RAPPORT
tasks should to be beyond what students already know or are used to and, as such, takes them‘ out of their comfort zone’ where a substantial effort is needed to complete a task. There is a fine balance between degree of difficulty and ability that ensures that an individual remains motivated and can achieve significant results, as flow theory suggests( Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). We also believe that significant learning requires that the learners are aware of what is happening as they study, as well as what they know before and after an experience, as well as of the process that they have gone through. These types of reflection are often known as‘ reflection in action’ and‘ reflection on action’( Schön, 1983). By reflecting on the learning process, learners can see what can be improved next time they attempt a similar task. Feedback, in its various forms, supports such reflective practice when learners pay sufficient attention to it or discuss it with tutors. Finally, students must‘ have the opportunity to influence aspects of their teaching and the assessment they experience’; this is what we have called‘ co-created’ learning, but it remains the most challenging element of the model of realistic learning.
TE is the contribution of individual lecturers and the institution as a whole to the processes of realistic learning. At the University of Bedfordshire, we like to think that the institutional mission( expressed in its various strategies), as well as the goals and practices of individual lecturers and teaching teams, have realistic learning at their heart. Quality assurance procedures, at least in theory, should support critical engagement and continuous improvement, taking into account the level of effectiveness / impact of such practices. Student feedback is a crucial source of information in this respect. To summarise, student engagement and teaching excellence are processes that, in turn, ignite and provide the energy for the core learning processes described as realistic learning.
The third set of variables refers to the outcomes of the learning processes. The most salient effects of realistic learning in the first stages of learning are changes in awareness and motivation. Students in their first year should make discoveries about their subject, themselves and the social world. For instance, at the end of their first year, they often say that they realise how much broader or complex the discipline is, and admit that at first they had a very simple idea( Gaitan & Atlay, 2008a and 2008b). In terms of motivation, again after the first year most students’ interest in the subject becomes stronger, as they confirm their degree is the right one for them, or more diverse. It is expected that, during the successive stages of their studies, these interests will narrow, which should be
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reflected in their choice of topic for their final year project and future career plans. These outcomes are not very often recognised either by institutions or tutors. Improvements in students’ knowledge and skills are, by contrast, made explicit at every stage of the curriculum in the documentation of university courses and are the object of formal assessment. More general, but equally important outcomes, include academic attainment, which for an individual is expressed as the weighted average for a unit / module or at the end of the course( e. g. the GPA or the degree classification), and for the institution as the percentage of‘ good degrees’. There is, however, agreement that achievement, on the other hand, refers to the progress made by a student, based on his / her specific circumstances, and describes a process 5. Some institutions confer special awards for outstanding achievement, but this is not normally measured routinely. Admittedly, some progress has been made to express specific graduate attributes that are more informative in a final report called‘ Higher Education Achievement Record’( HEAR), but this varies across the sector6. Finally, a very important outcome is the ability of graduates to gain graduate employment( known as‘ employability’). This has been the focus of most higher education institutions over the last two decades. Data are collected for the whole of the UK through the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education( DLHE) survey and published for each institution and course, describing the proportion of graduates working in the UK, working overseas, working and studying, studying, unemployed or involved in‘ other’ activities( e. g. travel). However, league tables of universities use percentages of graduates in‘ graduate jobs’ as a success criterion. It has often been argued that since the survey only describes leavers’ destination six months after graduation, it misrepresents the employability of graduates in areas that require further training beyond a first degree, since they often take on jobs for a year or so, to pay off their debt before
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A related notion is that of‘ learning gain’, defined as‘ an attempt to measure the improvement in knowledge, skills, work-readiness and personal development made by students during their time spent in higher education’( Higher Education Council for England [ HEFCE ], 2016). There are currently 13 project funded by HEFCE that have identified a number of ways of assessing learning gain, including grades, surveys, standardised test and other qualitative methods and mixed methods.
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The HEAR has been considered as having recognised potential for formative and more holistic use, see https:// www. liverpool. ac. uk / my-liverpool /
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