CULTURAL SPECIFICITY OF APPROACHES TO STUDYING IN HIGHER-EDUCATION - A LITERATURE SURVEY

Students in higher education exhibit different approaches to learning, but there is evidence that these vary systematically from one culture to another. The broad distinction between an orientation towards comp rehending the meaning of learning material and an orientation towards merely reproducing those materials seems to be a universal feature of all systems of higher education. The former is both consistent and coh erent, apparently reflecting the relatively high degree of agreement t hat exists across different cultures with regard to the goals and purp oses of higher education. The latter reflects students' attempts to co pe with academic practices that are inappropriate to those goals and p urposes; it is more fragmented and more likely to be constructed in a way that is distinctive to each particular cultural context.