Facilitating student recognition of their learning

Abstract

The use of the Course Experience Questionnaire survey as a major aspect of funding under the Commonwealth Learning and Teaching Performance Fund has increased the significance of student perceptions of their learning process and environment. As a result, discrepancies between teachers' perceptions of how students are developing and aggregating knowledge and the perception students have about the scope and nature of their competencies become increasingly important for reasons beyond the pedagogical. Where professional skills are a significant aspect of the outcome of the academic context, the issue of students' perceptions of their acquisition of those professional skills can be particularly significant in terms of their overall satisfaction with their course or program. If students do not recognise what and how much they have learned, they may not recognise the value and quality of their learning experience and its outcomes. This paper focuses on teaching in the schools of law and education where the acquisition of professional skills is an intended outcome of the academic program, as a basis for considering the way those skills can be developed and assessed. It provides a context for considering ways in which academics can enable students to recognise the quality and nature of the outcomes