The changing face of the higher education student: proceedings of an Internet conference

Abstract

This paper is an account of the proceedings of an Internet conference which was sponsored by Education + Training. The conference identified a number of issues and questions arising from the increasingly complex environment of Higher Education. The changing characteristics of the relationship between the providers of Higher Education and its various customer markets and publics are discussed in the proceedings. Views, opinions and examples of responses to change were shared during the conference.

Lecture absenteeism among students in higher education: a valuable route to understanding student motivation

“…Lomas, 1997;Scoffield, 1999). This struggle is reflected in what many commentators see as a move away from a collegiate, broadlybased higher education to an increasingly pragmatic approach to the development of skills and competencies that respond more directly to the needs of industry, in general, and of employers, in particular (Bakewell & Gibson-Sweet, 1998).…”

An Agency Theory Perspective on Student Performance Evaluation

“…Therefore, students may not only be customers, but also the product of higher education. If the educated student is indeed the product (and the yet uneducated student thus one of its supplies), then customers, such as future employers (Wambsganss & Kennett, 1995; Scoffield, 1999), can be expected to care about the extent to which students have been educated. This “student‐as‐product” approach suggests that instructors have an obligation to the customers of the university for ensuring that students are well prepared for their roles in society, including acquired knowledge and the ability to act wisely on that knowledge within civilization (Colby, Ehrlich, Beaumont, & Stephens, 2003).…”

Undergraduate work experience: an alternative approach using micro businesses

“…Reflection is a key component of the action learning model (see for example McGill and Beaty, 1995). However, we know little about the process of reflection and how it influences learning and the development of transferable skills (Scoffield, 1999;Moon, 1999). It has, however, been suggested by Davies (2000) that young students may not have the maturity for effective reflection.…”