The university of learning /

Bowden (RMIT Univ., Australia) and Marton (G"oteborg Univ., Sweden) argue that the three main functions of a university--teaching, research, and service--can be subsumed under a general function of knowledge formation, that is, learning of different kinds at different levels. Hence the title: The University of Learning. Teaching, research, and community service all produce learning on the individual level; research produces learning on the collective level; and community service on the local level. What a university must do to prepare its students for the future, say Bowden and Marton, is to improve those qualities of learning. This can be accomplished by identifying cultural changes that will affect existing structural arrangements within the university. On the individual level, one suggested cultural change is that only by experiencing variation can students be prepared "for a future varying in unknown ways." Another cultural change suggested is to reorganize knowledge by creating a new kind of PhD that will improve "the quality of learning." The authors believe that universities should achieve learning outcomes within an ethical framework, and they conclude, "The University of Learning is supposed to do the right thing because without a soul its power will be gone." Graduate students, faculty and researchers, professionals and practitioners. J. F. Biter; St. Bonaventure University