Importance and impotence? learning, outcomes and research in further education

James, David

Abstract

One of the defining features of the Teaching and Learning Research Programme is that it ‘aims to improve outcomes for learners of all ages in teaching and learning contexts across the UK’. This article argues that, although it is possible to use the terms outcomes for learners and learning outcomes interchangeably, they have an important difference in connotation. Particular meanings of the latter term are dominant within the Further Education sector. Some insight from analysis in the TLRP project Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education is presented to illustrate this difference and to underline the necessity for educational research to engage critically with both outcomes for learners and learning outcomes if it is to provide knowledge with a practical application. © 2005, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Citation

James, D. (2005). Importance and impotence? learning, outcomes and research in further education. Curriculum Journal, 16(1), 83-96. https://doi.org/10.1080/0958517042000336827

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2005
• Journal: Curriculum Journal
• Print ISSN: 0958-5176
• Electronic ISSN: 1469-3704
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 83-96
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/0958517042000336827
• Keywords: learning outcomes, outcomes for learners, further education, educational research
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1051163
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0958517042000336827
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This was an invited paper for a special journal issue following the author's contribution to a thematic group chaired by Mary James within the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme. It makes use of analysis from the project Transforming Learning Cultures in Further Education (in which the author was a co-director) to engage with the debate about the necessity of close ties between educational research and learning outcomes. The paper informed subsequent invited contributions to DfES Standards Unit seminars on policy for Personalised Learning in the Learning and Skills Sector (October 2005, January 2006).