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Learning gain in higher education, specifically the development of subject-adjacent skills, abilities and competencies, is of key scholarly and policy relevance. However, little research focuses on students’ broad understandings of learning gain. This paper takes a phenomenographic approach to explore students’ conceptions of learning gain, and how these may differ by subject and stage of study. Drawing on thirty-three qualitative interviews with a diverse group of undergraduate and postgraduate students across four subjects in three UK universities, this paper derives three distinct categories of understanding in relation to learning gain, increasing in complexity. The first category, naïve understandings, is characterised by short-term learning goals, the prioritisation of surface approaches to learning including memorisation, with subject knowledge more important than skills. Motivations to learn are broadly extrinsic and related to assessments. The second category, emergent understandings, features greater awareness of approaches to learning, including structured planning of learning activities in response to a range of goals, and pragmatic responses to desirable learning outcomes. There is growing recognition of links between subject-specific and generic skills, and adaptation features strongly. The most sophisticated category, comprehensive understandings, is characterised by flexible learning goals, the acknowledgment of the independent nature of higher education learning and strong self-regulation, with deep approaches to learning consciously prioritised. Dynamic views of knowledge prevail, which distinguish this category from the other two. These categories of understanding grow in complexity with study stage, and also vary by subject of study, with interactions present in relation to prioritised aspects of learning gain, views of change and how explicit aspects of learning gain are made within the subject of study. Any attempt to capture learning gain for its improvement would therefore need to encompass a variety of aspects of learning gain, contextualised for subject and stage and include a student perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, access to higher education has increased, but inequalities by socio‐economic background remain. This article explores the relationship between early schooling opportunities (and learning) and progression into higher education in four low and middle‐income countries. We analyse data from the Young Lives longitudinal study, following cohorts of young people from age 5 to 22 in four country settings: Ethiopia, Peru, Vietnam and India. We reveal wide variability in higher education participation between the four countries, with a common pattern of a very strong association between early learning and later higher education participation, even after allowing for a range of demographic characteristics. Whilst early learning is important in predicting later higher education participation, we also find that significant barriers to higher education participation remain for low socio‐economic status groups, even if they initially show good levels of learning. We track the trajectories of children who have initial good levels of learning, and hence arguably the potential to progress to higher education, and assess the extent to which socio‐economic background plays a mediating role in these trajectories. Pupils with initially good levels of learning at primary school age, but who are from poor backgrounds, fall back in terms of their relative attainment during secondary schooling years. This implies that socio‐economic status continues to be a barrier to educational attainment throughout these children's lives. We discuss the implications of these findings for policy initiatives aimed at narrowing inequalities in higher education access in poorer countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most countries are far from achieving the new sustainable development target of equal access to higher education by 2030, with those in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa furthest behind. This raises questions about the allocation of public resources across the education system to promote equity. We use data from Demographic and Health Surveys and UNESCO Institute for Statistics in 31 countries in these regions to assess who benefits from public spending on education. Our results reveal an overall pattern of pro-rich education spending, increasing with education level. We find that this pattern can be traced to an allocation of resources to higher education that is disproportionate to the sub-sector’s size: even when higher education spending overall represents a small proportion of total educational expenditure, per-capita expenditure is extremely high. Given that the richest predominantly gain access to higher education, the current spending patterns are likely to reinforce wealth-driven education inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whether someone has ever had free school meal ( FSM) eligibility over a six-year period is the measure of socio-economic disadvantage currently used in the English school system. It is used to monitor the socio-economic gap in achievement in the education system, to identify particular children at risk of low achievement and to direct funding to particular children and schools. In this paper we assess how well this measure predicts pupil attainment in secondary school in comparison to other measures of socio-economic background known to influence pupil attainment, such as parental education or income. We ask whether the FSM measure is an adequate proxy for a pupil's socio-economic disadvantage in an educational context. To do this we draw on the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England and matched administrative data. We find that the FSM eligibility measure correlates highly with other measures of socio-economic disadvantage, however it does not identify all children living in what would be deemed deprived households. We then compare the extent to which the FSM eligibility measure predicts educational achievement relative to other measures of deprivation and find that its predictive power is only marginally lower than many richer survey measures. This provides some reassurance on its use in policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education is back in the spotlight, with post-2015 sustainable development goals emphasising equality of access. In this paper, we highlight the long distance still to travel to achieve the goal of equal access to higher education for all, with a focus on poorer countries which tend to have lower levels of enrolment in higher education. Analysing Demographic and Health Survey data from 35 low- and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, we show wide wealth inequalities in particular, with few if any of the poorest gaining access to higher education in some countries. We further identify that wealth and gender inequalities interact and tend to be wider in countries where levels of higher education are higher. This implies that expansion in access to higher education may predominantly benefit the rich, unless measures are taken to tackle inequalities. We find that that the rates of increase necessary for the attainment of the equal access goal by 2030 are particularly high. They pose a particularly difficult challenge given the access inequalities present from primary and secondary education in a wide majority of countries in our analysis. We therefore suggest that any measures aimed at attaining the goal need to tackle inequalities in access within a system-wide approach, focusing on the level of education at which inequalities initially manifest, alongside higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to continuing concerns about student attainment and participation in science and mathematics, theepiSTEMeproject took a novel approach to pedagogy in these two disciplines. Using principles identified as effective in the research literature (and combining these in a fashion not previously attempted), the project developed topic modules for early secondary-school teaching in the UK, arranged for their implementation in classrooms, and evaluated the results. This paper reports the development, implementation, and evaluation of one of theepiSTEMescience modules. EntitledForces and Proportional Relations, the module covers standard curricular material in the domain of forces, while paying particular attention to the proportional nature of many key constructs. It was developed in collaboration with a small group of teachers; implemented subsequently in 16 classrooms, in all cases involving students from the first year of secondary school; and evaluated through comparison with first-year students in 13 control classrooms who were studying the topic using established methods. Evaluation addressed topic mastery and opinions about the topic and the manner in which it was taught.While further research is required before definite conclusions are warranted, results relating to topic mastery provide grounds for optimism about theepiSTEMeapproach. Furthermore, student opinions about the module were positive. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

TheEffecting Principled Improvement in STEM Education[epiSTEMe] project undertook pedagogical research aimed at improving pupil engagement and learning in early secondary school physical science and mathematics. Using principles identified as effective in the research literature and drawing on a range of existing pedagogical resources, the project designed and trialled a classroom intervention, with associated professional development, in a form intended to be suited to implementation at scale. The most distinctive feature of theepiSTEMepedagogical approach is its inclusion of a component of dialogic teaching. Aimed at the first year of secondary education in English schools (covering ages 11–12), theepiSTEMeintervention consists of a short introductory module designed to prepare classes for this dialogic teaching component, and topic modules which employ theepiSTEMepedagogical approach to cover two curricular topics in each of science and mathematics. A field trial was conducted over the 2010/2011 school year in 25 volunteer schools, randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Within the intervention group, observation of lessons indicated that the level of dialogic teaching was higher for one of the topic modules than others. Evaluation focused on the effectiveness of the topic modules, each trialled in more than 10 classes containing a total of over 300 pupils, and compared with a group of similar composition. Overall, at this first implementation, learning gains under theepiSTEMeintervention were no greater, although for individual topic modules the effects ranged from small negative to small positive. No difference was found between intervention and control groups either in the opinion of pupils about their classroom experience or in changes in their attitude towards subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Reflecting concerns about student attainment and participation in mathematics and science, the Effecting Principled Improvement in STEM Education (epiSTEMe) project attempted to support pedagogical advancement in these two disciplines. Using principles identified as effective in the research literature (and combining these in a novel fashion), the project developed topic modules for early secondary-school teaching in the UK, arranged for their implementation in classrooms, and evaluated the results. This article reports the development, implementation and evaluation of the epiSTEMe mathematics module entitled Fractions, Ratios and Proportions. The module covers aspects of rational number and proportional reasoning relevant to the early secondary curriculum, and was developed in collaboration with teachers, implemented in 11 classrooms, and evaluated through comparison with 16 control classrooms where the topic was addressed using established methods. Students who used the epiSTEMe materials made significantly greater progress than control students as regards topic mastery, while holding positive opinions about their teaching and learning experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]