From model answers to multiple perspectives: Adapting study approaches to suit university study

Abstract

The study looks at issues around the power of the hidden curriculum of assessment and its effects on student behaviour. The assessment regime at school level has an impact on study approaches at university level, and if we are to help students to make the transition from school to university, then it is important that we understand the beliefs and behaviours involved. The study looks at changes in behaviour in the light of beliefs about knowledge and their understanding about knowledge, that is, their epistemological beliefs, which are a pre- or co-requisite to learning in a manner consistent with the requirements of a discipline. Drawing on the literature from the transition from school- to university-level study, focus group interviews were conducted with 110 final-year students at two universities in Hong Kong in order to look at the adaptations made by students used to a particular assessment regime at school level and who, like students in all cultures, need to become more independent in their learning and to develop confidence. For students to successfully make the transition, first, they had to be exposed to issues or problems with multiple positions. Second, there needed to be active engagement through learning activities with the problems or issues.