摘要：Greinin fjallar um niðurstöður tilviksrannsóknar þar sem leitast var við að greina hvaða þættir styðja og hverjir hamla námsframvindu nemenda í meistaranámi við Háskólann á Akureyri. Tekin voru viðtöl við þrettán útskrifaða meistaranemendur af öllum fræðasviðum sem lokið höfðu námi á tímabilinu 2010 til 2016. Meginniðurstöðurnar eru þær að reglubundnar staðlotur í náminu opnuðu nemendum tækifæri til náms sem ekki hefðu gefist annars. Búsetutengdir þættir hömluðu aðeins að litlu leyti framvindu námsins þó að margir nemendur ættu um langan veg að fara í staðlotur. Konur gátu þess fremur en karlar að þær hefðu þurft að gera sérstakar ráðstafanir vegna fjarveru frá fjölskyldu meðan loturnar stóðu yfir. Nemendur töldu verkefnavinnu og hópavinnu styðja betur námsframvindu sína en fyrirlestra og próf. Einnig kom fram í máli nokkurra viðmælenda að kvenkyns kennarar legðu meiri áherslu á skipuleg vinnubrögð í kennslu og áætlunum en karlkennarar. Í máli allra viðmælenda mátti greina að tengslanetið sem þeir byggðu upp á námstímanum hefði haft jákvæð áhrif á námsframvinduna. Rannsóknin varpar ljósi á mikilvæga þætti tengda umgjörð, skipulagi og stoðþjónustu í háskólanámi sem gagnast geta við þróun einstakra námsleiða, sem og almennt í gæðastarfi háskólastofnana.
其他摘要：Access to education supports social innovation and competitiveness and, just as importantly, societies should be able to offer attractive and diverse job options, or an environment and conditions which engender a variety of professional opportunities (Byggðastofnun, 2013). In the case of Iceland, course offerings at university level were restricted to the capital well into the 1980s. In 1987 the University of Akureyri (UNAK) was established, resulting in greater availability of university education. Today, those who decide to embark on programmes of academic study in Iceland have a choice of seven universities, four of which are outside the area of the capital (Anna Ólafsdóttir & Jón Torfi Jónasson, 2017). During the past few decades the main growth in student numbers has been at postgraduate level (Gauti Sigþórsson, 2011). In that context, one should note the wide-ranging age of students at Icelandic universities. This has drawn attention to how well students are prepared to embark on academic study with regard to family circumstances, work and financial situation (Anna Ólafsdóttir & Jón Torfi Jónasson, 2017). Thus, it is seen as a significant challenge for those who organise academic study programmes to create circumstances which enable the students to complete their studies and to ensure that the education they have invested in is relevant to their professional fields. The aim of the reported research was to identify factors which either help or hinder the academic progress of students at the University of Akureyri, which was chosen because the authors hold academic positions at this particular establishment and anticipate that the results of the research could constitute a useful contribution to quality improvement work at UNAK and other universities. The focus was on various aspects of master’s programmes such as organisation of study, geographical and establishment-related factors, as well as personal circumstances. The above factors of influence were, among other things, investigated with the possibility of gender distinctions in mind. Individual interviews were conducted with 13 students who had graduated during the period 2010–2016 and whose number was relatively evenly distributed between academic fields at UNAK. Besides, residence was taken into account in order to ensure the most even geographical spread that could be achieved. When analysing the data, attempts were made to discover patterns and main themes which might indicate factors influencing the interviewees’ study progress. The main findings are that although the students reside in different regions of the country, sometimes at a considerable distance from the University of Akureyri, geographical factors did not appear of high significance regarding the students’ academic progress. Such considerations could, however, impact the studies in various ways, for example if the students were prevented from attending sessions due to inclement weather, traveling could be costly; in addition, being held up by weather conditions or having to leave early due to bad weather forecasts could incur significant extra expense. Most of the students chose a particular study path because it had an interrupted time series design, dividing the course into local study phases, or blocks, at certain intervals. Sometimes this was the decisive element in their choice. Most were in employment or had family obligations, for example children, and thus could not attend daily academic sessions. They were attracted to the concentrated study phases because these enabled them to disengage from work or home and focus on their academic studies in Akureyri. This was particularly in evidence among the female interviewees. Students expressed the view that working on assignments and working in groups was more effective for their study progress than lectures and exams. However, most of the students suggested that the lecture form was the dominant method of instruction, although discussion also played a significant part. Students also mentioned that methods of assessment could be better adjusted to students’ creative abilities. A large majority of participants made special mention of the fact that they much preferred assessment by practical projects as compared to examinations. The research revealed that the network of links the students developed during their course of study appeared to strongly influence their study progress. All the participants mentioned that the study and its organisation encouraged them to communicate with their peers. In this regard, no difference was noted between local and distance students. Most of the students expressed the view that support from spouse and parents had been a conclusive factor in the successful completion of their academic programme. It was particularly noted that women were more likely than men to refer to special measures they had to take because of periods of absence from their families during the concentrated study phases in Akureyri. The research findings cast light on some important organisational and support related factors which could constitute a useful contribution to quality enhancement procedures at UNAK as well as contributing to the field in general.
关键词：háskólanám; meistaranám; námsframvinda; háskólanemendur; skipulag náms og kennslu
其他关键词：university studies; master’s studies; study progress; university students; organisation of study programmes and teaching
