ERIC Number: EJ799654
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Aug
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1356-2517
EISSN: N/A
A Human Capabilities Framework for Evaluating Student Learning
Walker, Melanie
Teaching in Higher Education, v13 n4 p477-487 Aug 2008
This paper proposes a human capabilities approach for evaluating student learning and the social and pedagogical arrangements that support equality in capabilities for all students. It outlines the focus on valuable beings and doings in the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen, and Martha Nussbaum's capabilities focus on human flourishing. For both, education is understood to include both intrinsic and instrumental aims and to be foundational to other important capabilities. A method for applying the capability approach to evaluating what students said about their own learning is suggested, and from this a list of valued functional capabilities is then outlined. The multi-dimensionality of the approach is emphasised and its relationship to economic opportunities and human security. Finally, generic graduate outcomes are considered but rejected as not being the same as capabilities.
Descriptors: Economic Opportunities, Learning Processes, Student Evaluation, Social Influences, Equal Education, Role of Education, Higher Education, College Students, Well Being, Case Studies, Undergraduate Study, Knowledge Level, Teamwork, Thinking Skills, Empathy, Student Characteristics, Self Esteem, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa; United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A