HIGHLIGHT #4 | 63
62 | JADE
CHRISTOPHER LITTLE
HIGHLIGHT | #4
Reference List
Allen, J. and Clarke, K. (2007) ‘Nurturing Supportive Learning
Environments in Higher Education through the Teaching of Study
Skills: To Embed or Not to Embed?’, International Journal of
Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 64-76
Title
Barlow, A., Ackroyd, J. and Phillips, A. (2011) ‘Is Learning
Development ‘Part of the Problem’?, in Hartley, P. et al. (2011)
Learning Development in Higher Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan. pp. 40-52.
Contact
Hilsdon, J., Keenan, C. and Sinfield, S. (2011) ‘Learning Development:
Work in Progress’, in Hartley, P. et al. (2011) Learning Development
in Higher Education. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 253-258.
Johnson, R. (2000) ‘The Authority of the Student Questionnaire’,
Teaching in Higher Education, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 419-434.
Unimatch.com
Author(s)
Kathleen Hains
[email protected]
Unimatch.com is an outline for an app that will help future first
year students at Keele University and other universities across
the rest of the United Kingdom and the world find their place and
feel more comfortable in their first year at university. The app
would have similar features to match.com, a dating website to
help people find their perfect match, as it would match students
up with clubs, organizat ions, and other students with similar
interests and characteristics. Other features include information
on how to get in touch with teachers and help centers around
the university, walking satellite navigation around the university
and into the buildings, and information on international support
and off-campus housing.
This app would use the theory of informal learning, which is
learning that is controlled by the learner, because the program
does not involve a teacher or specific plan. It would be used by
students to help them meet new people, join societies they are
interested in, and find their way around the campus more easily,
among other things. In informal learning, students learn through
experience. The goal of Unimatch.com is to help students find
their place in a new school so they can have those experiences.
The first thing students will do when they join Unimatch.com
is fill out a questionnaire. They would give their name, age,
university, and student identification number. This information
provided will help determine the student’s profile, which would
provide the student with information. This information will
include: a timetable, teacher contact information, and walking
directions to classes. Other information, such as hobbies and
interests, whether the student is an international or national/
home student, and whether they live on or off campus, will
also be a part of the questionnaire and this would help the app
determine clubs and other students to match the student with.
If a student says that he or she is an international student, they
app will provide this student with additional information. This
includes information on where the international department is
on campus and who to get in touch with for any questions about
the host university. International students would also have links
to helpful travel websites and programs offered such as Host
UK. If the student lives off campus or wants to live off campus,
the app would give recommendations for cost-effective and
nearby apartments or houses as well as a way to get in touch
with potential roommates. Off-campus students would also
be able to type in the name of the street they live on and get
information on nearby restaurants, bars, shopping centers, and
more. This would be helpful to students in university because
often times the student is not from the area where the school is
located. It would be beneficial for students to have easy access
to an information system about the surrounding area until they