Learning to learn and learning to teach — Introduction to studies in higher education

Abstract

Background: How students are introduced to their studies will affect the quality of learning. This project deals with tools for lifelong learning to increase students’ awareness of learning how to learn. In parallel to an introductory course for students, a course for teachers was given with a focus on tutoring students.Aims: To evaluate an interprofessional transition course for first-year health science students, the LearnAble project, and a teachers’ course aiming to support students to be successful in their learning.Method: The project was followed up by a computer-based course evaluation, reflective journals, the Learning Process Questionnaire and the Approaches to Teaching Inventory. The questionnaires were distributed before and after the courses. Teachers (n = 31) and students (n = 270) in two courses from different health educations participated.Results: Students’ approaches to the course and to learning could be described as technical/reproductive, seeking for an identity or as reflective/transformative. The evaluation indicates that a deep approach to the studies among the students was related to higher age and female gender. Teachers with earlier pedagogical education supported students more in the attempts to question their own understanding.Conclusion: The most obvious result was the positive impact of being a tutor for a group of students in parallel to studying pedagogy.