Seeking an Educational Utopia: An Alternative Model for Evaluating Student Learning Gain

Across the Higher Education sector, there is growing interest regarding the 'value for money' of a university education, and in response to this, universities may need to consider how to evaluate the perceived learning of students alongside their actual learning. "Learning Gain" maybe helpful in this regard, but there is currently no agreed method for evaluating the "Learning Gain" achieved, or perceived, by any particular student. This paper discusses a new model that can be used for evaluating such student perceptions. The model itself considers both the "Distance Travelled" (explicit knowledge) and the "Journey Travelled" (tacit knowledge) reported by students. The model employs a self-certified reflective survey method. A study, using a cohort of final year undergraduate dissertation students is undertaken to evaluate the potential usefulness of this model. The primary results obtained from this study provide an interesting perspective on how students perceive their own learning, which in turn has implications for understanding how our own teaching is viewed by students. The outcome of this research is that further testing is recommended using a wider variety of courses, and larger cohorts of students.