CAN STUDENTS BE HELPED TO LEARN HOW TO LEARN - AN EVALUATION OF AN APPROACHES TO LEARNING-PROGRAM FOR FIRST YEAR DEGREE STUDENTS

This study reports on an attempt to improve the quality of student lea rning by integrating an Approaches to Learning programme, consisting o f 8 workshops, into the first year Psychology curriculum. Written acco unts of students' conceptions of learning were collected at the beginn ing and end of the programme. Content analysis showed that there was a significant shift from naive to more sophisticated conceptions (29% t o 60%) in students who had attended more than half the workshops, by t he end of the programme. The programme also showed several significant benefits on students' academic performance. Students who attended all the workshops on essay writing and examination taking, obtained highe r essay and examination marks than students who did not attend these w orkshops. However, when We looked at the effects on academic performan ce of taking a deep approach and holding a more sophisticated concepti on of learning, the findings were not so clear cut. Depending on the m easure used, there was conflicting evidence about whether examination performance or essay performance benefitted the most. The implications of these results are discussed with particular reference to the role of assessment in enhancing the quality of student learning.