A tutor's guide to teaching and learning at UQ - TEDI - University of ...

12 A Tutor’s Guide to Teaching and Learning at UQApproachMeaning OrientationDeep approachComprehension learningRelating ideasUse of evidence and logicReproducing OrientationSurface approachImprovidenceFear of failureSyllabus-boundnessExamplesActive questioning in learning – “I usually set out to understandthoroughly the meaning of what I am asked to read”.Readiness to map out the subject and think divergently – “In tryingto understand an idea, I let my imagination wander freely to beginwith, even if I don’t seem to be much nearer a solution”.Relating information to other parts of the course or beyond – “I tryto relate ideas in one subject to those in others, or to real lifesituations”.Relating evidence to conclusion – “Puzzles or problems fascinateme, particularly when you have to work through the material toreach a logical conclusion”.Preoccupation with memorising – “The best way for me tounderstand what technical terms mean is to remember the textbookdefinition”.Over-cautious reliance on details – “Tutors seem to want me to bemore adventurous in making use of my own ideas”.Pessimism and anxiety about academic outcomes – “The continualpressure of study and assignments, deadlines and competition oftenmakes me tense and depressed”.Relying on staff to define learning tasks – “I like to be toldprecisely what to do in essays or other assignments”.Another very well known model of student approaches to learning is by John Biggs(1987) who developed the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) to measure an individualstudent’s typical learning style. Like Richardson’s model above, the SPQ contains thesurface and the Deep approaches, but also includes an achieving approach to learning.Each approach is a combination of ‘motive’ (motivation) and ‘strategy’ (action). Here isa description of each approach;