ABSTRACT
Recent changes in the structure and teaching of programmes in higher education have made the development of more comprehensive and flexible course guides an urgent necessity. Reliance on a single 'course book', often a dense, didactic and deadly textbook, plus over-long reading lists, is no longer sufficient to provide quality guidance through learning routes. Courses have become more complex with increasing modularization and course options. Epistemological changes create new learning needs: tutors demand computing and discussion skills, research tasks and presentations, report writing and managerial exercises, fieldwork and off-site placements. Individual routes through course options are more difficult to negotiate successfully, and non traditional students may be at particular risk in such circumstances.
