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This paper explores conceptions of curricular and extracurricular in UK higher education. Reporting on a case study of staff understandings of the extracurricular we argue that our data highlight the lack of debate about curricular matters. We found that there was considerable blurring of boundaries in conceptions of the curricular and extracurricular and argue that this is related to the lack of any stable or explicit conception of the curriculum in UK higher education. The paper highlights issues of recognition and non-recognition of the sorts of cultural capital which flow from traditional and other forms of extracurricular activities (ECA) and points to the continued gendering of caring and its valuing. Recognition of capital from within diverse communities and derived from activities which have not been traditionally conceptualised as ECA might contribute to graduate outcomes, but there are limitations to a politics of recognition. We argue that account also needs to be taken of the materiality of student lives and the constraints they face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demands for greater accountability, global competition, and concern about standards have all contributed to the increasing interest in evaluation in universities in the UK. At the same time, both pedagogic research and teacher development in higher education are gaining prominence. This paper describes the initial development of a programme of systematic curriculum evaluation research within a `new' university. The focus of the research is a new undergraduate curriculum which emphasises graduate outcomes and incorporates the development of core `capabilities' within the subject context. Our task has been to develop a longitudinal programme of research that will combine both a summative evaluation of educational outcomes with formative evaluation of learning processes to inform continued curriculum development. Questions of performance indicators, measurement, and educational outcomes all come under scrutiny in a context of multiple purposes and stakeholders, the micropolitics of the university and wider debates about the purpose and effectiveness of undergraduate education. This paper explores these issues and their implications for the development of a curriculum evaluation strategy, describing the initial stages of the multi-level longitudinal design that is emerging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]