Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / final papers / Undergraduate Ethnography

The “Identity Crisis” in the Work of Learning Strategy: An Ethnographic Glance of the Higher Education Landscape at the University of Toronto

A Final Report By Yihang Xu “… even just in the few conversations we’ve had, you’ll notice that there’s almost a departmental identity crisis…” —— Grace, a staff member of the CLSS Introduction “Learning how to learn” may seem unusual, as the ability to learn is often considered an implicit skill for university students, particularly … Continue reading

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Neoliberal Implications in the Fragmentation of Student Services through the renamings of Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS)

By Yihang Xu The Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) helps students develop strategies and practices to enhance their learning and study skills. As one of the major units within the Student Life Department at the University of Toronto (UofT), CLSS didn’t always exist in its current form. According to my informant, Eric (a pseudonym), … Continue reading

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Scaling Academic Support Services: Consumerist Implications in Higher Education

By Yihang Xu The Center for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS) is a major academic support service provider within the University of Toronto (UofT). Its focus is on helping students improve their learning habits and academic outcomes. During my interviews with the learning strategists there, I found that they frequently use the word “scale” to describe … Continue reading

The Price of Support: How The UT3 Program Complicates Academic Aid
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

The Price of Support: How The UT3 Program Complicates Academic Aid

By Molly McGouran While conducting research into the University of Toronto Tutor Training Program (UT3), I found myself caught in a web of questions and answers that seemed to lead me in circles.  The more fieldwork I did, the more it felt like trying to solve a puzzle where every piece connected to another in … Continue reading

Co-Creating Knowledge: Ethnography With, Not Of, Interlocutors
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

Co-Creating Knowledge: Ethnography With, Not Of, Interlocutors

By Hanisha Mistry When I first imagined going into the field as an ethnographer, I envisioned something akin to Bronisław Malinowski’s arrival in the Trobriand Islands. I pictured myself stepping into a space where ethnography was an unfamiliar word, and my interlocutors, unacquainted with the methods of anthropology, would meet my questions with unfiltered answers. … Continue reading

A Digital Labyrinth: Navigating Information on the Student Life Website
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

A Digital Labyrinth: Navigating Information on the Student Life Website

By Amani Hassan and Hanisha Mistry Staff at the Centre for Learning Strategies Support take pride in the resource library which offers PDF documents on various topics designed to support academic success and help students adapt to university-level learning. Accessing this library involves three straightforward steps: “Student Life Homepage > Departments > Centre for Learning … Continue reading

What was Familiar, What was Strange?: Rediscovering the University Through a Lens of Curiosity and Complexity
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

What was Familiar, What was Strange?: Rediscovering the University Through a Lens of Curiosity and Complexity

By Georgia Hanson, Molly McGouran an Yihang Xu If you are familiar with something, how can it be strange?  Our individual experiences with fieldwork in Student Life presented us with new avenues through which we could explore this question, each of us gaining a new perspective on the university that we had once so confidently … Continue reading

Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

What Exactly is Participant Observation?

By Yunshan Li and Georgia Hanson Participant observation is the foundational method of ethnographic research. It requires the researcher to immerse themselves in the field site to gain insights into a culture. However, in the case of our research in Student Life, we were limited from such immersion, barred from participation, and limited to a … Continue reading

The Online World: Ethnography Behind the Screen
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

The Online World: Ethnography Behind the Screen

By Molly McGouran and Lukey Lu From our first meetings with Student Life administration, it was clear that our participant observation would be different from what we expected.  Most of the staff work from home; therefore, much of the programming offered by the Centre for Learning Strategy Support (CLSS), where we conducted our work, was … Continue reading

The Art of Engaging Students: The Impact of Incentives on Student Engagement
Ethnography of the University / Ethnography of the University: Focus on Student Life 2024 / Undergraduate Ethnography / Updates

The Art of Engaging Students: The Impact of Incentives on Student Engagement

By Yunshan Li, Richard Wu and Amani Hassan On an early afternoon in October, we visited the reception office of the Clubs and Leadership Division of Student Engagement for a social event for club leaders. We arrived to find only one club leader, accompanied by two staff members. Half an hour later, another student showed … Continue reading