This research study was conducted to examine student perceptions about learning anatomy and to explore how these perceptions shape the learning experience. This study utilized a mixed-methods design in order to better understand how students approach learning anatomy. Two sets of data were collected at two time periods; one at the beginning and one at the end of the academic semester. Data consisted of results from a survey instrument that contained open-ended questions and a questionnaire and individual student interviews. The questionnaire scored students on a surface approach to learning (relying on rote memorization and knowing factual information) scale and a deep approach to learning (understanding concepts and deeper meaning behind the material) scale. Students were asked to volunteer from four different anatomy classes; two entry-level undergraduate courses from two different departments, an upper-level undergraduate course, and a graduate level course. Results indicate that students perceive that they will learn anatomy through memorization regardless of the level of class being taken. This is generally supported by the learning environment and thus students leave the classroom believing that anatomy is about memorizing structures and remembering anatomical terminology. When comparing this class experience to other academic classes, many students believed that anatomy was more reliant on memorization techniques for learning although many indicated that memorization is their primary learning method for most courses. Results from the questionnaire indicate that most students had decreases in both their deep approach and surface approach scores with the exception of students that had no previous anatomy experience. These students had an average increase in surface approach and so relied more on memorization and repetition for learning. The implication of these results is that the learning environment may actually amplify students' perceptions of the anatomy course at all levels and experiences of enrolled students. Instructors wanting to foster deeper approaches to learning may need to apply instructional techniques that both support deeper approaches to learning and strive to change students' perceptions away from believing that anatomy is strictly memorization and thus utilizing surface approaches to learning.

Early childhood science and engineering education offer a prime context to foster approaches-to-learning (ATL) and executive functioning (EF) by eliciting children’s natural curiosity about the world, providing a unique opportunity to engage children in hands-on learning experiences that promote critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration, persistence, and other adaptive domain-general learning skills. Indeed, in any science experiment or engineering problem, children make observations, engage in collaborative conversations with teachers and peers, and think flexibly to come up with predictions or potential solutions to their problem. Inherent to science and engineering is the idea that one learns from initial failures within an iterative trial-and-error process where children practice risk-taking, persistence, tolerance for frustration, and sustaining focus. Unfortunately, science and engineering instruction is typically absent from early childhood classrooms, and particularly so in programs that serve children from low-income families. However, our early science and engineering intervention research shows teachers how to build science and engineering instruction into activities that are already happening in their classrooms, which boosts their confidence and removes some of the stigma around science and engineering. In this paper, we discuss the promise of research that uses early childhood science and engineering experiences as engaging, hands-on, interactive platforms to instill ATL and EF in young children living below the poverty line. We propose that early childhood science and engineering offer a central theme that captures children’s attention and allows for integrated instruction across domain-general (ATL, EF, and social–emotional) and domain-specific (e.g., language, literacy, mathematics, and science) content, allowing for contextualized experiences that make learning more meaningful and captivating for children.

This study explored the relationship of Deep Approaches to Learning (DAL) with overall students' satisfaction and perceived employability skills in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for the undergraduate seniors in the U.S. The study also aimed to investigate whether there is a difference between students in STEM and non-STEM fields on the relationship of DAL to overall student satisfaction and students' perceived employability skills. The data for the analysis was taken from the National Study of Student Engagement (NSSE) data. The Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis was applied to explore the relationship between students' Deep Approaches to Learning (DAL), overall students' satisfaction and their perceived employability skills. The measurement invariance testing explored whether estimated factors are measuring the same constructs for STEM and non-STEM groups. The findings of the study show that HO and RI construct was found to have statistically significant positive total (direct and indirect) effect on overall student satisfaction. Further, the results show that HO and RI learning activities were identified as the statistically significant factors in predicting students' perceived employability skills for STEM students. The HO and RI have a statistically significant positive effect on perceived employability skills for STEM and the non-STEM students. The STEM students have a higher effect of HO learning activities on perceived employability skills than the non-STEM students. Further, the direct effect of perceived employability skill on overall student satisfaction is also positive for both the groups. The findings of the study confirmed the indirect effect of employability on overall students' satisfaction for both STEM and non-STEM students. This study has created strong groundwork for future researchers to use the measurement models and the hypothesized full structure model for invariance testing among the groups of STEM and non-STEM in higher education in the U.S. Thus, this measurement model has a strong generalizability to both STEM and non-STEM groups. The implications and limitations of study are further discussed. / Doctor of Philosophy / There is an increasing consensus that for a society to solve complex problems that are related to climate, health, general economic development, and security, study in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields is critical to develop the skills that are needed to tackle those issues. However, there are reports on STEM education in the U.S. that have revealed that there is a general concern among policymakers and industrial leaders about the shortage of workers who are trained in STEM fields. To enhance the students' academic achievement, cognitive development, personal and social development, and to encourage them to be life-long learners, postsecondary institutions need to build a learning atmosphere that supports their deep learning approaches. This study explored the relationship of Deep Approaches to Learning (DAL) with overall students' satisfaction and perceived employability skills in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for the undergraduate seniors in the U.S. The study also investigated whether there is a difference between students in STEM and non-STEM fields on the relationship of DAL to overall student satisfaction and students' perceived employability skills at higher education. It has further shed a light on why the difference in patterns exist and can give direction on how teaching and learning can be improved in STEM and non-STEM fields. The findings of the study suggests that Higher order (HO) and Reflective/Integrative (RI) have a positive effect on overall students' satisfaction for STEM students. The HO has a statistically significant higher effect on perceived employability skills for STEM students the for the non-STEM students. The effect of perceived employability skills on overall students' satisfaction on STEM and non-STEM students is positively high for both the groups. In order to enhance students' overall satisfaction with their university experience, the universities need to continuously develop new strategies and programs to make sure students are well-equipped with perceived employability skills.

This study was undertaken in an attempt to improve the vocational training in Electrical Systems and Construction done at the Sedibeng Further Education and Training Colleges. The development of vocational training in South Africa, as well as different approaches to effective teaching and learning, were investigated by doing a literature study. It was determined that a constructivist approach to teaching and learning that advocates an active, learner-centred approach to teaching and learning appears to be the most effective for vocational training. An empirical investigation was conducted to determine possible shortcomings in the current way of teaching, learning and assessment at Sedibeng Further Education and Training College. For this purpose, mixed method research with a triangulation design was employed. The quantitative part of the study utilized descriptive survey research with a questionnaire to establish Level 3 educator and learner viewpoints regarding the current nature of teaching, learning and assessment. A phenomenological strategy was used for the qualitative part of the study, which involved the use of semi-structured interviews with the management staff at the college, to obtain their perspectives regarding training at the college. The quantitative and qualitative data indicated weaknesses in the current approach to teaching, learning and assessment, and that teaching, learning and assessment practices could become more effective by incorporating constructivist teaching, learning and assessment principles that encourage active and interactive learning. Furthermore, a lack of teacher training and a lack of practical experience among educators, as well as inadequate infrastructure and ill-equipped facilities, are major contributing factors to ineffective vocational training. The practical contribution of the study is found in the teaching and learning programme for Electrical Systems and Construction based on constructivist principles that was developed to assist educators to improve the effectiveness of vocational training. / Thesis (PhD (Learning and Teaching))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This thesis examines what it is that enables postgraduate student teachers to promote the recently introduced curriculum innovation, dialogic talk, in primary classrooms. Drawing on literature relating to the way talk has been enacted in English classrooms for the last thirty five years, it suggests that patterns of verbal interaction have continued to prove resistant to change, despite policy imperatives and university courses. Adopting a collaborative action research approach, data were collected in three cycles over three years to investigate the perceptions of three successive cohorts of postgraduate students of the role of talk in learning, and the place of the teacher in developing it. Using a sociocultural lens, students’ conceptual and pedagogic understanding of dialogic talk, and their ability to promote it, is examined in depth through nine case studies, as are the factors which the participants themselves identify as enabling or inhibiting engagement with innovation. It is suggested that the lack of a commonly agreed definition, and of readily available theoretical guidance, has reduced dialogic talk to just another label. As such, it can play no significant part in developing practice beyond rapid question-and-answer routines of ‘interactive teaching’ and the potentially reductive IRF (Initiation, Response, Feedback) script recorded by researchers (Mroz et al, 2000; Myhill, 2006) before, and after the inception of the National Literacy Strategy (1998a). Turning to the role of the university, it questions the place of the ‘demonstration lesson’ and whole cohort lectures, urging that significant changes need to be made to the role of the teaching practice tutor, and the nature of ‘partnership’ between schools and university departments. Finally, it speculates that without a significant change in the way university departments examine, and address, the values, attitudes and memories of talk that student teachers bring with them from their own primary classrooms, there will continue to be replication of practice.

This thesis is about students’ approaches to learning (SAL) in computer science education. Since the initial development of SAL instruments and inventories in the 70’s, they have been used as a means to understand students’ approaches to learning better, as well as to measure and predict academic achievement (such as retention, grades and credits taken) and other correlating factors. It is an instrument to measure a student’s study strategies – not how “good” a student is. A Swedish short version of Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was used to gather information on whether we, through context and content, encouraged sustainable study behaviour among our students. ASSIST was used in two distinct situations: 1) Evaluation and evolvement of an online programming course design, and 2) Engineering education in media technology and computer science in a campus environment where approaches to learning has been evaluated and studied over time during the five year long programmes. Repeated measurements have been analysed against factors predicting academic achievement, and have been evaluated on a cohort level (not individual) in order to clarify patterns rather than individual characteristics. Significant for both projects was that a surface approach to learning correlated negatively with retention. Students who adopted a combination of deep and strategic approach to learning performed better in terms of grades, ECTS credits completed and perceived value of the education. As part of developmental tools it can be beneficial to use ASSIST at a group level in order to see what kind of approach a course design or a programme supports among the students. / <p>QC 20161028</p>

In order to enhance teaching it is important to understand how students learn. The aim of this study was to discover the interventions needed to enhance the support offered by teachers and tutors in a Business Accounting programme to develop in students an intrinsic motivation and deep learning strategy which could be used later in life in other areas of study. The data came from a number of sources, including the Biggs’ revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire: R-SPQ-2F, administered to students. The second source was tutors’ responses to a set of questions, and the third source was an interview held with an experienced tutor. In the main, the data was analysed using phenomenographic methodology. The study yielded valuable insights into the tutorial context and tutors’ perceptions of the factors that hinder or enhance student learning.

This thesis explores senior high school student learning in biology in Taiwan. The Confucian-heritage culture and beliefs associated with high stakes examinations influences the learning context in biology. There is a considerable body of international research on teaching and learning in senior high biology. There appears to be limited research on student and teacher views of learning in biology in this context. A social constructivist view of learning underpins this study. Using an interpretive paradigm, this study explores student and teacher perceptions of student learning experiences in senior high school biology. There are three phases in this study. In the first phase, Grade 11 and Grade 12 students and teacher perceptions of the existing teaching and learning situation in biology was explored. In the second phase, an intervention was designed and implemented for Grade 12 students. In the third phase, the intervention was evaluated. The findings of this study indicate that most students take biology to increase their options for entering tertiary education. Noticeably, they were using learning approaches that they most disliked to increase their biology marks. Most of them considered the current biology classes were very effective in coping with the major examination, but the teaching was monotonous and teaching content as seemingly unrelated to real life. The teachers perceived that student learning was passive, which contributed to the teachers feeling of exhaustion. Qualitative and quantitative data indicated that both the students and teachers were dissatisfied with the current teaching and learning situation. A more interactive teaching and learning approach and more student responsibility in investigations were suggested by the respondents. An intervention programme based on a social constructivist view of learning, including interactive teaching and open investigation, was designed and implemented. The intervention (70% lecture classes and 30% experiment classes) problematised the traditional lesson structure (90% lecture classes and 10% experiment classes) of senior biology in Taiwan, seeking a more cohesive and integrated overall structure for learning biology. Evaluation of the intervention programme suggested that through student-teacher and student-student interactions student conceptual and procedural understanding of biology was facilitated and their attitudes towards learning were enhanced. A few of the students could not accept the intervention as it conflicted with their view of learning in an examination culture. The implications of this research are that more teacher-student and peer interactions and open-ended investigations can lead to enhanced learning in biology in Taiwan for most senior high school students. Social constructivist approaches to teaching and learning are viable in a Taiwanese biology classroom context. The study also showed the potential for open investigations in this context.

The aim of this research programme was to examine the 3P model of learning (Biggs, 1987a, 1999). The first stage necessarily involved an examination of the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) (Biggs, 1987a), an instrument developed to measure the process component of the model. The structure of the SPQ was examined utilising exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of undergraduate responses (n= 260). The results indicated the higher-order factor structure of deep-achieving and surface-achieving-motive provided the most reliability and a better model fit than either the subscales or scales of the SPQ. The construct validity of the two constructs deep and surface was assessed next using a multitrait-multimethod matrix (MTMM) constructed from the three measures of the self-report questionnaire, interview ratings and written assessments from first-year students (n = 50). The results indicated good convergent validity between the deep scale of the SPQ and the interview ratings on the deep scale, between the deep scale on the SPQ and the written assessment ratings, and between the interview ratings and written assessment ratings. The results indicated good convergent validity between the surface scale on the SPQ and the interview ratings on the surface scale, but not between the surface scale on the SPQ and the written assessment ratings, and between the interview ratings and written assessment ratings. The discriminant validity between deep and surface was good for the SPQ, but not for either the interview or the written assessment. The findings indicate the deep and surface scales of the SPQ adequately measure the underlying deep and surface constructs. The retest reliability of the SPQ was then examined utilising Spearman’s Rho to assess the rank-order correlations with a sample of third-year students (n=87). Over a period of three months there were significant correlations for the surface motive, surface strategy, deep strategy, achieving motive and achieving strategy subscales of the SPQ, suggesting good reliability for these subscales. The results at the scale level of the SPQ result in similar conclusions. There was a moderate significant correlation for the surface, deep and achieving scales of the SPQ, suggesting the scales have good reliability over a period of three months. There was also a moderate significant correlation for the surface-achieving-motive and deep-achieving scales over a period of three months. The stability of SPQ scores was also assessed utilising a series of one-way repeated measures MANOVA’s with a sample of third-year undergraduates (n = 64). The results suggest some change occurs in self-reported use of approaches to learning between the first and third-years of an undergraduate degree programme. The role of the teaching-learning environment was next examined. Utilising a within-subjects design, undergraduate students (n=48) concurrently enrolled in traditional (viz. lecture and tutorial) and non-traditional (viz. workshops and group projects) subjects completed the SPQ to describe their approaches to learning in each subject. A series of 2x2 repeated measures MANOVA’s were undertaken. The results indicated students were likely to change their approach to learning based on their perceptions of the learning environment (traditional or non-traditional subject). However, those students identified as predominantly surface learners significantly increased their deep scale scores in the non-traditional subject when compared to deep learners. The next study examined a range of personality (locus of control, sensing function, thinking function, intelligence) and demographic variables (age, gender, year of study) to assess which were good predictors of deep and surface approaches to learning. A series of regression analyses identified age, sensing function and locus of control as significant predictors of the surface, surface-achieving-motive, and deep approaches to learning. Locus of control was found to be a significant predictor of the deep-achieving approach to learning. The final study examined the 3P model of learning. Based on the results of earlier studies in the research programme the situational component of the presage factors was not included. The model was examined using structural equation modelling (n= 394). Two initial models were tested using both the three (deep, surface, achieving) and two (surface-achieving-motive and deep-achieving) process factor models. The three process factor model provided the better model fit. The results suggest deep and surface approaches to learning do not mediate between personal characteristics and learning outcomes (i.e. GPA). The results of this series of studies suggest the need for further research into the SPQ and the 3P model of learning. The implications of the research programme are also discussed.

This study examined the relationship between behavior problems, learning behaviors and educational outcomes for at-risk preschool children. A sample of Head Start children (N = 196) were selected in the Southeast. Behavior problems were assessed using The Devereux Early Childhood Assessment (DECA; Le Buffe & Naglieri, 1999) and learning behaviors were assessed using the Preschool Learning Behavior Scale (PLBS, McDermott, Green, Francis & Stott, 1996). Educational outcomes included measures of literacy and math, collected using subscales from the Galileo System for the Electronic Management of Learning (Galileo; Bergan et al., 2003). Behavior problems were found to predict learning behaviors, math and literacy. Furthermore, learning behaviors were found to mediate the effect of behavior problems on literacy and math, and such mediation effects were not found to be moderated by gender nor age. The findings of the study provide a preliminary explanation regarding the mechanism through which behavior problems relate to educational outcomes for preschool children.