Underlying factors in perceptions of studying during adolescence

Abstract

In developed countries, increasing emphasis is given to lifelong learning and the importance of the role that schools play in preparing pupils to become independent learners equipped with study strategies for learning beyond compulsory education. In the UK although study skills programmes were popular in schools during the 1980s, interest receded and little research then has investigated the perceptions of studying that young people hold or the array of study skills that they utilise: this despite the wealth of literature focusing on how students approach their studying in higher education. This study explored underlying factors in perceptions of studying among 16-year-old pupils and the relationship between the factors and attainment. The sample comprised 826 pupils drawn from eight schools in Outer London. The schools encompassed pupils who could be regarded as high, middle and low achievers drawn from co-educational and single-sex schools. Pupils completed a self-report questionnaire that was designed to assess perceptions of studying and included statements relating to coursework, examinations, research, study strategies and homework. Five factors were identified: understanding, ambivalence, anxiety, self-management and wider interest. These factors mirrored those found in research previously carried out within higher education as seen in the distinctions made between deep, surface and strategic approaches to learning. From an academic perspective, they confirm earlier indications that school pupils might approach their studies in a similar manner to students in higher education. Where pupils perceived studying to be concerned with understanding, there was a significant positive relationship with attainment. From an educational perspective, it appears that those working with adolescents could learn from the range of interventions that have taken place in higher education in order to encourage students towards a deep approach to learning in the belief that this will increase levels of academic success.