A arquitetura da experiência acadêmica : um estudo de caso em uma universidade comunitária

Abstract

This thesis, anchored in the Postgraduate Program in Education at the University of Caxias do Sul, sought to identify how higher education students build the architecture of their academic experience. From this starting point, it was sought to analyze how meaning (the coherent whole) emerges from the fragments (the parts) experienced over time and in a specific space (the full-time university campus). The purpose of this investigation aimed to track effective learning, considering the countless parts offered by the ease and encouragement of academic mobility between higher education institutions, enhanced by the phenomenon of disaggregation, which allows the separation of the constituent parts of higher education at all its scales , as well as for students to access them in any way they wish. It set up a case study in a community university (ICES) located in the mountain region of Rio Grande do Sul, whose data made it possible to understand the totality of a phenomenon in a social context in which the limit between them is still not clear and there is little control over the events studied. In summary, it composed an empirical investigation that analyzed the students' experiences based on mental maps of each one's educational path and their actual paths, within the scope of different courses and areas of knowledge. Without the intention of generalization, given that this is a particular case, the study can be inspiring for other analyzes due to its descriptive, explanatory and inductive character, with the researcher as an implicated subject who assists the research. In addition to the mental maps constructed by the students, accompanied by their narratives, the thesis development path included contributions from authors such as John Dewey, Alain Coulon, Tristan McCowan, Kevin Lynch, among others. It culminated in the formulation of the following thesis: it is possible to learn a coherent whole even in a scenario of marked disaggregation, pressured by financial interests, as long as, at some point, this student can take advantage of a university campus and the coherent structures that exist there: laboratories, social spaces, dedicated teaching staff and, most importantly, your colleagues. Furthermore, it sought to measure and understand what the phenomenon of disaggregation is and the importance of an integral experience for learning based on the students? perception of their educational paths, in a scenario where the advancement of commercial higher education institutions (HEIs) have made teaching resembles products to be consumed on shelves. The study's endpoints allowed us to conclude that it is possible to offer quality comprehensive training for students and that it contributes to the development of their region, competing with these large commercial groups. [resumo fornecido pelo autor]