Association for Learning Development in Higher Education
4th LDHEN Symposium:
Bournemouth University
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Keynote Address | Parallel Sessions
Keynote Address - Professor Ronald Barnett
Willing to Learn: being a student in an age of uncertainty
What keeps students going? Most do keep going and complete their studies. How do we account for this phenomenon, surely a largely unremarked and yet extraordinary human phenomenon? – That individuals should give themselves up to a challenging project of human learning lasting several years. We cannot account for it by way of stories simply about the acquisition of knowledge or skills. We need a different vocabulary, and a different description of this situation.
The complexity of the situation is compounded by the fact that, characteristically the student is plunged into a state of uncertainty. Not only are their studies bounded by uncertainty (there are examinations to be attempted, with uncertain outcomes!) but students are faced with complex problems for which there are seldom, if at all, ‘right’ answers. They also often have a sense of connections, albeit hazily formed, between their studies and a wider world, itself a source of further uncertainty. This realization, of the openness, and indeed infinitude, of their learning and their words and actions, often produces anxiety in students.
Students, therefore, are not just knowing or practical subjects. They are human beings, each with his or her own being. We may account for their persistence on their course through their having, in each case, a will to learn. But then, two questions arise:
- What is the relationship between the will and the intellect? (For Schopenhauer, ‘the will is the substance of man, the intellect the accident’: was he right?)
- Is the will general or specific?
We can only answer these questions in any serious way by resorting to a vocabulary of ‘being’, ‘becoming’ and ‘will’. En route, other terms such as ‘spirit ‘ and ‘authenticity’ may come into view. And with the answers to our two questions – which turn out to be linked with a single set of answers – may come a new conception of teaching itself.
Parallel Sessions
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Becka Currant,
University of Bradford 'Switching them On or Turning Them Off? Engaging with non-users.'
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Tom Burns, Debbie Holley and Sandra Sinfield,
London Metropolitan University "It's a wonder they engage with learning at all!" An exploration of the HE student as silenced stakeholder in the UK Government e-learning strategy
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Anne-Kathrin Reck,
University of Central England 'Throwing a lifeline - intervention strategies for students at risk'
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Penny Burden, Marc Griffith and
Sarah Campbell, University of Surrey 'In at the Deep End: Transformation of space'
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Jonathan Staal,
University of Abertay 'Using discussion in classes'
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Lindy Syson,
University of Northumbria 'From Assessment to Development: Report of a project to support first year Nursing Diploma students'
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Karen O'Rourke,
University of Manchester 'Engaging Students in the CETL Initiative'
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Peter Hartley, Adam Birch, Vikki
Illingworth
(University of Bradford), Kate Smith (Brunel University), Julia
Braham, Carol Elston (University of Leeds) 'Designing learning resources that students choose to use - A collaborative, evaluative approach'
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Pauline Ridley (University of
Brighton), Judy Cohen (University of Kent), Caroline Cash
(University College Falmouth) 'Picture this: Using visual research methodology to explore how students engage with visual learning and assessment'
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Judith Harding,
University of the Arts, London "Hunger is the best sauce": Encouraging engagement through curiosity, metaphor and serious play
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Alfredo Gaiton,
University of Bedfordshire "When I learnt that this module involved group work, I felt rather apprehensive": An analysis for students' reflections of group work
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Deidre Burke,
University of Wolverhampton 'How Students use Tutor feedback'
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Peter Wilson,
University of Hull Demonstration of an innovative software tool to help develop skill and confidence in Academic Writing in English
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Pat Hill and Jane Mullen,
University of Huddersfield Writing Skills - An integrated approach
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Alison Green,
Bournemouth University Peer Assisted Learning & The Educative: how informal learning processes empower first year students to engage with formal curricula
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Ian Worden and Phil Verril,
University of Chichester 'i-teaching-eLearning': Engaging students through technology enhanced learning
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Judy Cohen and Des Laffey,University of Kent 'Carrot or stick? Student engagement with Turnitin: Implementing Turnitin formatively in Business Courses'
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Julian Ingle,
London Metropolitan University English Language and Literacy: Supporting Student Diversity
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Louise Frith,
University of Kent 'How Does e-Portfolio Software Support Students' Engagement with Learning?'
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Tracy Johnson,
University of Bristol 'How do international students engage with learning about study skills in British Higher Education?'
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Kirsten Hardie and students,
Arts Institute at Bournemouth On Trial: teaching without talking
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