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Fostering student engagement with issues of contemporary politics and culture

Abstract: This case study reviews a core course ‘Argument’ which was delivered to 120 year 1 students at Middlesex University. The course was undertaken by Journalism, Media and Publishing students. The aim was to develop learners’ academic knowledge of political and media culture within the context of a strong commitment to flexible and independent learning. The case study begins by discussing the various, often conflicting, meanings of ‘flexibility’ as defined by universities, academics and students before moving on to demonstrate the type of flexible learning built into the module. It discusses the difficulty of fostering student confidence in their own analyses of contemporary political culture and the implications of their growing independence for the lecturer.


Author information: Dr Heather Nunn is Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Communications and Programme Leader for Journalism at Middlesex University. She is currently working on a research project in collaboration with Roehampton, University of Surrey funded by the ADC LTSN.

Date: October 2002


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