The University Experience: An Australian StudyWhat is the university to the 'normal' student? Is it an ivory tower, a community of scholars, the place of a liberal education? The original research incorporated in this book challenges many of the comfortable myths about tertiary education. Dr. Little conducted exhaustive interviews with 120 third-year students. He asked them why they came to university, what their parents' attitude was, whether they had non-university friends, what they expected of their lectures, whether they enjoyed their studies. Here, in their own words, are the answers. Three academic years have surprisingly little effect on the average student. He is not involved with radical or conservative student fringes. His family and friends have more impact than the academic staff. He has little informal or personal contact with his lectures and rarely wants more. He spends little time in extra-curricular activities at the university and seldom works beyond the syllabus. The university remains a static backdrop to a personal development which is a different kind for humanities and science students. This is a constructive and disturbing book. |
Contents
Introduction | 1 |
The Approach to the University | 12 |
The Academic Experience | 37 |
Copyright | |
10 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
academic activities amongst Arts and Science Arts pass Arts students Arts woman asked attitudes Australian National University Australian universities Australian Vice-Chancellors awareness cent chapter clubs competence considered country students course discussions Education in Australia especially exams expectations extra-curricular extracts faculty feel friends friendships go to university half the students ideas impact implies important influence informal intel intellectual interest interview involved Katz learning lectual lectures less live marriage matric mimeo non-university one-third Oxbridge parent-led parents pass students perhaps personal style political probably professional question relevance responses sample Science students Science woman seemed sense sity social social class staff student culture suggest syllabus Table talk teacher-led teachers teaching Tertiary Education there's thought tion topics un-led univer university experience University of Melbourne university students university's women