Ls. Norton et Cm. Crowley, CAN STUDENTS BE HELPED TO LEARN HOW TO LEARN - AN EVALUATION OF AN APPROACHES TO LEARNING-PROGRAM FOR FIRST YEAR DEGREE STUDENTS, Higher education, 29(3), 1995, pp. 307-328
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.