Abstracts - Earli

understanding that mastery-goals as well as deep processing facilitate academic achievement.Further examinations of these issues will be highlighted in our ongoing research.The learning approaches and epistemological beliefs of university students: A cross-sectional andlongitudinal studyLourdes Rodriguez, University of Granada, SpainFrancisco Cano, University of Granada, SpainMaria Cardelle-Elawar, University of Arizona, USAMarcelo Carmona, University of Granada, SpainNote: An extended version of this manuscript has been accepted for publication in Studies inHigher Education and it is in the latest stage of revision. Abstract The Learning Approaches andEpistemological Beliefs of University Students: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study AbstractBy carrying out both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies on groups of student teachers, weinvestigated whether tertiary education had an effect on two aspects of their learning experience(epistemological beliefs and learning approaches) and on the interrelations between them. Theresults of both the cross-sectional (n = 173 first-year and 215 final-year participants) and thelongitudinal study (n = 81 participants) appeared to show that in general these two aspects oflearning move in the direction of greater sophistication (epistemological beliefs) and depth(learning approaches) between first and final years of study and become more coherentlyinterrelated, as was demonstrated by canonical correlation analyses. However, this result emergedonly in the longitudinal study, where the same students’ responses were being analysed and evenin this study, the changes were not homogenous. A cluster analysis of intra-individual changesshowed that while some students developed more mature beliefs about knowledge and learningand a deeper approach, the learning experience of others showed no improvement in quality.Discussion of the low impact of tertiary education on students’ learning experience, themethodological contributions offered by this study and future research perspectives follow.Perception of medical students on self-regulated learning skills: experience in problem-basedlearning and conventional curriculumSevgi Turan, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, TurkeyOzcan Demirel, Hacettepe University Faculty of Education, TurkeyIskender Sayek, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, TurkeySelf-regulation is an important skill for development of lifelong learning skills. The aim of thestudy is to investigate students’ self-regulated learning skills at medical faculty implementingdifferent curriculum model. The study, which is descriptive, carried out on five different medicalfaculties implementing different curriculum model. 918 of medical students took part in the study.A Self-regulated Learning Perception Scale (SRLPS) was developed and administered. Items wererated on a five-point Likert scale in the scale. Cronbach a for SRLPS that consists of fourdimensions were 0.88, 0.91, 0.83 and 0.76, respectively. There was no statistically significantdifference of SRLPS scores between genders but was significant difference between phases,curricular language and faculty’s curriculum model. Students’ scores of the medical faculty ofwhich they applied a learner-centered curriculum with problem-based learning were higher thanstudents of other faculties. It was also determined significant difference on motivation and actionto learning scores (dimension 2) between students whose secondary school was used learner -centered method. The findings of this study indicate that the importance of learner -centeredcurriculum is to be achieved through self-regulated learning skills.– 565 –