ERIC Number: ED398510
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1996-Mar-16
Pages: 52
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Talking about Learning: A Discussion of Two Cultural Themes for Academic Activity within A Women's Residence Hall.
Rowe, Linda P.
Conversations with and among students in their residential environment illuminate the role of peer subcultures in shaping what students learn and how they define learning. An excerpt from a year-long ethnographic case study examines the ways in which residents of an undergraduate women's residential unit at a state comprehensive university talk about academic activity. It illustrates how female students talk about learning and speculates about the interaction between that talk and their curricular experiences. Two themes which emerged from the data are highlighted: (1) a shared sense of personal cost-benefit analysis by which women residents set limits on the expenditure of time and energy for academic pursuits; and (2) taboos which constrain conversations with co-residents about intellectual topics or curricular content. Contains 35 references. (TS)
Descriptors: Academic Achievement, College Environment, College Students, Ethnography, Females, Higher Education, Late Adolescents, On Campus Students, Student Attitudes, Student Characteristics, Student Educational Objectives, Student Interests, Student Motivation, Student Subcultures, Undergraduate Students, Young Adults
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Note: Paper presented at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Annual Conference (78th, Atlanta, GA, March 14-17, 1996).