“A Surreal Experience Between School and the Real World”: Student Perceptions of their ‘Learner Journeys’

Though progression through a course of education may often be likened to a “journey”, defining this, particularly in Higher Education, is no straightforward matter. Extant literature (for example, Brown et al., 2012) tends to focus on secondary and Further Education, or the transition to HE, and is often confined to the practicalities of navigating a campus or a VLE, rather than the overarching skillset built during the course. Following a Library Services’ project in 2016-17 to canvass the views of academic staff around what the learner journey is (or should be), last year a further project (Devine, 2018) researched the student voice.

This presentation will outline the five key themes that emerged from this research (transition to, and preparedness for, university, progression, personal responsibility and engagement, employability, and communication) and the implications of this in improving student engagement and satisfaction.