Understanding Learning and Studying (P02198)

? Credit Points : 10 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : EDU-P-P02198

Against the backcloth of consideration of the distinctive aims and outcomes of higher education, this unit provides a critical introduction to contrasting approaches to conceptualising learning and studying at university level. The perspectives surveyed are drawn from cognitive psychology; grounded and phenomenographic studies of students' experiences of learning and studying and perceptions of undergraduate courses as teaching-learning environments; and undergraduate learning as participation in discourse communities. The unit focuses on what insights can be gleaned from these differing perspectives that can inform day-to-day teaching-learning practices.

Entry Requirements

? This course is not available to visting students.

? Pre-requisites : For new lecturers participation in the two day orientation to teaching at the University of Edinburgh offered by the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Assessment is a course requirement.

? Special Arrangements for Entry : Pre-course reading, in-course reading and follow-up reading as well as assignment preparation complement face-to-face teaching/learning activities to a total of 100 notional effort hours.

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Education, (The Moray House School of Education, Schedule C)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Full Year (Blocks 1-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 7 hour(s) per week for 2 weeks

? Other Required Attendance : 43 hour(s) per week for 2 weeks

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the unit, programme participants will have:
- acquainted themselves with the principal conceptual frameworks and perspectives deployed in understanding learning and studying in higher education
- reviewed the implications of discipline and subject differences for undergraduate learning and studying
- drawn critically upon different conceptual perspectives to enhance their grasp of learning and studying in their own discipline or subject area

Assessment Information

Focusing on a first-year course unit in their own subject area, participants draft a set of guidelines alerting the course team for the unit to the likely differences between the students enrolling in that unit in how they go about their learning and perceive what is expected of them academically. The guidelines should draw appropriately on student learning research literature relevant to the subject area and what is known about the prior knowledge, educational experiences and backgrounds of the incoming students. Target length 2,000-2,500 words.