The Context of Learning in Academic Departments

Previous chapters have already indicated ways in which the educational context is bound up with students’ approaches to learning. The framework of institution, department and courses, affects students’ perceptions of reading, listening to lectures, writing essays and solving problems. Students do not, for example, simply read an article. They read it for a purpose connected with a course of study and in response to the requirements of those who teach the course. It is a central theme of this book that a student’s perception of the learning context is an integral part of his or her experience of learning. The special concern of this chapter is with how students’ perceptions of teaching, assessment, and course content and structure within the natural setting of academic departments may influence how students learn. The focus is thus not on the framework of courses and assessment itself, but rather on what the students construct out of this framework. How do students experience the effects of the context of learning at university? The following three extracts from research interviews serve to illustrate the pervasive influences of teaching and assessment on students’ attitudes towards studying and on their approaches to learning.