At the recent Society of Educational Studies Annual Seminar held in London, Professor Mike Osborne and Dr Muir Houston of the University of Glasgow were members of the research team¹ whose book: Improving What is Learned at University: An Exploration of the Social and Organisational Diversity of University Education, was Highly Commended in the Society's Annual Book Prize. Judging criteria included: quality of research, originality of analysis and argument and quality and accessibility of writing.

In the book, the authors explore this question through the voices of higher education students, using empirical data from students taking 15 different courses at different universities across three subject areas – bioscience, business studies and sociology. The study concentrates on the students’ experiences, lives, hopes and aspirations while at university through data from interviews and questionnaires, and this is collated and assessed alongside the perspectives of their teachers and official data from the universities they attend.

Through this study the authors provide insights into ‘what is really learned at university’ and how much it differs between individual students and the universities they attend. Notions of ‘best’ or ‘top’ universities are challenged throughout, and both diversities and commonalities of being a student are demonstrated. Posing important questions for higher education institutions about the experiences of their students and the consequences for graduates and society, this book is compelling reading for all those involved in higher education, providing conclusions which do not always follow conventional lines of thought about diversity and difference in UK higher education.

¹The other authors and members of the research team were: John Brennan, Rob Edmunds, David Jary, John TE Richardson and Yann Lebeau

Dr Muir Houston
Social Justice, Place and Lifelong Education Research
School of Education
College of Social Sciences
University of Glasgow
0141-330-4699

R3L+ Project - Adult education in the light of the European Quality Strategy
http://www.learning-regions.net/

GINCO Project - Grundtvig International Network of Course Organisers
http://www.ginconet.eu/