A longitudinal perspective on learning strategies in higher education ‐ different view‐points towards development

Abstract

Background. An important purpose of tertiary education is that students develop more advanced, deep-level learning. Longitudinal, within-subject studies to examine intra-individual changes, however, are scarce. Aims.We aimed at gaining a broad picture of students' development in academic learning by taking many different perspectives. This involves the extent to which students report change, factors that contribute to this, the degree of stability of different aspects of learning, and changes in their interrelatedness.Samples. Participants were 276 full-time students from four different university departments, (60% women and 40% men).Methods. This study has a longitudinal within-subjects design. An inventory that measures learning strategies, learning orientations and mental learning models was administered after the rst and third semester. Paired-samples Ttests were used to analyse changes within variables. Principal component analyses were performed to examine changes in the interrelatedness of variables.Results. Results showed that students became more meaning-directed learners during this period. Personological as well as contextual variables explained this. The factor structure underlying the variables became more clear and consolidated in the course of time. Conclusions.The results concerning intra-individual development are satisfying. The diffuse factor structure after the rst semester is explained by a period of 'friction' in which students have to adapt to a new learning environment.

Pharmacy Students' Approaches to Learning in Undergraduate and Graduate Entry Programs

“…Mediating influences might include a greater motivation for undertaking the additional qualification, the increased costs associated with the second degree (postgraduate students are required to pay approximately fivefold greater fees), and the older students' more mature outlook towards study.-The results of this study are more encouraging than those of the cross-sectional study in terms of observing development of students' approaches to learning over time. In common with the study by Vermunt and colleagues, 17,18 students in both the BPharm and MPharm cohorts in this study demonstrated significant increases over the course of their study in their preference for deep-processing strategies and self-regulation. In both cohorts, differences in curriculum and delivery may have been mediating factors in some of the observed changes; however, further research is necessary to elucidate the mechanisms by which any mediation occurred.…”

“…While 2 studies of university students' progression through their degree programs found increases in deep-processing strategies and self-regulated learning behaviors, another investigation of university students showed no improvements in productive approaches over time. [17][18][19] Hastings et al's study of pharmacy students' motivation over the course of their degree revealed significant decreases in their desire to develop mastery and deep understanding of course material. 20 Similarly, Sansgiry found that the quality of pharmacy students' study strategies decreased over the 3 years of the degree program.…”

Efectos directos e indirectos entre estilos de pensamiento, estrategias metacognitivas y creatividad en estudiantes universitarios

“…Desde esta línea de investigación se establecen básicamente dos enfoques de aprendizaje: el superficial y el profundo (Entwistle y Ramsden, 1983). El enfoque profundo se relaciona con: el uso de estrategias profundas para el aprendizaje constructivista (Biggs, 1987;Hernández Pina y Hervás, 2005), la aplicación de estrategias metacognitivas (Vermetten, Vermunt y Lodewijks, 1999;Martínez-Fernández, Villegas y Martínez Torres, 2004) y una tendencia hacia las funciones legislativas y judicial de los estilos de pensamiento, pero no hacia la función ejecutiva (Zhang, 2000;Zhang y Sternberg, 2000;Rosário et al, 2005).…”

Pharmacy Students' Approaches to Learning in an Australian University

“…A similar pattern of results was found in a first-and second-year sample of 276 students from law, economics, social sciences, and languages disciplines. 17 However, conflicting results were found by Busato et al 18 among a group of 477 first-to fifth-year psychology students. Students did not score higher on productive approaches to learning and did not have increased vocational orientation as they progressed through the curriculum.…”