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Why Would Going to University Change Anyone? The Challenges of Capturing the Transformative Power of Higher Education in Comparisons of Quality

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  • Paul Ashwin

Abstract

Paul Ashwin - Professor of Higher Education, Centre for Higher Education Research and Evaluation, Department of Educational Research, Lancaster University. Address: Department of Educational Research, County South, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YL, UK. E-mail: p.ashwin@lancaster.ac.ukIn this paper, I examine the tensions between the transformational potential undergraduate degrees and ways we have of measuring and comparing the quality of those degrees nationally and internationally. I argue that what makes higher education a higher form of education is the relations that students develop to knowledge through the study of particular bodies of disciplinary and professional knowledge. Given, this I argue that this needs to be central to the ways in which we understand and measure the quality of an undergraduate education. I review current ways of measuring quality and argue that they do not capture these aspects of an undergraduate education and so are not fit for purpose. In conclusion I argue that higher education researchers have a responsibility to develop more valid ways of comparing the quality of undergraduate degrees. DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2016-1-21-34

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Ashwin, 2016. "Why Would Going to University Change Anyone? The Challenges of Capturing the Transformative Power of Higher Education in Comparisons of Quality," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 1, pages 21-34.
    • Handle: RePEc:nos:voprob:2016:i:1:p:21-34
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Samantha Sin & Anna Reid & Alan Jones, 2012. "An Exploration of Students' Conceptions of Accounting Work," Accounting Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 323-340, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Colin Holmes & David Lindsay, 2018. "“Do You Want Fries With That?†: The McDonaldization of University Education—Some Critical Reflections on Nursing Higher Education," SAGE Open, , vol. 8(3), pages 21582440187, July.

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