Relevant, practical and connected to the real world: what higher education students say engages them in the curriculum

Abstract

The discourse on preparing job-ready graduates has led to calls for more authentic methods of teaching and learning that allow higher education students to enhance their employability. The literature identifies authentic approaches to teaching as those that situate learning in contexts that correspond to the ‘real world’. However, little is known about whether, or how, students in Irish higher education view their learning as authentic. Drawing on Ireland’s national survey of student engagement, this paper examined the free text responses of 93,743 students over a five-year period when asked what their institutions could do to improve engagement in their learning. Using both an automatic content and manual analysis, it was found that the theme of ‘work’ was strongly represented in the data. Strongly connected to ‘work’ were the concepts ‘real world’, ‘real life’ and ‘group’ with students requesting learning that was relevant, practical, and job- or career-related. While group learning was seen in a positive light, students valued projects that were connected to the world of work. In contrast to the literature, these students don’t frame their narratives in terms of ‘authentic’ learning, rather they speak of learning that has real-world relevance. The paper concludes with suggestions for institutions.