dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaScience and Engineering Education: Who is the Customer?
| Authors | Michael Courtney, Amy Courtney |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | physics/0612117 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0612117 |
| License | http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/ |
Abstract
As education systems move toward business models of operation, there is a strong tendency to misidentify the student as the customer. Misidentifying the student as the customer leads to interpretation of the course credit or degree as the product. The true product is the additional knowledge, skill, and ability that course credit and degree should represent. Consequences are potentially disastrous, because the notion that "the customer is always right" can lead to the perceived product (course credit or degree) meeting the desires of the misidentified "customer" (student) rather than the real product (value added to student) meeting the standards of the properly identified customers (future employers and taxpayers).
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"abstract": "As education systems move toward business models of operation, there is a\nstrong tendency to misidentify the student as the customer. Misidentifying the\nstudent as the customer leads to interpretation of the course credit or degree\nas the product. The true product is the additional knowledge, skill, and\nability that course credit and degree should represent. Consequences are\npotentially disastrous, because the notion that \"the customer is always right\"\ncan lead to the perceived product (course credit or degree) meeting the desires\nof the misidentified \"customer\" (student) rather than the real product (value\nadded to student) meeting the standards of the properly identified customers\n(future employers and taxpayers).",
"arxiv_id": "physics/0612117",
"authors": [
"Michael Courtney",
"Amy Courtney"
],
"categories": [
"physics.ed-ph"
],
"license": "http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/",
"title": "Science and Engineering Education: Who is the Customer?",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0612117"
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