Enhancing Students’ Approaches to Learning Through Student-Centered Learning Environments?

• In Event: On the Dynamics and Relatedness of Students’ Approaches to Learning in Higher Education

Abstract

Previous research has shown the difficulty of enhancing students’ approaches to learning, and in particular the deep approach, through student-centered learning environments (Baeten, Kyndt, Struyven, & Dochy, 2010). In this respect, two quasi-experimental studies were conducted with first-year students in teacher education, who took a course on child development. Data collection (NStudy1=790, NStudy2=1098) was carried out using a pre-test/post-test design by means of the Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory (ALSI). In Study 1, a lecture-based setting was compared with a student-activating setting (consisting of problem-based learning tasks, case studies, teamwork, etc.). Results were opposite to the premise that student-activating instruction deepened student learning. Instead, the latter pushed students towards a surface approach to learning and students’ strategic approaches suffered significant lowering. Focus group interviews revealed problems caused by the student-activating setting such as high workloads, lack of feedback and structure, and fragmented knowledge. Moreover, students made the suggestion to combine student-activating assignments with lecture-directed activities in order to provide structuring support (Struyven, Dochy, Janssens, & Gielen, 2006). Taking this suggestion into account, Study 2 investigated whether mixed learning environments consisting of both a student-centered teaching method (i.e. case-based learning) and lectures could enhance students’ approaches to learning, compared to learning environments in which either case-based learning or lectures were used. Results showed that students in a gradually implemented case-based learning setting, in which lectures gradually made way for case-based learning, scored significantly higher on strategic approaches and significantly lower on the surface approach, compared to students in the total case-based learning setting. Students in the gradually implemented case-based learning setting especially appreciated the variation of teaching methods and the combination of lectures and case-based learning. In the total case-based setting, students expressed a need for lectures. In the ongoing debate about 'instruction' or 'construction' (e.g. Tobias & Duffy, 2009), these studies seem to suggest that their complementary nature serves students' approaches to learning best.

Authors

• Katrien Struyven, Vrije Universiteit Brussel

• Marlies Baeten, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

• Filip J.R.C. Dochy, University of Leuven