Landbeck and Mugler

'italics are students' "quotes are the authors" from Landbeck, Roger and Mugler, France (1994). Approaches to study and conceptions of learning of students at the USP, The University of the South Pacific.

• also see Ladbeck and Mugler (2000) Distance Learners Of The South Pacific: Study Strategies, Learning Conditions, And Consequences For Course Design

Aversion to Questioning Authority

• "This (memorization-based) teaching style often leads to students being afraid to ask questions" (p. 10)

Rote to Conceptual Learning

• "Although they found it difficult to get used to, all students say that they prefer the independence offered by the university to the 'spoonfeeding' of high school. The freedom to go beyond what is being presented in class is highlighted by several" (p. 12-13)
• "One resorts to rote learning when she still cannot understand the material after repeated readings" (p. 17)
• "And while family members may support the idea of a student attending university, they are sometimes not prepared for4 the changes in worldview that accompany that experiece: 'At home I know I cannot ask many questions'"(p. 22)
• "because you do not understand a topic that you memorise for the exam. This 'academic necessity' is so strong that two students have shifted to a memorisation strategy while at USP."(p37)
• 'If you actually understand what you learn, I think it stays longer in your memory than cramming for a short period of time.' (p 39)
• "Students cram even though they are well aware that cramming works only in the dhort term and that it does not necessarily imply that they understand the material they are memorising" (p 40)
• "Thus students who normally seek meaning may, because of various pressures, feel forced to memorise even though it is not thier preferred approach." (p. 41)
• "The strong effect of assessment on learning is well known, and the change in strategy for final exams described previously is very striking" (p 47)

Alternate Explanations: Peer Learning

• "Most students prefer to study alone but some occasionally get together with friends" (p. 25)
• "'I find it (studying with others) really rewarding. Somehow lecturers, they seem to teach in a code, if I might say, code of their own, using complicated terminologies and whatever, like we walk in there, we sit in and absorb 5-60% or maybe 40, but when we discuss with out own classmates, we sort of water down whatever has been given in lectures and we understand'"(p. 25)
• "Although most students are prepared to ask staff for help. they prefer talking with their friends"(p. 25)

Alternate Explanations: local metaphors

• 'I try to relate it to my background because most of the work is not on the Pacific.'(p. 29)
• "Understanding is greatly helped if students can relate what they are learning to 'real life' and their own experience... If a lecturer does not do it, student may try to make the connections themselves and may or may not succeed." (p 43)
• 'I think if you really understand something, you can explain that to somebody, trying to make them understand you, like, in your own words' (p 43)
• 'The understanding part comes in when you apply that knowledge' (p 44)
• "one of the most important factors in leading to a meaningful approach to learning is the ability on the students' part to relate what they study to their own experience, to the 'real world', and to apply recently acquired knowledge" (p 49)

Alternate Explanations: Language

• "'What I do is read and the dictionary beside me --- and it takes me a long time to read the text. I can spend the whole night, until 3, 4...'Looking up every unknown word in the dictionary - which is what KF seems to do - is an innefficient way of reading. He admits having great difficulties with reading and, not surprisingly, dislikes it."(p. 29)
• "'Well, I try and paraphrase it in my own words.' Is that helpful? To write it in your own words? 'Yeah, I tend to remember it'"(p. 31)
• 'I know my limitation in the second language. Sometimes I feel that memorising, this is the safest way.'(p 36)

Landbeck and Mugler's Recommendations

1. Students should be encouraged to be independent learners and independence should be fostered throughout the school system.
2. Explicitness about what is expected of students at university and in particular disciplines could be increased, and students should be made aware of a wide range of study strategies
3. Practical applications and connections between subject and experience should be emphasised
4. Assessment which calls less for memory and more for application and crticial thinking should be encouraged, and the relative weight of final exams should be reduced

Implications of the Study on Educational NM Design

Alternate Explanations

Describing concepts in several ways seems to be the crux of the results here. this is something an isolated student in an island centre will not received to the degree on-campus students do, so it is important to work these alternate explanations in to the Educational Multimedia

• Provide inline dictionary for difficult terms (english to english and to local language)
• Provide alternate voices in addition to the Lecturer voice
  • casual, peer-like explanations of concepts
  • descriptions in local languages using local terms and metaphors
• provide explanations in terms of local metaphors
  • sometimes this may necessitate several different Pacific examples, localised just like language
• give opportunity for student to rephrase the concepts with inline assessments
• apply the concepts, and give the student the chance to actively apply these concepts to different settings themselves
• provide outlines: quick-jump methods for those who must memorize or otherwise feel more comfortable with an overview of the whole picture