The rhetoric of the UK higher education Teaching Excellence Framework: a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of TEF2 provider statements

Matthews, Adam; Kotzee, Ben

doi:10.1080/00131911.2019.1666796

Cited by 19 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The development of these skills had greatly aided student learning, but the focus has recently shifted to employability skills and preparedness of students for the workplace [4][5][6]. The inclusion of graduate employability statistics in the UK National Student Satisfaction (NSS) survey and the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) have highlighted the importance of this metric for Universities, and prompted further efforts to strategically embed employability skills more visibly in curricula [7]. The NSS is an annual survey for final year undergraduate students aimed to gather feedback on their experiences during their course; and the TEF assess excellence in learning and teaching and how Higher Education Institutions (HEI) ensures outcomes for their students in terms of graduate-level employment or further study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module

2021

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Placements are often an extra-curricular activity of a science degree. This study reports on the outcomes of a final year credit-bearing 6-week placement module that was specifically designed to develop and enhance students' employability skills. A key element of this module was that the student placements were not only evaluated from a science perspective, but also with an emphasis on meaningful reflection and evaluation of employability skills development. Students recorded their levels of confidence in skills before, during and after the placement via an Online Reflective Log, as part of a module's summative assessment. The results showed that taking part in the placement and conducting their own independent research helped students to make connections between their scientific knowledge, otherwise constrained within the walls of the undergraduate science lab, and the wider impact of their research on society. Another theme that emerged concerned career choices and aspirations, and the placement experience either confirmed prior choices or opened new horizons. The Online Reflective Log helped students to feel supported by their university supervisor who were at a distance. Feedback on their tasks prompted students to reflect on the scientific and personal skills while being engaged in scientific activities during placement. Students agreed that they had further developed their employability skills during the placement and acknowledged that it was challenging to acquire evidence of skills development. However, students appreciated the usefulness of this reflection in relation to their future career development.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module

2021

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“…At the center of a corpus analysis is a large body of naturally occurring texts (Baker, 2006), which is then analyzed with a corpus program "in order to understand real linguistic usage" (Matthews & Kotzee, 2019, p.5). Importantly, as Matthews and Kotzee (2019) point out, the use of corpus tools in DA can shed light onto hidden phenomena (see also, e.g., Partington, 2008). This is achieved through the analysis of keywords, concordances and collocations, which can reveal discursive strategies and topics prevalent in the investigated discourse that are difficult to detect by investigating the data manually.…”

Section: Data Methodology and Research Questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serving the Public Good?—A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis of Private Prisons and For-Profit Incarceration in the United States

Marko

2021

Front. Commun.

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It is a well-known fact that the United States has a very high prison population compared to other countries, and that it is particularly the private prison industry that has been thriving. This industry is based on a for-profit ideology that aims to save money by cutting costs wherever possible, and that, based on their profit-orientation, has no interest in rehabilitating offenders, since they make money with every incarcerated person. This paper investigates these issues from a linguistic perspective and takes a corpus of texts collected from the websites of the two largest private prison corporations in the United States (CoreCivic and The GEO Group) as a starting point for a corpus-assisted discourse analysis. The corpus comprises a total of 25,386 words and the analyses reveal that while both companies discursively background issues of violence, recidivism, and costs, they place a focus on the safety and security of their facilities and on their reentry programs for inmates. Thus, it is argued that the investigated corporations shift the discursive focus away from a negative discourse centering on violence and recidivism to a positive discourse centering on reentry and safety, which actively counters the findings that several researchers and journalists alike have revealed.

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“…Labelling the lecture as knowledge acquisition to be rationed and reduced in favour of more 'active' skills of collaboration, discussion, investigation, practice and production again positions the lecture as exclusive of such engagement. Critics of this position cite increased focus on higher education as training for paid employment and economic ends (Matthews and Kotzee 2019;Ralston 2020;Jandrić 2021).…”

Section: Death Of the Lecturementioning

confidence: 99%

Death of the Lecture(r)?

Matthews

2021

Postdigit Sci Educ

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The rhetoric of the UK higher education Teaching Excellence Framework: a corpus-assisted discourse analysis of TEF2 provider statements

Cited by 19 publications

References 18 publications

A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module

A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module

Serving the Public Good?—A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis of Private Prisons and For-Profit Incarceration in the United States

Death of the Lecture(r)?

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