Final year biosciences students’ willingness to engage: teaching–learning environments, authentic learning experiences and identities

Abstract

The research reported in this article investigates what students perceive as influencing their willingness to engage actively with their studies. The semi‐structured interviews which form the basis of this analysis are a subset of the data from the Enhancing Teaching–Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses (ETL) Project, a large‐scale project funded by the UK Economic and Social Research Council. The findings from the analysis were drawn together in a multifaceted conceptual model, which describes the interplay between aspects of students’ identities and facets of their learning contexts in university and on work placement. The notion of ‘authentic learning experiences’ is used to illuminate the students’ perspectives on how key learning experiences influenced their identities and willingness to engage with their studies.

Acknowledgements

I am very grateful to Professors Noel Entwistle, Dai Hounsell and Carolin Kreber, and three anonymous referees, for their constructive comments on this manuscript. The data re‐analysed in this article were drawn from the Enhancing Teaching–Learning Environments in Undergraduate Courses (ETL) project funded by the Teaching and Learning Research Programme of the UK Economic and Social Research Programme. This project was undertaken by a team from the Universities of Coventry, Durham and Edinburgh in collaboration with partner departments in the subject areas. Members of the project team over time were Charles Anderson, Liz Beaty, Adrian Bromage, Glynis Cousin, Kate Day, Noel Entwistle, Dai Hounsell, Jenny Hounsell, Ray Land, Judith Litjens, Velda McCune, Erik Meyer, Jennifer Nisbet, Nicola Reimann and Hilary Tait.