Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:1215] Supply and demand - and autonomous learning
From: Chris O'Hagan (C.M.Ohagan@derby.ac.uk)
Date: Wed 21 Feb 2001 - 16:10:51 MET
From: "Chris O'Hagan" <C.M.Ohagan@derby.ac.uk> Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 15:10:51 -0000 Subject: [IFETS-DISCUSSION:1215] Supply and demand - and autonomous learning
Hi
Some comments on responses to my mailing, and the general debate.
In reponse to what the GUA research suggested students want to study,
Jennie Swan suggested we would need some engineers - but how many, I
would ask? There was a Faculty called The Rest in the model, which
might include engineering!. Engineering has been a declining subject
in the UK for nearly 20 years now. Most departments have had to
diversify - Derby into music technologies, for example. Students
don't want to study science and engineering like they used to. This
partly reflects a relative decline in demand within society, but also
the 'authoritarian' way these subjects have often been taught - and I
speak as an ex-chemist turned student of literature, who has been
eternally grateful that the prestigious 'stalag' in which he studied
chemistry decided not to give him a degree after three years - we
were just chalk and cheese! (Having worked in a tedious industrial
laboratory before going to university did not help my enthusiasm.) I
later taught Philosophy and Social Studies of Science - I believed
potential scientists should critically examine the foundations,
methods and social impact of their subject (and teaching methods!),
as well as improve their general analytical and communication skills -
but at the first opportunity offered by a revalidation, this element
was removed to make way for more 'content' (fortunately I had already
left the programme). Are most science teachers and researchers their
own worst enemy in their totally convergent attitudes towards the
curriculum? Would making it more attractive to the less committed
potential student (without an anorak) hurt the *integrity* of the
subject that much. Would adopting more open, interdisciplinary
approaches - in general, a more 'critical' frame of mind (as is de
rigeur in the social sciences and humanities) - threaten their
livelihoods? I think learning a science develops important
intellectual skills. The mistake is to think that these are
sufficient on their own. The skills learned by students of social
science, literature, history, business etc are actually far more
useful in a general employment way - because they are more
interpersonal, more 'human', and involve analytical skills which do
not assume that there is one 'right' answer, and develop synthetical
skills which are generally ignored until PG levels in science
education. If such students actually gain scientific
skills/understanding as well (more than just numeracy) - then the
world is really their oyster!
And then we should remember that around 60 - 70 % of science students
never have anything further to do formally with science in their
careers. Yet science subjects are taught as though all students are
future researchers! (This was partly my point about 'superior
education' for a few - university undergrad courses have been
typically targetted at a minority of those enrolled whom the teachers
would like to see progress to postgraduate level, the rest of the
course members just having to 'make do'.) How innapropriate. Quite
simply there is *no* shortage of science graduates, just a shortage
of those who want science as a career after having been ground down
by three or four years of study and had the enthusiasm leeched out
of them. I exaggerate, perhaps, but that is how it felt to me all
those years ago, I wasn't alone by any means, and students were much
less 'picky' then.
In fact, the rise of corporate universities has occurred in large
part because employers could not find the rapidly-evolving skills
they needed on the open market.
I totally agree with Bob Leamnson that autonomous learning is the
goal, and is generally not totally achievable at the undergraduate
level. Work experience is important - part of being an autonomous
learner is being able to apply to real situations, make choices. But
even the autonomous learner needs to gain feedback - which may be
from a teacher or friend etc. You need to have affirmation of your
goals and progress. Sometimes feelings of success are not enough.
But all subjects - including science and engineering - need to
develop skills which lead towards autonomy in learning. Knowledge is
dead, to coin a phrase that once had another 'universal' at its head.
There is too much of it - and so learning to use the knowledge
you've got, know when that is not enough, and know where to find what
you need, is critical. Skills, not knowledge.
Too much of the debate I have been reading has not paid attention to
the age or cultural background of the student. As a mature student I
did a work-based learning, distance PG course. There was no face-to-
face. This did not trouble me - in fact the lack of a fixed schedule
was great. But I would have found that difficult as a teenager. One
gets the impression that other cultures can cope better at a younger
age than in the over-indulged West.
I think we will see a lot of mixed-mode, combining small, highly-
focused elements of ftf with a lot of dl. Though one should note
that synchronous e-learning is gaining in power and facilities (such
as my own institution's telepresence teaching using five small
studios in Derby to teach 6,000 students in Israel in 22 classrooms
by interactive television - a system that in principle can teach
students at home as well). To enable this kind of mixed mode dl we
will see a lot of partnerships across the globe to provide the mortar
to go with a distant institution's clicks. In fact, what am I
saying, using the future tense! It is already happening, and gaining
momentum daily.
Sorry to go on and on. I don't join in often, but when I do....
Chris O'Hagan
============================================
Professor Christopher O'Hagan
Dean of Learning Development
Centre for Educational Development and Media
University of Derby
Kedleston Road
DERBY, DE22 1GB
England
Tel: +44 (0)1332 591255 (direct)
Fax: +44 (0)1332 622772
Email: c.m.ohagan@derby.ac.uk
WWW: http://www.derby.ac.uk/cedm/welcome.html
I am always seeking book proposals for SEDA Publications:
http://www.seda.demon.co.uk/pubsmenu.html
and article proposals for the webzine The Technology Source:
http://horizon.unc.edu/TS
To wonder about one's identity is not about
searching for one's roots, it is to ask oneself:
Who else could I be? Anon, C6 BC
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