Setting students’ professional agenda in the classroom

The purpose of the study was to gauge the flow of information from university lecturers to students. The fundamental hypothetical basis used for the study was that of agenda-setting theory – the idea that the mass media have a strong influence on the public agenda. The role of the university lecturer as a source of information and the influence of that information upon students and their agenda was the object of the study. The empirical study featured a panel of 248 Spanish university students and the results highlight the importance of the role of the university lecturer in channelling information to students even though findings demonstrate that the issues which are important for students (their agenda) may be less relevant for lecturers.