Efficiency in Universities and Resource-Based Learning: A CaseStudy of Assumptions versus Analysis

Abstract

As higher education expands, proposals for a switch from traditional to resource-based learning in universities reflect the concern with efficiency highlighted over a decade ago in the Jarratt Report. In contrast to recent attempts to measure the costs of inputs to university courses, this article focuses on outputs and compares the outcome of some traditional and resource-based learning at the Open University--which has been a pioneer both in the expansion of higher education, and in the development of resource-based learning. The author concludes that conventional assumptions about the outcome of some traditional learning provide a relatively poor basis for efficient resource allocation decisions.