Browsing by Author "Ashwin, Paul"

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    Students' Perspective on the Purposes of Engineering Higher Education: A longitudinal qualitative case study of the U.S. and England
    Abdalla, Alaa (Virginia Tech, 2023-08-28)
    University education across history and contexts aimed for a myriad of purposes, from the advancement of knowledge to educating citizens and contributing to the social good. With the rise of universities functioning in a market economy, and navigating higher education institutions' public role, some of the university purposes are constantly debated, and often without accounting for the students' perspectives. The purpose of this qualitative multi-case study is to explore the students' perspectives on the purpose of enrolling in a higher education institution and obtaining an engineering higher education degree. Each case is focused on a higher education institution, for a total of four institutions across the U.S. and England. The embedded units of analysis focus on twenty (20) undergraduate chemical engineering students' narratives from the time they enroll in those institutions to the time they graduate to answer the following two main research questions: RQ 1: What are the perspectives of undergraduate engineering students towards the purpose of higher education? RQ 2: How, if at all, do undergraduate engineering students' perspectives of the purpose of higher education change throughout their degree? The Capabilities Approach is used as the main theoretical framing. The framework is concerned with the question of what a person is able to do and be. It also provides a perspective on thinking about the purposes of education in terms of instrumental, intrinsic, and social values. Results show a variety of perspectives and reasons why students pursue an engineering degree, mainly expressed in terms of career-driven purposes and personal-driven purposes. Fulfilling being good at math and science, seeking a job for purposes beyond individualistic reasons, and personal growth were some of the common purposes mentioned by the students. In addition, more students than not maintained a fixed perspective throughout their undergraduate years. This research is set to address the problem of the neglect of the students' voices in the literature and to address the lack of research on longitudinal studies, higher education, and capabilities approach within the engineering education space.
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    Undergraduate students' knowledge outcomes and how these relate to their educational experiences: a longitudinal study of chemistry in two countries
    Ashwin, Paul; Blackie, Margaret; Pitterson, Nicole; Smit, Renee (Springer, 2022-11)
    Are the ways of engaging with the world that students develop through higher education particular to bodies of knowledge they study? In this article, we examine how students' accounts of the discipline of chemistry in England and South Africa changed over the three years of their undergraduate degrees. Based on a longitudinal phenomenographic analysis of 105 interviews with 33 chemistry students over the course of their undergraduate degrees in four institutions, we constituted five qualitatively different ways of describing chemistry. These ranged from chemistry as something that happens when things are mixed in a laboratory to a more inclusive account that described chemistry as being able to explain molecular interactions in unfamiliar environments. Most students expressed more inclusive accounts of chemistry by the end of their degrees and the level of change appeared to be related to their educational experiences. In contrast to approaches that emphasise the generic student outcomes from higher education, these findings highlight the importance of recognising the distinctive outcomes that students gain from their engagement with particular bodies of disciplinary knowledge. It further highlights the importance of students understanding their degrees as an educational experience that requires them to commit to engaging with these bodies of knowledge.