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

Section 2: Understanding Student Learning 13Approach Motive StrategySurface Extrinsically motivated –(often to avoid failure) byassessment requirementsand the need to ‘pass’,seeing study as a meansto an end such as a job,balancing not workingtoo hard with passing.Deep Intrinsically motivated –usually to satisfy personalcuriosity and interest inthe topic.Focuses often on only the bare essentials, the factsand details (rather than making connections betweenthem and seeing the structure of what is beinglearned), in order to reproduce the informationaccurately, and often use memorising strategies.They aim to meet assessment requirements but oftenonly to minimum standards, and appear to befocused on passing the assessment instead oflearning and understanding.Aim to maximise their own understanding ofconcepts, and make sense of what they are learning.They read widely, discuss ideas with others, reflecton different perspectives, relating ideas together andmaking connections with previous experiences.Achieving orStrategicMotivated to achieveacademically, oftenlinked to ego and selfesteem,and wish toobtain high grades orotherrewards/recognition.Optimise their organisation of time and effort andchoose the most efficient and effective strategy forparticular tasks (while memorising is oftenconsidered a surface strategy, it depends on theintention, and is often a part of the achievingapproach if the most efficient and effective way oflearning the particular material).They identify the assessment criteria and estimate thelearning effort required to achieve a particular grade.Often follow up all suggested readings/exercises,scheduling time and organising workspace.Studies of student learning show that often the approach adopted by students is stronglyinfluenced by factors in the environment, the teaching method, or the nature of thesubject, such as the type of assessment used, the workload required, feedback received,the enthusiasm of the teacher, or a large amount of content to be covered in the subject(e.g. first year biology or chemistry).Research also shows that the learning approach adopted by students is often closelyrelated to the quality of their learning and their academic achievement – students whohave a surface approach to learning, being extrinsically motivated and focussed on factsand details rather than understanding and relating concepts, and developing an interestfor in what is being learned, will normally achieve a lower quality learning outcome.Teachers can influence these factors to varying degrees. For example, we candiscourage disinterest and extrinsic motivation, and encourage intrinsic interest bysharing our own passion and enthusiasm for the subject, emphasising its relevance totheir overall program of study and their career goals, particularly in designinginteresting activities and assessment tasks that help students to make connectionsbetween the subject and the 'real world' of work or the profession.