Self-assessment has been portrayed as a way to promote lifelong learning in higher education. While most of the previous literature builds on the idea of self-assessment as a formative tool for learning, some scholars have suggested using it in a summative way. In the present study, we have empirically compared formative and summative models for…

This study utilises [1993. "Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition." 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press] theoretical framework, known as the Model of Longitudinal Departure, to investigate success and failure in foundation year medical school in a Middle Eastern transnational location. This…

Research shows that a surface approach to learning is more common among students in the natural sciences, while students representing the "soft" sciences are more likely to apply a deep approach. However, findings conflict concerning the stability of approaches to learning in general. This study explores the variation in students'…

This study considered the sources of facilitating experiences and strategies for thesis writing from doctoral students and graduates (N = 30). The sample was balanced between science and social science knowledge areas, with equal numbers of English as Second Language (ESL) participants in both groups. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used…

The aim of the research reported in this paper was to explore students' "journey" towards conceptual understanding during an undergraduate course. The task that medical students face--to learn a substantial quantity of detailed knowledge and integrate into a coherent whole in a limited time frame--is demanding. Seven students were…

This study explores how the relationship between college students' learning strategies and their grade point average (GPA) differs across two culturally different institutions. Surveys of 621 students at a South Korean university and 824 students at a university in the USA were used to assess four types of learning strategies: motivation-related,…

This article explores the use of narrative analysis to provide a methodology for student learning research with a sociocultural orientation. The narrative which is the primary focus of this article is drawn from a study in which a series of individual interviews was conducted with a class of senior engineering students. The interview with a…

Two studies, a cross-sectional (173 first-year and 215 final-year participants) and a longitudinal (81 participants), examined whether two aspects of the learning experience of student teachers (epistemological beliefs and learning approaches), and the interrelations between them changed as a result of their tertiary education. Between the first…

The aim of the study was to examine reading and writing tasks as learning tools in higher education in Spain. The participants were 171 undergraduates from three different university degree courses. The data were gathered through a questionnaire that explored the kind of tasks carried out by the students, their perception of different aspects of…

This study tried to take into account problems related to researching learning dissonance by applying qualitative research methods and carefully considering the criteria by which coherence or dissonance are diagnosed. Found very clear differences among students' study orchestrations in terms of coherence and dissonance; the orchestrations varied…

Most research indicating dissonant forms of student learning engagement, leading to problems in the achievement of learning outcomes, is with undergraduates. Action research at Anglia Polytechnic University involving questionnaires, focus groups, and supervisory dialogues, conducted with Israeli and British postgraduate students between 1998 and…