Transitions in higher education

This paper offers ideas towards a solution of some of the problems that arise due to the extension of higher education to an ever wider range of students: especially student drop‐out. It suggests that, as far as is practical, the design and delivery of higher education should be based upon the major changes or transitions which the students undergo. After a definition of ‘transition’ the paper discusses four major examples: transitions in knowledge, understanding and skills; autonomy; approaches to learning; social and cultural integration and the student’s self‐concept. The paper ends by drawing out some of the broader implications of this approach for the design and delivery of higher education

Learning outcomes: a conceptual analysis

Learning outcomes have become widely used in higher education, but also misused to the point of being controversial and a bureaucratic burden. This paper distinguishes three kinds of learning outcome found in current literature: (1) those used in individual teaching events; (2) those specified for modules or short courses; and (3) those specified for whole degree programmes. The nature of each is explored and their use in assessment and auditing is discussed, together with related notions such as the ‘corridor of tolerance’, emergent outcomes, etc. It is concluded that learning outcomes used in individual teaching events (1) are the most useful kind if employed flexibly, but that they cannot be specified exactly or used for auditing performance, and their relationship with assessment is complex. Learning outcomes specified for modules or short courses (2) state little more than a list of contents; they cannot be stated precisely and have limitations in guiding assessment. Learning outcomes specified for whole degree programmes (3) is a misuse of the term ‘learning outcome’