APPROACHES TO LEARNING IN EXCELLENT AND AVERAGE UNIVERSITY STUDENTS. THEIR EVOLUTION THROGOUTH THE FIRST YEAR OF UNIVERSITY

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. In this paper we analyze the evolution in the learning approaches of two groups of first-year university students, one excellent and the other average, from a range of eleven degrees and nine colleges of the Polytechnical University of Valencia. These students were selected as excellent or average based on the marks they obtained on their University Entrance Exams. METHODS. We carried out a longitudinal study using quantitative analysis. The students answered the R-SPQ-2questionnaire (Biggs, Kember & Leung, 2001) that measures their learning approaches in three stages throughout the academic year, at the beginning, midway through and at the end of the year. RESULTS. The research findings allowed us to confirm that the surface approach was higher in average students and that the deep approach was higher in excellent students. They also corroborated the existence of evolutionary patterns: there was a slight increase in the surface approach in both groups of students and there was also a slight increase in the deep approach throughout the year. DISCUSSION. The increase of the surface approach during the first year of university is significant and requires contextual measures. It seems that the students’ expectations during the process of adaptation to the new context are not met. Teachers therefore have an unavoidable duty in reexamining the way they manage teaching and assessment.