Hacia las entrañas de la burocracia, de la mano de un gatekeeper

In the increasingly competitive environment for higher education, where the marketing of programmes and attraction of students to vocationally orientated degrees has taken on greater importance in recent years, the task of bridging the gap between knowledge and practical application lies with education leaders and teaching staff (Kuh, 2008; Lefever, 1989; Lefever and Withiam, 1998; Shortt, 1992).

While many educators, operating within their own administrative strategies, seek the most cost effective experiences for their students, some are investing significant time and resources in facilitating the very best learning outcomes available for their students. As a result, these institutions are being recognised in a plethora of reports produced through the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in the UK and various other accrediting bodies throughout the world.

In the United States (US), where the context of this study is housed, Indiana University annually publishes a report called the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). This is the product of a research team at the university who reach out to all accredited, Bachelor‘s degree awarding higher education institutions in the US to survey students on their experiences within an undergraduate education setting. The results are compiled in an annual report that highlights much of what students seek in their professional development and learning at university. Since its inception in 2000, 1493 institutions have participated in the process eliciting responses from more than 2.7 million students, see NSEE Report. (2009) Retrieved 21 January 2010, from http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2009_Results

4

The release of the 2009 and 2010 NSSE reports provide additional and compelling evidence that students benefit from a number of ‗high impact‘ experiences during their tenure at university. The report assesses the level of student engagement obtained through a combination of curriculum and faculty led learning activities including learning communities, undergraduate research, problem based activities, service learning and internships. The final report submitted for evaluation, translates these findings into five benchmark categories which address areas such as the level of academic challenge, active and collaborative learning, student-faculty interaction, a supportive campus environment and enriching educational experiences. These benchmarks serve as an important tool for student engagement and clearly take on more importance as they are used extensively by educators (to seek ways for improving the student experience) and potential college bound students who value a pedagogy which results in a higher level of commitment to their studies and learning outcomes, see NSEE Report. (2009) Retrieved 21 January 2010, from http://nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2009_Results

One of the key objectives of the NSSE report is to demonstrate how these experiences; translate to higher levels of learning and development. This intent serves as another example of how educators seek new and different ways to not only add value to their student‘s educational development but to make greater relevance of their learning experiences. This shift in orientation toward a new style of pedagogy, where engaging the student through different learning methods, is nothing new. John Dewey, the American philosopher and psychologist, offered numerous criticisms to the traditional education system back in the 1920‘s and 30‘s challenging its shortcomings in fully developing the potential of the learner. His work outlines that the knowledge driven approach of traditional education is, alone, a

5

limiting concept and his inclusion of student‘s actual experiences creates a concept he called ‗progressive education‘ (Dewey, 1938). This notion of progressive education was the catalyst for other researchers and educators that followed including Hahn and Freire, each building on Dewey‘s work and developing these ideas further with experiential education at the heart of their research (Itin, 1999;

Kolb, 1984).

As a vehicle for student engagement, experiential educational is a key component of the NSSE benchmark on enriching educational experiences. The findings outlined in both the 2009 and 2010 reports support the observations made by a plethora of theorists (Dewey, Freire, Hahn, Kolb, Lewin, Mezirow and Rogers) that delve specifically into the practice of experiential learning as a teaching and learning tool and advocate its role and contribution in both the workplace and an educational setting. Since its publication, education administrators and teaching staff have taken greater notice of this publication and are now re-visiting their teaching and learning strategies accordingly to facilitate these high impact learning experiences (Kuh, 2008). When examining the findings shared in both the NSSE reports and Kuh‘s (2008) insights into high impact learning experiences, it‘s clear to see that the recommendations proposed are not isolated simply to the US. Although the research is conducted on students attending institutions of higher learning in America, the examples discussed and the recommendations offered are transferable throughout all countries where similarities in culture prevail.

In the UK, the higher education system has seen much transformation over the last 20 years. The 1990‘s were particularly a decade of change where a number of policies were proposed and introduced into higher education. These commenced

6

with changes in education legislation introduced by the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, where the need for more responsive, accountable leadership allowed many institutions to revisit their strategic plans and thus consider, amongst other things, a series of alternative teaching and learning strategies. In addition, an intensive review of higher education was undertaken through the publication of the National Committee of Inquiry into Higher Education Report, 1997 (often referred to as the Dearing Report). This comprehensive account of the state of higher education in the UK offers numerous recommendations concerning the funding, expansion, and maintenance of academic standards and addresses strategies for widening participation, the development of sub degrees and the inclusion of a more experienced based curriculum.