Presented By: Andrew Thompson, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine
Purpose
Student learning approaches have been a topic of interest in educational research since the 1970s. Within this framework, students are typically classified as taking a surface approach (SA) or deep approach (DA). Educators often encourage a DA since it is believed this results in better learning outcomes. However, results in the literature are mixed and it is unclear what role learning approach has in shaping study habits or examination performance. The purpose of this study is to investigate this topic using several years of data from an undergraduate human anatomy course.
Methods
Data from two cohorts of students (N=70) were used in this study. Learning approach was measured using the revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F). Students also completed a custom survey designed to collect data related to the study habits students utilized leading up to each of the three course examinations. Lecture examination data was the focus of this study, which consisted of primarily multiple-choice questions that were classified according to Bloom's taxonomy.
Results
Students who took a DA to learning not only spent more time studying, but tended to start studying earlier compared to students who favored a SA. While there was a weak trend for DA scores to correlate positively with examination performance and SA scores to correlate negatively, the results were not statistically significant. Improvement in course performance was most evident among students who altered their study habits to spend more time studying as these individuals showed significantly higher examination improvement compared to those who studied less, regardless of their learning approach score.
Conclusions
While learning approach has been utilized extensively in educational research, it was not a strong predictor of examination performance in this study sample. Instead, time spend studying and adaptability in study habits was more important for success.