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Frameworks for Understanding as Experienced in Essaiy Writing and in Preparing for Examinations
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Two small-scale qualitative studies are presented that explore the experiences of final-year undergraduate students in developing understanding of the process of revision for final examinations and of planning and writing term papers. Interviews with 23 students were supplemented with written descriptions from a further 11 students. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify categories of description. The experience of understanding was described by students in similar ways, emphasizing coherence, provisional wholeness, and confidence in explaining. However, contrasting forms of understanding were also identified, which differed in terms of the breadth, depth, and structure that students tried to develop. Those who had reached a deep level of understanding also reported being able to perceive and review frameworks for their understandings in ways suggesting an awareness of knowledge objects experienced in a quasi-sensory way. Similar perceptions were reported in researching and writing term papers, indicating that structures of knowledge objects serve to control explanations as they evolve during the writing process.
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... La actividad más adecuada no viene de ningún método de enseñanza en particular, sino a través de una organización cuidadosa de todo el entorno de aprendizaje, incluida la aplicación de sistemas de evaluación que valoren métodos de estudio activos y profundos. No está claramente confirmado que los entornos de aprendizaje más efectivos implican necesariamente métodos innovadores, pero existe una fuerte posibilidad de que esto suceda (ENTWISTLE, 1995). Los profesores deben discutir en conjunto sobre las estrategias y las técnicas de enseñanza más adecuadas para soportar el aprendizaje requerido. ...
... Nos parece muy cuestionable la existencia de un único método de enseñanza eficaz para promover enfoques al estudio profundos, siendo más probable que el camino a seguir debe fomentar la utilización de una gran diversidad de experiencias de enseñanza que faciliten la transmisión de conocimientos, el desafío a nuevas formas de pensamiento y el desarrollo de procesos de cooperación y de autonomía en el aprendizaje (ENTWISTLE, 1995). Estos enfoques funcionan más adecuadamente en las instituciones que se involucran cooperativamente en la revisión de sus métodos de enseñanza, por ejemplo, como parte de sus procedimientos de autoevaluación. ...
... Incluso en el estudio de las ciencias, los alumnos necesariamente comprenden conceptos a través de la interacción con otras personas (ENTWISTLE; TAIT, 1990). Entwistle (1995) investigó la forma en que los alumnos de enseñanza superior desarrollaban mecanismos de interpretación en su preparación para los exámenes finales de las asignaturas. Al analizar los datos de la investigación, descubrió que los alumnos utilizan la palabra "comprensión" de forma muy diferente, distinguiendo formas y niveles distintos de comprensión dependiendo de su capacidad de autorregulación. ...
Este artículo presenta una revisión teórica que destaca por diversas cuestiones pedagógicas relacionadas con la calidad de la enseñanza y del aprendizaje en la enseñanza superior. Los objetivos de este artículo son, por un lado, analizar la relación entre las concepciones de aprendizaje y los enfoques para el estudio de los estudiantes con los actuales métodos de enseñanza y, por otro lado, mostrar las actitudes que los maestros y los estudiantes pueden adoptar para desarrollar un aprendizaje significativo y una enseñanza con significado. Su objetivo es contribuir a una lectura crítica y constructiva en el desarrollo de una educación superior de calidad. Con este fin, destacamos la influencia de la evaluación en el proceso de enseñanza-aprendizaje, presentamos algunos de los determinantes fundamentales para la promoción de la calidad en la educación superior y consideramos la innovación, la tecnología y la globalización como factores complementarios para la mejora de las prácticas educativas en la educación superior en la actualidad.
... All these are based on the learners' experiences they encounter in their daily lives (Hestenes et al., 1992;Vosniadou, 2013;Bigozzi et al., 2014). Conceptual understanding produces an awareness of consistency and rationality of the subject matter (Entwistle, 1995). It facilitates the elucidation of fundamental mechanism and process (Graesser, Olde, & Lu, 2001) and it shows the way to enhance the students' performance (Mayer, 1989). ...
... Conceptual understanding is the creation of confidence and satisfaction among the students and enabling them to elucidate the contents taught to them (Entwistle, 1995). Conceptual understanding is highly valued in education and as compared to mere memorization or rote learning, conceptual understanding and learning is of great importance and preference.In science education, understanding the scientific concepts has been traditionally one of the primary goals at all levels of formal education (Chaimala, 2009).Keeping in view the importance of conceptual understanding, this study focused on investigating the conceptual understanding of students of trained and untrained teachers. ...
The study investigated the conceptual understanding level of 10thgrade students of trained and untrained Physics teachers in boys’ secondary schools of district Karak, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Pakistan. The objectives of the study were; (1) to find out the conceptual understanding level of the students of trained Physics teachers; (2) to investigate the conceptual understanding level of the students of untrained Physics teachers; and, (3) to explore the difference between the conceptual understanding levels of the students of trained and untrained teachers of Physics.Descriptive Research Strategy was used. Population of the study was all the 10th grade students of trained and untrained Physics teachers of district Karak. Multistage sampling technique was used and total 400 students were selected randomly as sample of the study. A self-developed test was administered as an instrument for the collection of data. The test covered the contents of physical quantities, properties of matter, force, work, power and energy and gravitation.The results of the study revealed that in the selected contents, the overall conceptual understanding of the students of trained Physics teachers was hardly satisfactory. While the conceptual understanding level of the students of untrained Physics teachers was good. Although there was no vital difference, however, the conceptual understanding level of the students of trained Physics teachers was comparatively poorer than the conceptual understanding level of the students of untrained Physics teachers.
... Beydoğan (2007) says students who have this learning approach will try to get as high a grade as possible, they will prefer sources that will accelerate their perception by using various materials and in this way, it would be easier for them to learn. Entwistle (1995) stated that the most important feature of the strategic learning approach is that it benefits the organization both in terms of working methods and time management. Some of the studies on learning approaches are as follows: ...
... Beydoğan (2007) bu öğrenme yaklaşımına sahip olan öğrencilerin olabildiğince yüksek notlar almaya çabalayacaklarını, çeşitli materyaller kullanılarak algılamalarını hızlandıracak kaynakları tercih edeceklerini bu şekilde de öğrenmelerinin kolaylaşacağını ifade etmiştir. Entwistle (1995) stratejik öğrenme yaklaşımının en önemli özelliğinin hem çalışma yöntemlerine hem de zaman yönetimi açısından organizasyona yarar sağladığını belirtmiştir. ...
... Examinations in particular seem to function as obstacles to students to achieve deep personal understanding (e.g. Entwistle, 1995;Entwistle & Entwistle, 1991, 1992Entwistle, Entwistle & Tait, 1993). This learning style makes students strive for higher scores on tests that are necessary for applying to good schools, but not necessarily good for gaining more knowledge. ...
The aim of this empirical paper was to show the relationship between the effectiveness of Human Resource (HR) professionals and some selected organizational factors(namely leadership, organizational support and reward system).The study focused on HR professionals in Multimedia University(MMU),anIT-based private university in Malaysia. It had adopted a mixed method methodology combining an in-depth telephone interview with a senior HR manager in MMU and asurveyoflecturersinMMUMelakacampus.150questionnairesweredistributed to the said lecturers but obtained a response rate of 44 per cent. The findings from the survey(and the interview)found a strong correlation between leadership(0.699) and organizational support (0.673) and HR professionals’ effectiveness.
... Pemahaman konseptual berkontribusi pada tercapainya performa yang lebih baik (Mayer, 1989) serta penerapan dan transfer materi yang lebih baik (Novak, 2002;Feltovich et al., 1993). Menurut Entwistle (1995) pemahaman konseptual menciptakan rasa yang berkaitan secara logis dari materi pelajaran. Pemahaman konseptual dari materi yang dipelajari hanya mungkin tercapai jika elemen pengetahuan yang tersimpan dalam struktur koheren yang berisi konsep utama sekaligus sebagai hubungan antar elemen tersebut (Chi et al., 1981;Wyman dan Randel, 1998;Kintsch, 1998). ...
The way a person receives knowledge has various kinds of responses according to their abilities. This research aims to develop an effective learning approach and the response of students' cognitive abilities in budgeting courses both in theory and practice. A quantitative approach is used as a type of Research and Development (R&D) methods on 102 accounting students who taking Budgeting Courses. Data were obtained from Accounting Students of the Faculty of Economics, UM, who were still taking budgeting courses and were given a questionnaire. The results of observations made in the budgeting course showed that the enthusiasm shown by students showed a good and enthusiastic attitude when explained by the lecturer about practical and theoretical. However, when the students were asked to do practice questions in the theory course, they had difficulty applying the theory to the problem. When online lectures, the conclusion is the use of appropriate learning methods and approaches and media will be simulate the response of students' cognitive abilities both theoretically and practically.
... • Absorbing facts, details, and procedures, without consideration of structure The emphasis on developing structures or frameworks for understanding (Entwistle, 1995), as students were preparing for writing essays in course work or taking exams, was often linked with the drawing of mind-maps. A good example of this was found among interviews with students taking a graduate education course. ...
The main purposes of research into university teaching and learning can be seen as both academic and practical. Academic research has been exploring ways of describing and explaining how students go about their studying and what affects the nature of the learning that takes place. The practical value of the research is to help teachers and students to carry out their work as effectively as possible. For teachers, research can show the influences of teaching and the whole learning environment on the ways that students go about learning, while for students, it can help them to understand the consequences of different approaches to learning and studying. This paper describes a range of studies that have explored our understanding of teaching and learning and provided concepts which provide clear and relevant descriptions for teachers. The researchers have found interrelationships among these concepts and sometimes provided illustrative heuristic models of those interconnections. This research cannot, however, provide specific implications for teaching, as these depend crucially on the nature of the discipline. But certain concepts have proved to be 'pedagogically fertile', through their strong impact on how academics think about teaching and learning. Several of the illustrative studies have been drawn from the author's own work, but these are supported by research carried out by other researchers in the same field.
... Student performance on essay writing has been studied as one way of assessing whether student learning has been surface or deep (Biggs, 1988;Entwistle, 1995;Biggs et al., 1999;Lavelle, Smith & O'Ryan, 2002). This research has investigated the way in which students create meaning in their writing tasks, rather than just acquiring skills. ...
Analyses of teaching and learning in higher education are increasingly being based on a distinction between surface and deep learning. This distinction is helpful for investigating approaches used by teachers as well as student preferences for teaching and learning. Surface learning places an emphasis on memorizing facts and information as well as the relatively passive reproduction of content. In contrast, deep learning involves an intention to understand, the critical assessment of content and relating new information to past knowledge in meaningful ways. There has been an assumption that in the U.A.E. there is an orientation to surface learning in schools and higher education. To examine this assumption, an adaptation of questionnaires used with Western students (the Approaches to Study Skills Inventory for Students) was used with a small sample of ZU students. There are limitations in the use of this procedure and difficulties in interpreting the results. However, the results suggest that ZU students show strong beliefs and preference for deep learning approaches in addition to surface learning approaches. This finding is consistent with evidence obtained from student responses to assessment tasks, where there was evidence of deep learning. It was concluded that learning outcomes for ZU students could be enhanced by employing deep learning approaches to teaching and learning.
... In particular, Entwistle and Marton (1994) found that hard-working students who find themselves in a situation requiring of them to demonstrate their understandings, for instance in preparing for exams or in dealing with particularly demanding learning tasks, sometimes experience their understandings in terms of individual and highly flexible structures in their minds. Such "knowledge objects" appear to be perceived as almost visual entities that can be used as mnemonic tools to structure thinking and to tailor explanations to meet requirements of, for instance, specific exam questions (Entwistle & Marton, 1994; see also Entwistle, 1995;Entwistle & Entwistle, 2003;. Although the term knowledge object might give the impression of a closed and fixed form of understanding that can be readily transferred from one setting to another, this notion actually refers to a highly flexible and contextualised understanding that students may only develop through intensive academic study (Entwistle, 2007). ...
This paper draws on ongoing work into student learning in higher education to consider a basis for conceptualising students’ experiences of understanding in medicine. Starting with a modest overview of research on the nature of students’ experiences of understanding the paper goes on to consider research on students’ personal understandings in terms of knowledge objects. Linking on to research on students’ epistemological beliefs the paper forges connections to recent research on threshold concepts and related research on conceptual change. Against the background of this brief overview the paper surveys the research on medical education, and then draws on interview data, currently being collected in a Swedish research project, to offer a preliminary conceptualisation of students’ experiences of understanding in medicine.
... Learners adopt strategic approaches, using any strategy ranging from rote memorizing to understanding basic principles, in order to maximize their chances of academic success 10 . They also manage time and methods perfectly for this purpose 11 . ...
Amaç: Tıp öğrencilerinin öğrenmelerini desteklemek için - öğrenmelerinin gerçekleşme şekli - öğrenme sürecinin kalitesi ve gelişiminin daha iyi anlaşılması gerekmektedir. Bu araştırma tıp fakültesi öğrencileri tarafından tercih edilen öğrenme yaklaşımlarını ve zaman içinde meydana gelen değişiklikleri belirlemeyi amaçlamaktadır.Gereç ve Yöntem: İzlem çalışması dahil olmak üzere kesitsel bir çalışma yapılmıştır. Çalışma grubunu 2011-2015 yılları arasında Hacettepe Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi'ne kayıtlı birinci sınıf öğrencileri (n = 2714) oluşturmaktadır. İzlem çalışması Mayıs 2016'da 1195 öğrenci katılımıyla gerçekleştirilmiştir. Araştırmada Öğrenme Yaklaşımları ve Çalışma Becerileri Ölçeği” kullanılmıştır. Çalışmada öğrencilerin yıllar içinde tercih ettikleri öğrenme yaklaşımlarındaki değişiklikleri incelemek amacıyla ilk yıl öğrenme yaklaşımlarının puanları karşılaştırılmıştır. Ek olarak öğrencilerin ilk ve ikinci puanları da karşılaştırılmıştır.Bulgular: Çalışmaya katılım oranı %80'dir. Çalışma ASSIST ölçeğini iki kez yanıtlayan öğrencilerin oranı (n = 1195) ise %55'dir. 2011-2014 yılları arasında öğrencilerin öğrenme yaklaşımları puanları sırasıyla stratejik, derin ve yüzeysel öğrenme yaklaşımları olarak sıralanmıştır. Bununla birlikte, 2015 yılı kohort puanları derin, stratejik ve yüzeysel öğrenme olarak sıralanmıştır. Tıp öğrencileri ilk yıl stratejik öğrenme yaklaşımını tercih ettikleri görülmektedir. İkinci değerlendirmede tercihleri farklılaşmaktadır. Yüzeysel öğrenme puanları ilk değerlendirmeye göre artmıştır.Sonuç: Öğrencilerin öğrenme becerileri sadece ilk yıl değil, tüm öğretim süresi boyunca desteklenmelidir. İkinci değerlendirmede öğrencilerin stratejik ve derin öğrenme puanları azalırken, yüzeysel öğrenme yaklaşımının ortalama puanı toplamda artmıştır.
Ways in which research into university teaching and student learning originated and developed over a forty-year period are illustrated by following a single line of research conducted by the author and his colleagues. The early research drew heavily on established psychological concepts, such as ability, motivation, and personality, to predict degree outcomes using inventories with statistical analysis. Subsequently, this approach was combined with in-depth interviews with individual students, which provided insights into distinctive approaches to learning and studying. The nature of academic understanding was also explored with students who explained the techniques they had used to remember what they had understood. Later, the research on student learning was expanded to explore the influences of teaching, and of the whole teaching-learning environment on students’ levels of knowledge and understanding, and on their feelings. Finally, problems in conveying research findings to university teachers are considered and directions of future research are suggested.
The purpose of the research program described here was to investigate college students' approaches to learning, and to determine the extent to which these reflected the effects of teaching and assessment demands rather than representing relatively stable characteristics of the individual learners. There were six main areas within the program: (1) the measurement of approaches to and styles of studying; (2) the exploration of the cognitive skills, cognitive styles, and personality characteristics underlying different approaches to studying; (3) the extension of Marton's work on reading academic articles; (4) the identification of students' perceptions of the academic 'climate' of departments; (5) the use of interviews to investigate students' strategies in carrying out particular types of academic task; and (6) an investigation of how contrasting academic contexts appear to affect the approaches to studying adopted by students in those departments. Details of each of these areas of research are presented. (BW)
Undergraduate students are commonly advised to make plans of their essays before they begin writing, yet there is little empirical evidence on the nature, role or efficacy of essay planning. This paper examines findings from a recent study of coursework essay‐writing as an aspect of student learning in the social sciences. A total of 16 Psychology and 17 History students took part in the investigation, which mainly took the form of two sets of semi‐structured interviews. From an analysis of the interview transcripts, five planning strategies were identified. However, it was apparent that to gain a full understanding of the nature of planning, it was necessary to examine these strategies in the light of the main findings of the study—a qualitative analysis of differences in the students’ conceptions of what an essay was and what essay‐writing involved. In sum, what seemed important was less how a student planned than what planning was directed towards.
The subject of this book is the mental activities that go into composing written texts. For brevity we will often refer to the subject simply as writing, but the term should not be taken too literally. In this book we are not concerned with the physical act of writing, except insofar as it influences other processes. The mental activities of writing considered in our research are the same kinds of higher mental processes that figure in cognitive research on all aspects of human intelligence. They include goal setting, planning, memory search, problem solving, evaluation, and diagnosis. Writing is, of course, easily recognized as an activity in which a good deal of human intelligence is put to use. Its neglect, until very recently, by cognitive scientists is, however, easy to understand. Cognitive research has been gradually working its way from well-defined to ill-defined problems, from tasks that draw on limited knowledge to tasks that draw on large bodies of knowledge, and from tasks that are easily constrained experimentally to ones that are more susceptible to intentions of the participants. On all of these counts, writing lies far out on the yet-to-be-reached end of the continuum. © 1987 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.
The idea for this book grew out of a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held at the Catholic University at Leuven, Belgium. We are grateful to NATO for support in conducting this workshop and for support in the preparation of this book. We are particularly grateful for their emphasis on designing the workshop to build collegiality. They suggested that we hold the meeting in a small town and that we organize evening activities to keep the group together and to promote informal and extended discussions. What sage advice. The excitement grew over the three days as we shared understandings and enriched our perspectives. Indeed, there was even a proclaimed "near" conversion to a constructivist perspective from one colleague trained in traditional instructional design methods. While we report this as a bit of a humorous anecdote, it most clearly reflects the sense of excitement that developed. We would also like to thank the staff at the Catholic University for their great support during the workshop. Their efforts and their good cheer were important components in the success of the meeting. In particular we would like to thank Jan Elen, Catherine Vermunicht and Jef Vanden Branden. Finally we would like to thank the personnel at Indiana University for their help in assembling this book. Deborah Shaw prepared the index. We thank her for the skill and speed with which she was able to work.
For both people and machines, each in their own way, there is a serious problem in common of making sense out of what they hear, see, or are told about the world. The conceptual apparatus necessary to perform even a partial feat of understanding is formidable and fascinating. Our analysis of this apparatus is what this book is about. Roger C. Schank and Robert P. Abelson from the Introduction (http://www.psypress.com/scripts-plans-goals-and-understanding-9780898591385)
Conventional approaches to program evaluation have followed the experimental and psychometric traditions dominant in educational research. Their aim (unfulfilled) of achieving fully objective methods had led to studies that are artificial and restricted in scope. Illuminative evaluation is introduced as a total re-appraisal of the rationale and techniques of program evaluation. It follows a contrasting 'anthropological' research paradigm. Illuminative evaluation recognizes that an innovative instructional program cannot be separated from its learning milieu--a network of cultural, social, institutional, and psychological forces. The evaluator concentrates on processes within the classroom rather than on outcomes (goals, objectives) derived from a specification of the instructional system. Data is collected from observation, interview, questionnaires, and documentary information. Illuminative evaluation thus concentrates on the information gathering rather than on the decision making component of evaluation. The paper concludes with a discussion of the problems and potentialities of the new approach: its range of applicability; objectivity; validity; obligations of the research worker; how explorations of the learning milieu can meet the need for theoretical advance; and how the illuminative approach can clarify decision-making. (Author/CP)
Describes an attempt to identify different levels of processing of information among groups of Swedish university students who were asked to read substantial passages of prose. Ss were asked questions about the meaning of the passages and also about how they set about reading the passages, thus allowing for the examination of processes and strategies of learning and the outcomes in terms of what is understood and remembered. It was posited that learning has to be described in terms of its content. From this point differences in what is learned, rather than differences in how much is learned, are described. It was found that in each study a number of categories (levels of outcome) containing basically different conceptions of the content of the learning task could be identified. The corresponding differences in level of processing are described in terms of whether the learner is engaged in surface-level or deep-level processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)