University Teachers' Conceptions of Memorising in Learning Science

This paper describes what a sample of university teachers in science conceive to be the role of memorising and the relationship between memorising and understanding in their disciplines. Sixteen, purposively selected university teachers were interviewed in depth. The university teachers were from three disciplines--mathematics, physiology and physics. Analysis of the data was undertaken from a phenomenographic perspective (Marton, 1988) and indicates a set of conceptions of memorising including memorising as rote learning for reproduction, as facilitating learning--a way to progress--and as a key component of the learning process. Opposing views of the relationship between memorising and understanding were expressed; these were viewed either as unrelated processes or as dynamically interwoven.     

Approaches to Learning across Cultures: The role of assessment

In the context of a broader research study on the intercultural understanding of teachers in Australia, Japan and Thailand, this paper focuses on approaches to learning and the role of assessment in shaping such approaches. Popular contrasts portray Asian learners as compliant and favouring rote memorisation and Western learners as independent and favouring deep, conceptual learning. Yet Asian students frequently outperform their Western counterparts in competitive tests purported to measure higher cognitive skills. Biggs and his associates have challenged the stereotypical view of Asian students as rote learners as a Western misperception. But data from the present cross-cultural study suggest it is more than a Western misperception, being shared by teachers in Japan and Thailand. With this background, this paper then explores the role of assessment through an analysis of examination papers in the three countries at the high stakes, year 12 level. This analysis of the ways in which knowledge and comprehension are assessed identifies different practices across cultures but not ones corresponding to the rhetoric on contrasting approaches to learning. Rather it concludes that assessment tasks classified superficially as comprehension can be approached through memorisation and conversely, those often classified as memorisation can require careful reading, thought and interpretation, while drawing from an extensive knowledge base. A shared understanding of the nature of assessment tasks in different cultures thus has the potential to dissolve the demarcation of culturally embedded learning styles and to enhance deep learning grounded in specialist knowledge for scholars, be they students or teachers, in all cultures.     

The intention to both memorise and understand: Another approach to learning?

In distinguishing deep and surface approaches, an important determinant is the intentions to understand and memorise respectively. A student adopting a surface approach does not seek understanding and, therefore, relies upon memorisation. Understanding and memorising are, then, seen as almost mutually exclusive as far as intent is concerned, although those seeking understanding may make some strategic use of memorisation for particular tasks. This paper reviews emerging evidence of an approach which combines memorising and understanding. The research has been conducted in the Asian region, and so provides part of the explanation for the paradox of the Asian student. There has been widespread anecdotal evidence of rote-learning and yet Asian students are often high achievers. Several plausible explanations for the occurrence of the approach are advanced. These include limited ability in the language of study leading to a narrow systematic pattern of study, cultural traditions respecting order and diligent study, and the need for children to learn the language characters.     

The suitability of the International Certificate of Christian Education as an examination for university entrance

Increasing numbers of students are applying to university with the International Certificate of Christian Education (ICCE), an alternative to mainstream qualifications based on a biblically-based, individualised curriculum called Accelerated Christian Education (ACE). No formal validity arguments exist for the ICCE, but it claims to prepare students for university entrance. This article assesses the validity of the ICCE by comparing the stated objectives in ACE workbooks with the activities on its tests. It is argued that many of the learning objectives are never tested at all. Those that are tested are frequently covered only superficially. The tests rely extensively on rote memorisation which fails to prove understanding of concepts, and ACE’s definitions of academic disciplines are often rather different from, and inferior to, the understandings of mainstream academia. It is concluded that, while students from alternative educational backgrounds should not be penalised, ICCE results cannot provide the robust evidence of academic achievement that universities are entitled to expect.     

Conceptions of learning and approaches to learning in Portuguese students

The article describes a study that attempted to characterise Portuguese students’ conceptions of learning and approaches to learning. A sample of university students answered open questions on the meaning, process and context of learning. Results, derived from content analysis, replicate most conceptions of learning described by phenomenographical research (i.e. distinction between learning as memorisation and learning as comprehension). Moreover, new variants of known conceptions of learning emerged (e.g. learning occurs through: exploratory practice; learning to learn; motivation) and an apparently new conception (i.e. learning as understanding and application). The same sample answered a questionnaire which attempted to measure motivation and learning strategies. Through factorial analysis of results it was possible to confirm the presence of three well-known approaches to learning: surface, deep and achieving.     

Treating the Diploma Disease in Kenya: a modest counter‐proposal

In the 20 years which have elapsed since Ronald Dore's celebrated diagnosis, the ‘diploma disease’ has continued to take its toll. In many countries, pupils still prepare for major national examinations by ritualised learning, involving the rote memorisation of large quantities of poorly understood factual material. Dore proposed a radical cure: students should no longer be selected for scarce and highly valued opportunities in further education or employment on the basis of their scores in achievement‐based examinations. Instead other instruments—aptitude tests, school quotas, or even lotteries—should be used. The argument of this paper is that reform of examinations is a more viable alternative. It is not examinations per se that are the problem, but rather examinations of low quality. The most pervasive weakness of many national examinations is their propensity to focus on the testing of passive, inert knowledge: they require candidates to do no more than reproduce what they have remembered, in unchanged form. Good examinations, by contrast, test active ideas: they require candidates to think about what they know, and to restructure it in some way. Such examinations can be supportive, not subversive, of attempts to improve pedagogy. The fact that an education system employs achievement‐based examinations to allocate scarce opportunities does not mean that passive pedagogy and ritualised learning—the twin indicators of the diploma disease—are inevitable.     

Evaluating writing instruction through an investigation of students’ experiences of learning through writing

Learning through writing is a way of learning not only the appropriate written expression of disciplinary knowledge, but also the knowledge itself through reflection and revision. This study investigates the quality of a writing experience provided to university students in a first-year biology subject. The writing instruction methodology used is Genre-based literacy pedagogy, designed to help both with learning disciplinary knowledge and its appropriate written presentation. Evaluative research methodologies from Student Learning Research are used and include the use of three closed-ended questionnaires and an open-ended questionnaire. The results of the research suggest ways of improving the writing instruction by better understanding the previous writing experiences of the students, improving the instructional materials, clarifying goals of the writing tasks at key stages in the writing process, and helping students to improve their approach to the writing experience.in final form: 23 August 2004     

Reasons for suboptimal learning in medical microbiology

Medical microbiology presents a challenge to undergraduate students, mostly due to its extensive content and complexity of unfamiliar terminology. In addition to a narrative review of the literature, we report findings on students’ motivation for and approach to learning in the Infections module of an undergraduate medical curriculum, and their perceived lack of retention of knowledge acquired in the module, as determined by a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. When students experienced information overload, they reverted to performance goals and the wrong motivation for learning. Their focus turned primarily to being successful in tests and examinations, and they consequently adopted a surface approach to learning. Surface learning and memorisation of facts without understanding its content usually result in moderate retention of knowledge, which could handicap the development of clinical reasoning. However, the concern about students’ perceived poor retention of knowledge can be laid to rest – the prognosis is not discouraging after all.     

Collective Effects of Individual,Behavioral, and Contextual Factors on High School Students’ Future STEM Career Plans

This study explored the structural relationships among secondary school students’ conceptions, self-regulation, and strategies of learning science in mainland China. Three questionnaires, namely conceptions of learning science (COLS), self-regulation of learning science (SROLS), and strategies of learning science (SLS) were developed for investigating 333 Chinese high school learners’ conceptions, metacognitive self-regulation, and strategies in science. The confirmatory factor analysis results verified the validity of the three surveys. Moreover, the path analyses revealed a series of interesting findings. Learners with lower-level COLS, namely “memorizing,” “testing,” and “practicing and calculating,” tended to use surface learning strategies such as “minimizing scope of the study” and “rote learning.” However, learners’ higher-level COLS, namely “increase of knowledge,” “applying,” “understanding,” and “seeing in a new way,” had complicated connections with their SROLS and SLS. On the one hand, learners’ higher-level COLS had negative relations to “minimizing scope of the study” and “rote learning.” On the other hand, their higher-level COLS were powerful predicators for their metacognitive self-regulation and further affected their use of “deep strategy” and “rote learning.” Though Chinese secondary students with higher-level COLS usually have a negative view of “rote learning,” the functioning of their metacognitive self-regulation may change their initial attitudes towards the surface strategy. Learners with higher-level COLS still used “rote learning” as a prior step for achieving deep learning. Therefore, we concluded that the SROLS played an important mediating role between the COLS and SLS and may change learners’ original intention to utilize learning strategies.     

面向意义学习的认知过程

学习不仅包括获取知识,还包括在各种各样的新情况下运用知识的能力,即学习包括“保持”和“迁移”这两个过程,本文以此观点为基础分析了意义学习与机械学习的区别,依据新修订的布卢姆认知目标分类学,对意义学习中的六类19种认知过程具体要素作出了说明,以此凸现认知过程中的“迁移”,帮助教育者更全面地完成教学和评估目标。     

Is the learning approach of students from the Confucian heritage culture problematic?

This article is concerned with the learning style adopted by Asian students who come from a Confucian heritage culture (CHC) such countries as China, Vietnam, Singapore, Korea and Japan are considered countries with Confucian heritage culture (Phuong-Mai et al. 2005). These students are generally viewed as typically passive, unwilling to ask questions or speak up in class and often based on memorising rather than understanding knowledge delivered by teachers. This learning style is claimed to be shaped by the CHC in Asian countries and receives massive criticism in the literature. This article aims to challenge this criticism of the passive learning style adopted by Asian students who come from the CHC. By conducting in-depth interviews with 10 Asian students from the CHC currently studying tertiary education in Australia, this article addresses the confusion between passive learning style and CHC, between memorising and understanding and between quietness and passiveness. Finally, if passiveness of Asian students is indeed observed in both Asian CHC countries and English-speaking countries, it is more because of situation-specific factors of teaching methodologies, learning requirements, learning habits and language proficiency rather than cultural factors.     

Learning,memorisation and understanding among distance learners in the South Pacific

The relationship between learning and understanding and the meaning of memorisation were explored with distance learners at the University of the South Pacific using semi-structured interviews. Several conceptions of learning, similar to those previously described in the literature, were identified. Understanding was found to be central to the students' experience of learning and could be described using the metaphor of depth. Two meanings of ‘memorisation’ were identified from the context of the interviews, one with understanding and one without. The consequences of the findings for learning through distance education are briefly considered.     

The Role of Consultancy in Curriculum and Organization Development Innovation in Education

In this article research on teaching and learning is reviewed from a cross-cultural perspective. A meta-analysis indicates that across a number of very different cultures higher quality learning strategies, at both school and university level, are associated with higher student self-esteem and an internal locus of control. Such strategies tend to be encouraged in classrooms where students feel involved, the teachers are supportive, the workload is fair, and the assessment system reflects broader notions of learning beyond examination marks. In-depth research on Chinese students questions the validity of a number of basic Western notions of educational psychology regarding the nature of motivation and the role of memorisation. Other research suggests that the Western teacher education emphasis on getting students on task and coping with behavioural problems may not be as relevant in the Chinese context. Chinese educators tend to see both creativity and understanding as slow processes requiring much effort, repetition, and attention rather than relatively rapid, insightful processes. Such views are grounded in hundreds of years of Chinese philosophical thought. Any attempts to reform education by importing ideas from one culture to another must consider the overall contexts of the societies involved.     

Challenges to Stereotypes of International Students’ Prior Educational Experience: undergraduate education in India

The discourse concerning teaching and learning for international students in Australia has been dominated by a cultural‐deficit approach. Proponents of this perspective argue that many international students bring with them learning experiences which are inadequate in the Australian context. These experiences have favoured rote, reproductive, surface, teacher‐centred and dependent approaches to learning; which lack analytical and critical perspectives; and which have occurred in contexts dominated by examinations and substantially lacking in educational resources. More recently, other research has challenged these stereotypes of international students, particularly regarding students from Confucian‐heritage cultures. This paper examines these stereotypes in relation to international students from India, through the use of a review of the available literature on Indian higher education and the analysis of the undergraduate learning experiences of a group of postgraduate students studying at a large Australian metropolitan university. It concludes that while some aspects of the stereotype may apply to Indian undergraduate education, most aspects of the cultural‐deficit perspective are problematic in that context, and a more contextualised approach is of greater use in understanding and describing the diversity of undergraduate learning in India.     

Approaches to studying and communication preferences among deaf students in distance education

This investigation examined approaches to studyingamong deaf students taking courses by distance learning whopreferred to communicate using either sign language or spokenlanguage. In comparison with hearing students, the deaf studentsobtained higher scores on comprehension learning, surfaceapproach, improvidence and fear of failure. Whilst they obtainedhigher scores on reproducing orientation, their qualitativeresponses indicated that this was not because they had beendriven to use rote memorisation. In addition, the deaf studentsseemed just as capable as the hearing students of adopting ameaning orientation. In the specific context of distanceeducation, there were no differences in approaches to studyingrelated to the students' preferred mode of communication.However, communicating by sign language rather than speech haddifferent practical consequences for the students' effectiveworkload.     

Learning strategies and reading literacy among Chinese and Finnish adolescents: evidence of suppression

Many arguments have been advanced in the context of the predictive correlation between learning strategies and reading achievement. There is insufficient understanding, however, of the subtle ways in which different types of learning strategies (i.e. memorisation, elaboration and control strategies) function in facilitating students’ reading achievement. A post hoc analysis was performed to examine this issue among Chinese and Finnish adolescents who participated in the PISA 2009 reading programme. A multigroup structural equation modelling found the suppression pattern among the three strategies: control strategy is positively related to reading literacy and this association increases substantially once memorisation and elaboration strategies are accounted for. There is evidence that Chinese adolescents outperformed their Finnish counterparts due to larger suppression effect from elaboration. Implications for models of learning strategies and intervention are discussed.     

Measuring business process learning with enterprise resource planning systems to improve the value of education

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) are very large and complex software packages that run every aspect of an organization. Increasingly, ERP systems are being used in higher education as one way to teach business processes, essential knowledge for students competing in today’s business environment. Past research attempting to measure learning business processes with ERP has been inconclusive and lacking in rigor. This paper reports on a comprehensive research study that uses a critical realist approach to measure business process learning from experiential ERP. Using a business simulation game as a proxy for understanding business processes, students from a US undergraduate program in three separate classes, one using ERP experientially, are assessed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The data analysis uncovers a causal mechanism for learning, complemented by an understanding of the factors that trigger or suppress that mechanism in particular cases. The results validate the efforts of those using ERP in the classroom, and reaffirm other educational business school endeavours to teach business processes, with educational implications as follows. First, before attempting to learn business processes, students must have an understanding of core business concepts. Second, hands-on experience of ERP systems indeed helps students understand business processes. Third, students are showing that they can use the knowledge gained in university classes and apply it to making business decisions. Fourth, students should be encouraged to use all information possible for making business decisions instead of relying on their personal understanding of today’s current market or on their own business intuition.