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POLICY & REFORM
recent addition to the campus is the St. John Paul II Building, which reflects a shimmering vision of cloisters and people who make the site their own day by day.
The fourth aspect was that of learning for a social purpose. Alongside existing knowledge and skills, taught and learned in conventional ways, we were aware that there must be an emphasis on new knowledge that is about problem solving, communication and active learning.
The purpose of this approach is to equip learners with the means to be self-aware and self-critical and to develop personal viability. These are the skills for survival in a changing world.
All of this convinced the researchers that in a world where work and the future are ever more insecure, learning is ever more important. Yet the meaning and feeling of both are changing.
Our research was intended to explore these issues and themes. It involved 25 in-depth interviews with students from four faculties at ACU Brisbane. Of the students, 17 were female, 8 were male, 12 were under 25 and 13 were over 25. Two interviewers assembled the data collected from the student volunteers, which covered not only actual experiences of learning and studying at ACU but also their feelings about a range of issues affecting their studies and, potentially, their futures. The key findings were: The campus is still the vital place to be for students. Students viewed the campus as an overwhelmingly positive asset. Many respondents valued the beauty and tranquillity of the original cloisters, while the new Saint John Paul II Building was a dazzling addition.
A range of campus-wide issues concerned with student support systems, admissions, the needs of disadvantaged or minority students and the specific needs of older, return-to-learn adults, were all mentioned in a positive light. Particular mention must be made of the efforts to address the needs and concerns of Indigenous people, which students valued highly.
The relevant knowledge base is changing but students want to work and to develop relationships. Students have firm expectations of their studies, mainly concerned with vocational and professional outcomes, i. e. jobs and opportunities in the labour market. The research results clearly spell out the high value students place on their lecturers’ expertise, subject specialties and professional practice. The integral nature of the university’ s new Research Institutes and their impact on real learning were of particular note.
The university also has a core curriculum common to all undergraduate programs and it is a pioneering development that teaches students to think critically and to be guided by social justice principles. Social relationships and communication skills are embedded in their study programs and were found to be important to students. A critical and changing knowledge base can be seen to be emerging at ACU, where learning is part of a social experience involving professional expertise, social wellbeing, personal survival and engagement.
Real learning involves technology and real-life tasks at work. Real learning is now inseparable from the impact of digitalisation and the new literacies. Students in this research project were, like most students, aware of the significance of computerled or IT-supported learning. Multitasking across different IT platforms and media was common, with most programs offering online learning opportunities.
Not everyone was equally enthusiastic about the benefits of new technology. Older students were less welcoming in general than younger cohorts and perceived the opportunities for digital learning in a less favourable light. Younger students used social media far more extensively than their older colleagues. A majority had a clear preference for small classes and face-to-face contact with staff. A significant proportion of students valued learning outside the classroom undertaken in professional and voluntary settings. Goaldirected knowledge was the keystone of much practice-based learning.
Learning is about personal growth and the self. A key concern for the research project involved the search for a curriculum that could be relevant to people’ s lives in an era of change, uncertainty and challenge. The chance to learn independently and to develop personal competencies and attributes was highly valued. This was a form of self-learning. Personal viability – the capacity to sort out issues and dilemmas of a personal kind using skills and intelligence – was also highly valued. Emotional learning and intelligence were as important to students as subject knowledge.
In conclusion, we can hear some significant voices and messages emerging from students. It is hard to over-estimate the importance to ACU students of professional employment outcomes to their studies. About 93 per cent of ACU graduates secure a job in their first four months after graduation and most respondents had expectations of future work, although they acknowledged that some professions, such as teaching, social work and health were highly competitive in South-east Queensland, which remained the preferred destination for many. Older students were less optimistic than their younger counterparts, for both short-term and longer-term prospects.
Many students anticipated undertaking future professional development and / or lifelong learning. Many were already involved in volunteering and considered it a form of career preparation. Part-time work to pay for study was common, though some found it to be exploitative and older students found it hard to find. Work for modern students is significant and vocational outcomes are a source of positive motivation, encouraging a commitment to real learning.
Each successive generation has its own character and distinctiveness, and forms of knowledge and learning evolve to meet new needs and demands. In the practice-based, enquiry-driven learning programs at ACU, the outlines of an emerging curriculum based on values and real learning can be seen. The student voice can help drive this focus on real learning and character development. And if the university embraces this focus, and isn’ t afraid to change itself nor society for the better, it can create a momentum capable of scaling the steepest precipice. ■
Professor Jim Nyland is the associate vice-chancellor Brisbane at the Australian Catholic University.
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