Beliefs about Knowledge and the Process of Teaching and Learning as a Factor in Adjusting to Study in Higher Education

By David Kember. 2001

271 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This study interviewed 53 novice or experienced students enrolled in part-time courses in Hong Kong universities. It was found that the attitudes to and ability to cope with study were influenced by a coherent set of beliefs about knowledge and the process of teaching and learning. This belief set was characterised in two broad orientations as didactic/reproductive or facilitative/ transformative. Novice students holding didactic/reproductive beliefs found it difficult to adjust to higher education if the teaching was not expository, as often happened with distance education tutorials. These students also experienced problems with assignments which went beyond the reproduction of material, since these were incompatible with their epistemological beliefs. The conclusion is that courses should aim to help students make the difficult transition to the belief orientation of the more experienced students as a means of assimilating students into higher education.

Subfields: Developmental and Educational Psychology, Education, Sociology and Political Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/1a2238de36fa1f11df5d4754b3cd1d189ba33814

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Developmental and Educational Psychology

1. T. Santangelo
2. Eunbae Lee
3. P. Sander
4. Sue Bennett
5. J. Bain
6. J. Hartley
7. Barbara J. Flood
8. R. Chen

In Education

1. Marann Byrne
2. Barbara J. Flood
3. Lalage Sanders
4. T. Santangelo
5. P. Sander
6. Lin Norton
7. Eunbae Lee
8. R. Baard

In Sociology and Political Science

1. T. Santangelo
2. Lin Norton
3. P. Sander
4. Sue Bennett
5. J. Bain
6. J. Hartley
7. Barbara J. Flood
8. Eunbae Lee

Citations in the corpus

• Teachers’ beliefs and intentions concerning teaching in higher education (2005, result): “Analogous results were obtained from interviews with students by Kember (2001) and in investigations of student teachers by Entwistle et al. (2000) and Oosterheert et al. (2002).”
• The Application of Differentiated Instruction in Postsecondary Environments: Benefits, Challenges, and Future Directions (2009, background): “…students’ academic skills (Allsopp et al., 2005; Mull et al., 2001; Reis et al., 1997; Wirt et al., 2004), the instructor’s epistemological beliefs (Kember 1997, 2001; Norton et al., 2005; Samuelowicz & Bain, 2001; Trigwell et al., 1999), and the use of instructional strategies that are…”
• A study of accounting students' motives, expectations and preparedness for higher education (2005, background): “For example, students who commence university with didactic/reproductive beliefs about knowledge and teaching find the transition to higher education difficult and even traumatic (Kember, 2001).”
• The adaptation of Chinese international students to online flexible learning: two case studies (2008, background): “Didactic teaching and passive learning are still the norm in the Chinese education system (Cortazzi & Jin, 2001; Kember, 2001).”
• Students’ engagement in first‐year university (2008, unknown): “The transition to university is a complex and often difficult period of a young student’s life (Booth, 1997; Kember, 2001; Krause, 2001).”
• Orientations to research higher degree supervision (2007, result): “Much of this research has shown that beliefs about teaching, learning and assessment are closely interrelated, supporting the notion of orientations to educational practice ( Kember 2001; Samuelowicz and Bain 2001, 2002).”
• Factors influencing success in first-year accounting at a South African university: A comparison between lecturers’ assumptions and students’ perceptions (2009, background): “…coming from a school system where the teaching and assessment practices developed study skills and approaches to learning were not well aligned with higher education expectations may find the transition from school to university difficult and less enjoyable (Cook & Leckey, 1999; Kember, 2001).”
• A design framework for enhancing engagement in student-centered learning: own it, learn it, and share it (2016, background): “College students who have benefited from producing externallybased outcomes via didactic instruction often encounter difficulty when teaching and learning approaches assume or require greater individual mediation (Kember 2001).”
• Metalearning capacity and threshold concept engagement (2010, result): “’ This finding is consistent with Kember's ( 2001 , p.”
• Understanding academic confidence (2006, background): “, 2000), and more pertinently here, their ABC, a learning environment can be created that will engage them (Kember, 2001; Schuell, 1986), and move them forward in their education.”