Academic boredom and the perceived course experiences of final year Education Studies students at university

This work explores the relationships between academic boredom and the perceived course experiences of 179 final-year Education Studies students attending a single university in England. Adopting a mixed-methods design, with data collection employing a combination of questionnaires and individual research interviews, findings suggest that all participants exhibited some measurable disposition towards academic boredom, with traditional lectures and work leading to the completion of assignments the main sites and triggers for the actual onset of academic boredom itself. Amid overwhelmingly encouraging responses from course expectations to course demands, reflecting the successful promotion of deep ways of working, as well as a clear sense of satisfaction with their teaching and learning environment overall, cluster analysis reveals the presence of five structurally related groups of students with profiles which help identify those typically more engaged and effective learners from others. Path analysis reveals a series of complex inter-connections, with academic boredom emerging as a strong predictor of surface approaches and organised effort as well as contributing indirectly towards degree outcome as a whole. The implications for boredom mitigation are considered.