Higher purposes of a university education

Universities in Pakistan have mushroomed and there is an ever-increasing number of individuals with university degrees

Universities in Pakistan have mushroomed and there are an ever-increasing number of individuals with university degrees. Before we start celebrating, we need to probe the intellectual development and quality of learning of our graduates.

The generally accepted higher purposes of a university education are the development of critical-analytical thinking and seeking evidence-based knowledge. These purposes are achieved through a curriculum that includes one academic year of exploration, before the student decides on a major area of further study. Students can then make an informed choice about pursuing a subject area that is in line with their aptitude. Obviously, the motivation level of a student who is studying an area of his own choosing will be much higher. This exploration and choice process fosters the development of the crucial values of self-reliance and informed decision-making.

Even after choosing a speciality, the student is required to study compulsory courses in other areas. This ensures a well-rounded education and widens the student’s intellectual horizon. More importantly, the student learns that for a deeper and full understanding, matters have to be examined in their multi-dimensional complexity.

The most important aspect of developing the student’s critical-analytical abilities is achieved by structuring the courses in a manner that to get good, or even passing, grades students have to read more than a textbook, engage in research and critically apply their mind to the content. Pedagogical methods are also central to achieving this goal. The critical-analytical habit of mind is further ensured through assessment methods that not only evaluate remembering the subject matter, but also the critical application of the mind to the content. Someone with a critical-analytical habit of questioning things doesn’t passively accept and memorise received information. Such a habit results in a greater depth of knowledge and understanding of subject areas, but is also transferable to learning about all other matters in life, resulting in a lifelong learning.

How does our university education measure in terms of achieving the higher purposes? First, two interlinked contextual realities need to be kept in mind. Our university education seems to be infected with the ‘Diploma Disease’, where the end-purpose is obtaining the degree. So, we have a large cohort of individuals who have degrees, but have poor and superficial understanding of their subject-area. The entire focus seems to be the completion of the required number of courses needed to obtain a degree, never mind whether anything substantive was actually learned.

Further, the primary purpose of a university education is to increase the students’ earning potential. So, one witnesses a huge demand for areas which the parents and/or the students consider to have a high market potential. In itself, this isn’t a problem, but when real learning isn’t occurring even in those areas, it becomes one.

Given the prevailing curriculum structure, course design, pedagogical approaches and assessment methods in our universities, the probability of achieving the higher purposes of university education is negligible. Our typical university curriculum is rigid. Students are admitted to university departments (read: subject-areas), and even if some soon find that they don’t have the aptitude and/or interest to continue studying that subject, they can’t change to another, plummeting their motivation. Further, there are massive firewalls between subject-areas. The student is exposed to courses of a single speciality and has no knowledge of other areas, however relevant and important those may be.

Even that narrow learning is superficial. Reading requirements are minimal and course-based research is almost non-existent. The pedagogical emphasis is on remembering course content and given our assessment methods, grades are primarily based on a regurgitation of the memorised material. Thus, students get a degree, but the higher purposes of university education aren’t achieved.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 9^th, 2017.

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