learning. Evidencewas found for the influence of aspects of thelearning environment on the two learningapproaches; e.g., a learning environmentcharacterized as student-oriented discouragesreproductive learning and promotes constructivelearning, especially when conceptual andepistemological relations within the learningdomain are stressed. The learning environmentpreferences of the students were partly relatedto their learning orientations at the homeuniversity, but they were strikingly similarfor students from different countries. Therewas a strong preference for those learningenvironment aspects that promote constructivelearning.     

“I ‘feel’ like I am at university even though I am online.” Exploring how students narrate their engagement with higher education institutions in an online learning environment

This article outlines a collaborative study between higher education institutions in Australia, which qualitatively explored the online learning experience for undergraduate and postgraduate students. The project adopted a narrative inquiry approach and encouraged students to story their experiences of this virtual environment, providing a snapshot of how learning is experienced by those undertaking online studies. The study explores what impacted upon students’ engagement in this environment and how different facets of their learning experience made a qualitative difference to how individuals enacted engagement. Drawing upon Sharon Pittaway’s engagement framework, the article seeks to foreground student voice as the learners define their engagement in learning, the strategies they employed to assist this process and how engagement was enacted at an individual level. The students’ reflections presented in this article can be used to inform teaching and learning strategies designed to improve engagement in the online environment within the higher education sector.     

Student Perceptions of Learning in First Year in an Economics and Commerce Faculty

This article examines the perceptions and experiences of first year students in an Economics and Commerce Faculty. First year Bachelor of Commerce students responded to pre- and post- university experience surveys of their approaches to learning and experience of the learning environment in the faculty. Students' responses indicated a slide into surface learning during their first year and indicated that their expectations of learning at the university level were not realised. English speaking background (ESB) and nonEnglish speaking background (NESB) students were compared. While few differences between the two groups were identified a slight preference for social forms of learning and deeper approaches to learning were observed for NESB students. The implications of the findings for first year teaching are discussed.     

Just for them to understand better: The impact of learning difficulties at university

Abstract

There has been much attention given to the needs of students with learning disabilities in Australian schools in recent years. The needs and experiences of university students with learning disabilities have received less attention. This article reports on the results of a small study of students who identified as having a range of difficulties with learning at one Australian university. Eight students across a range of discipline areas and year levels were asked about the nature of their difficulties, the kinds of adjustments they receive and their effectiveness, and for their suggestions about how these adjustments could be improved. The results pointed to the need for university lecturers to better understand the kinds of learning difficulties experienced by such students. Such an understanding can assist lecturers in knowing how to adjust their teaching and learning practices so these students can more fully participate and be successful in their university studies.     

Perceptions of instructional quality: impact on acceptance and use of an online learning environment

ABSTRACT

Given the growing use of online learning environments in higher education, it is important to further unravel how students’ use is influenced by their perceptions towards these learning environments. This study includes the perceived quality of the instructional design based on the First Principles of Instruction of Merrill and students’ acceptance based on the constructs perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of the technology acceptance model (TAM). The aim of this study is twofold: a first aim is to investigate the influence of the perceived instructional quality on students’ acceptance and the second aim is to investigate the impact of students’ acceptance and the perceived instructional quality on the quantity (i.e. course activity) and quality (i.e. course performance) of use. In this study, a Moodle-based online learning environment for learning French as a foreign language was studied. Participants were 161 university students. Structural equation modeling (SEM) indicates that the perceived instructional quality has a significant positive influence on students’ acceptance. Furthermore, students’ perceived instructional quality has a positive influence on the quality, but not on the quantity of use, whereas students’ acceptance of the online learning environment has no impact on the use of the learning environment.     

Understanding voices from the margins: social injustice and agency in first-year students’ literacy narratives

Abstract

This article analyses literacy narratives of first-year students at a South African university. It uses excerpts from the literacy narratives to explain how this writing genre serves as an outlet for reconstructing experiences of social injustice and agency. The article discusses how students’ experiences of social injustice and their sense of agency intersect to influence their literacy development from primary school to university. The article contends that, although literacy narratives give lecturers access to students’ pre-university learning experiences and their discomforts with university literacy expectations, they also capture aspects of societal injustices and their responses to these injustices.     

University Educators’ Perceptions of Informal Learning and the Ways in which they Foster it

Little research has been conducted in higher education settings that focuses on how tertiary educators understand informal learning or on their role in fostering students’ informal learning to facilitate formal learning. In this article we partially fill this knowledge gap by reporting findings from a case study exploring how 30 New Zealand tertiary educators from one university conceptualised informal learning and the strategies they implemented to support students’ informal learning as an enhancement to formal learning.     

Writing as a Tool in Teaching Sketching: Implications for Architectural Design Education

This article discusses the process of a study designed to develop university students' sketching skills in schools of architecture. Acknowledging the relationship between cognition and writing, it aims to investigate the role of writing in learning sketching among architecture students and to examine how students regulate their thoughts by writing as they work on their free hand sketches. It includes writing texts before and after sketching tasks to improve sketching. The study was implemented in a school of architecture at a Turkish university as part of an elective course on sketching. The students' works were evaluated in terms of their sketches, texts and self‐reports of their thinking and the views and comments of the tutor who carried out the programme. This article discusses how the study was conceived and developed. The results of this study may provide insights for educators in developing strategies in teaching and learning of sketching and design, using multi modes of thinking.     

Strategizing computer-supported collaborative learning toward knowledge building

The purpose of this paper is to explore how university students can develop knowledge in small task-based groups while acquiring hands-on computer skills. Inspired by the sociocultural perspective, this study presents a theoretical framework on co-construction of knowledge and on computer-supported collaborative learning. The participants were selected from student teachers in Rwanda after a training program on searching, retrieving and exploiting web-based literature. The findings show that university students working together in small groups to acquire hands-on computer skills can adopt one of three major learning patterns: individual-led, group-led or individual-group hybrid-led. Moreover, the results indicate that the group-led framework seems to create a supportive environment for knowledge building. Nevertheless, university students showed a need for teacher support to enable them to focus on criterion-referenced reflection to regulate their learning.     

Student teachers and cultural diversity in an Australian regional university

This article examines student teachers' discursive constructions of difference, cultural diversity and race as they write and talk about their cultures and identities in relation to teaching and learning in the first year of a Primary Teaching Degree in a regional Australian university.
The qualitative case study which informs this paper considered the discursive resources that students bring to teacher education from their past experiences and contact with cultural differences in communities, families and schools. It examined various discourses around cultural diversity that are available to them in the teacher education course and how their discursive practices are mediated and reconstructed in the particular university context. A major goal was to explore how universities in largely homogeneous settings might firstly work with the resources that students bring to teacher education and, secondly, assist students to consider the implications of cultural and linguistic diversity for teaching language and literacy.     

Supporting online,non-traditional students through the introduction of effective e-learning tools in a pre-university tertiary enabling programme

The increasing number of external students enrolling at Charles Darwin University has led to the university investing in new technologies to provide better support for students studying online. Many students, however, come from non-traditional backgrounds and lack some of the skills and confidence to participate successfully in an e-learning environment at university. This article discusses the findings of a pilot study conducted in a pre-university tertiary enabling programme. Three e-learning tools were developed for external students to enhance their understanding of the learning materials and create a greater sense of connectedness between students, staff and the learning materials. Academic staff implemented the use of video clips and synchronous online tutorials and also refined their use of discussion groups to facilitate interactive engagement with learning materials.     

Learning to be a doctor while learning anatomy!

This article presents results from a longitudinal study following a cohort of medical students. Semistructured interviews are conducted every year, in which the students tell about their experiences learning medicine, their daily life, and their social activities in relation to university. The aim of the study is to analyze how medical students develop their professional competencies, values, and attitudes. This article focuses on the medical student's professional development in relation to the process of studying and learning anatomy. We analyze interviews conducted while the students are in their third and fifth semester. Anatomy plays a significant role in the medical student's educational process, on both a cognitive and emotional level. It seems that students in learning the subject matter adapt to fundamental values in the medical profession and are thus transformed into real medical students, sharing a unique experience. The implications for curricular development and professionalism are discussed, and this article argues that the issue of professionalism must be addressed in the educational process in the preclinical years and in relation to the basic sciences. Anat Sci Ed 2008. © 2008 American Association of Anatomists.     

Inclusive university settings? An analysis from the perspective of students with disabilities / ¿Contextos universitarios inclusivos? Un análisis desde la voz del alumnado con discapacidad

Abstract

This article presents the partial results of a study that analysed the barriers and means of support that students with disabilities find in classrooms and other university settings (offices, departments, libraries, etc.), using the biographical narrative method. The results of this article focus exclusively on the obstacles and means of support identified by humanities students, with the information organized in relation to the institution in general, infrastructures and architectural barriers, lecturers and their teaching methods, fellow students and proposals for improving universities and classrooms. Finally, the conclusion discusses the main findings regarding how the university facilitates or hinders the participants’ learning processes in this study. From this perspective, and taking the social model of disability as a reference, it is concluded that in order to become inclusive, the university must commit to adopting proactive measures that eliminate the barriers preventing these students from learning and from participating fully.     

What university teachers teach and how they teach it

In this article we make three related arguments. The first isthat different teachers have different intentions concerning whatstudents will learn and consequently in their teaching they constitutethe topic or subject to be taught quite differently. The second is thata teacher's intentions concerning what it is that students should learnis closely aligned with a teacher's expectation of how students learnand how they can be helped to learn through teaching. The third is thatwhen teachers focus specifically on the teaching of a particular topic,within a specific context, there is a close relationship between theirintentions and their teaching practice. In this article we explore thesearguments through an empirical study which considers the different waysin which 26 university teachers intended to constitute a subject ortopic for their students to study, how they then taught the subject andsubsequently how consistent were their intentions and their practice.The analysis shows that when the context of teaching and learning istightly defined there is a clear relationship between a teacher'sintention and their practice. In particular, university teachers whoadopt more conceptual change and student-focussed approaches to teachingconstitute objects of study which are more relational and focus on thestudent's knowledge. Approaches which are more information transmissionand teacher-focussed constitute objects of study which are moremulti-structural and have a focus on knowledge which is as constitutedas being external to the student.     

Self‐assessment in university assessment of prior learning procedures

Competency‐based university education, in which lifelong learning and flexible learning are key elements, demands a renewed vision on assessment. Within this vision, Assessment of Prior Learning (APL), in which learners have to show their prior learning in order for their goals to be recognised, becomes an important element. This article focuses on a first step in APL, namely students’ self‐assessment of their prior learning before entering university education. The main aim of the presented study is to examine the suitability of the use of self‐assessment in APL. First, in an explorative study, the main sources for self‐assessment are derived and the relation between sources and domain of study is investigated. Second, in a pre‐test post‐test research design, the hypothesis that students’ self‐assessment of prior learning related to a course changes after studying a domain‐specific course is tested. Pre‐test results reveal that students indicate that they have prior knowledge related to the chosen university programme. In general, this prior learning is obtained from study experience, work experience, books, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, TV, radio, film or video. A relation is found between the type of source and the university programme. The hypothesis that students change their self‐assessment after a study period could not be confirmed. Based on these results, it is concluded that self‐assessment in APL might be a suitable tool. Implications for further research are discussed.