TY - JOUR

T1 - Conceptualising transformative undergraduate experiences

T2 - a phenomenographic exploration of students’ personal projects

AU - Ashwin, Paul William Hamilton

AU - Abbas, Andrea

AU - McLean, Monica

N1 - This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Ashwin, P., Abbas, A. and McLean, M. (2016), Conceptualising transformative undergraduate experiences: A phenomenographic exploration of students’ personal projects. Br Educ Res J, 42: 962–977. doi:10.1002/berj.3244 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/berj.3244/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.

PY - 2016/12

Y1 - 2016/12

N2 - Existing ways of understanding the transformative potential of students’ undergraduate experiences either focus solely on the formal educational elements of these experiences or present an overly static picture of students’ intentions in engaging in higher education. In this article we argue that the notion of ‘personal project’ offers a more flexible way of understanding what students are trying to gain from being at university. Based on a phenomenographic analysis of interviews with 31 students over the three years of their degrees, we examine how sociology students’ accounts of their personal projects develop over the three years of their degree programmes and how these relate to their accounts of their integration into their institutions and the development of their intellectual engagement with their discipline. We argue that students’ accounts of their personal projects are relatively stable over the course of their degrees but do not appear to shape the development of their intellectual engagement with their degree programme. What appears to be more significant is whether or not students understand their time at university as an educational experience. Based on this, we argue that the transformative elements of an undergraduate education lie in students developing their personal projects and intellectual engagement through the educational context that is offered at university.

AB - Existing ways of understanding the transformative potential of students’ undergraduate experiences either focus solely on the formal educational elements of these experiences or present an overly static picture of students’ intentions in engaging in higher education. In this article we argue that the notion of ‘personal project’ offers a more flexible way of understanding what students are trying to gain from being at university. Based on a phenomenographic analysis of interviews with 31 students over the three years of their degrees, we examine how sociology students’ accounts of their personal projects develop over the three years of their degree programmes and how these relate to their accounts of their integration into their institutions and the development of their intellectual engagement with their discipline. We argue that students’ accounts of their personal projects are relatively stable over the course of their degrees but do not appear to shape the development of their intellectual engagement with their degree programme. What appears to be more significant is whether or not students understand their time at university as an educational experience. Based on this, we argue that the transformative elements of an undergraduate education lie in students developing their personal projects and intellectual engagement through the educational context that is offered at university.

U2 - 10.1002/berj.3244

DO - 10.1002/berj.3244

M3 - Journal article

VL - 42

SP - 962

EP - 977

JO - British Educational Research Journal

JF - British Educational Research Journal

SN - 0141-1926

IS - 6

ER -