ERIC Number: EJ903934
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0018-1609
EISSN: N/A
Lost in Transmission: Using Study Groups to Provide Space for Creativity and Reflexivity in an Instrumentalist University Environment
Pearce, Jane; Crouch, Christopher
Higher Education Review, v43 n1 p57-69 Aut 2010
Since independent study groups can be important in providing spaces for students in creative disciplines to develop a critically reflexive approach to their creative practice, tutors in an Australian university introduced independent group learning to students studying in creative disciplines. However, student responses to the experience of independent learning were extremely diverse. Where as some students responded positively, others were very negative. Feedback revealed that the influence of spoken and unspoken institutional discourses, such as those about what is worth knowing and what is appropriate pedagogy, affected students' readiness to engage with group processes and with the theoretical elements of the course. While study groups may work well to nurture creativity and reflexivity, their usefulness can be compromised in an instrumentalist environment where the focus is on finding the most efficient means to achieve the desired ends. This raises the question of how to sustain pedagogies that enhance creativity and reflexivity in a university environment where instrumentalist pedagogies dominate in the creative disciplines.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Study, Group Activities, Independent Study, Creativity, Reflection, Learning Theories, Group Dynamics, Technology Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Teaching Methods, Case Studies, Tutors, Student Attitudes, Differences, Student Reaction, Computer Mediated Communication
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A