Redesigning a learning and assessment environment: The influence on students' perceptions of assessment demands and their learning strategies

Abstract

The study aimed to determine if students in a redesigned course, firstly, hold different perceptions of the assessment demands and, secondly, adjusted their learning strategies towards deeper learning. Contrary to expectations, the students in the original assignment-based (ABL) course ( n = 406 students) adopted more deep- learning strategies and less surface-learning strategies than the students in the problem-based (PBL) course ( n = 312 students). Although both course format as well as assessment clearly differed in the two conditions, this has not resulted in different perceptions of the assessment demands. Additionally, the results show clearly that the students who express their intentions to employ a certain learning strategy perceive the assessment demands as such and actually employ a related learning strategy.