1. Learner and student experience in an age of austerity: how is the agenda set? Chris Jones 4th Nov 2013ELESIG1

2. Introduction 4th Nov 2013ELESIG2

3. Austerity 4th Nov 2013ELESIG3 Kal: - http://www.economist.com/node/21553519

4. What is learner experience? Experience – mixes together notions of knowledge with feelings and time –Learners and knowledge –Learners and their feelings –The ‘now’ and the learners future ‘transform the learning experience to meet the students’ needs’ (JISC) 4th Nov 2013ELESIG4

5. Transforming the students experience Austerity and UK student course fees –Not a ‘cheap’ option –Shifts balance from ‘public good’ to private debt A hidden curriculum –Debt and repayment –Individual competition –Consumer not citizen 4th Nov 2013ELESIG5

6. The contemporary experience What are students learning? What are universities selling? What are students buying? 4th Nov 2013ELESIG6

7. Private profit and public interest The student experience as consumer –Personal responsibility for cost of education –Personal cost and personal gain Why should ‘I’ pay for schools…? The student experience as citizen –Shared responsibility for costs –Social costs and shared gains Student ‘owes’ responsibility to others 4th Nov 2013ELESIG7

8. A contemporary learner experience 4.4 The learner experience in MOOCs There is a strong emphasis on learner independence and peer support in MOOCs. Partly this is a result of their scale and that they are free – the providers of the course cannot afford to employ sufficient staff to provide support. (my emphasis) http://www.open.edu/openlearn/educati on/open-education/content-section-4.4 http://www.open.edu/openlearn/educati on/open-education/content-section-4.4 4th Nov 2013ELESIG8

9. MOOCs and policy hype cMOOC or xMOOC –Dialogue –Transmission –Local variation Edinburgh Digital Cultures (Coursera) Student experience –Consumer? 4th Nov 2013ELESIG9

10. Phenomenography and the learner experience The study of variation in conceptions of phenomena –Began Sweden 1970s (Marton, Säljö) –Popularised 1980s ‘90s Began as empirical research –Epistemology and ontology clarified later –Popularly associated with ‘deep’ and ‘surface’ learning 4th Nov 2013ELESIG10

11. Deep and Surface 4th Nov 2013ELESIG11

12. Approaches and contexts Phenomenography stresses student approaches (relational) –Approaches are not styles –Approach influenced by context Teaching Space and place Networked learning 4th Nov 2013ELESIG12

13. Approaches to learning Phenomenography underpins: –Qualitative research –Quantitative work – Approaches to Study inventories (ASI, ASSIST) –Related work e.g. Biggs constructive alignment, 3P model –Course Experience Questionnaire (Ramsden 1991) 4th Nov 2013ELESIG13

14. The 3 P model 4th Nov 2013ELESIG14

15. From academic research to… “…the widespread and usually unquestioning use of this model imposes limitations on the way that research data about student learning are both generated and understood.” (Haggis 2003) The research has become a dominant policy paradigm 4th Nov 2013ELESIG15

16. Student experience and austerity There is currently little focus on the broader student experience The learner experience is seen as a ‘technical’ issue –A narrow form of rationality –Student needs are not fixed Policy helps form them We reap what we sow… 4th Nov 2013ELESIG16

17. The costs of HE A fall in the percentage of GDP spent on university funding between 2008 and 2013 in 10 EU countries and an increase in eight (EUA 2013). In the UK (England and Wales) university spending is falling as a proportion of GDP. After rising from 2008 to 2011, expenditure fell to 0.46% of GDP http://www.eua.be/Libraries/Governance_Autonomy_Fun ding/EUA_PFO_report_2013.sflb.ashx http://www.eua.be/Libraries/Governance_Autonomy_Fun ding/EUA_PFO_report_2013.sflb.ashx 4th Nov 2013ELESIG17

18. Students and analytics The prospect of new sources –Traces without intervention Who’s in charge? –Managed experience Who’s data –What happens to aggregate data Google apps etc 4th Nov 2013ELESIG18 educause

19. Students form their own experiences 4th Nov 2013ELESIG19