ABSTRACT

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the teaching and learning experiences of students, alongside their views concerning how these experiences may have impacted on their attainment. It presents a theme that emerged from the student narratives and has been conceptualised as 'student grouping'. A distinction emerged from the student narratives between what is called 'participatory engagement', defined as engagement in the learning process, and 'intellectual engagement', defined as engagement with subject content. Student narratives indicated that the behaviour of some lecturers and support staff in higher education can foster feelings of unequal treatment. The book explores undergraduate students' experiences in teaching and learning as well as their views on how these experiences may have impacted on their attainment. Realists affirm the notion of objective truth and assert that there is 'a single way of being or truth'.