Students’ learning approaches: are they changing?

Abstract

ome researchers believe that not much has changed in terms of how students prefer to study, whilst others believe that tertiary institutions have to adapt to a new generation of students. The aim of this paper is to determine if the learning approaches of students are changing. This will be done by comparing the learning approaches of students in 2016, with that of students of 10 years ago (2006). Questionnaires were distributed electronically to students in 2006, and again in 2016. It appears that learning approaches of these students have not changed much. Computer anxiety has increased, as well as the number of students unsure of their own chances of success. There is a decrease in students preferring to solve problems themselves rather than using available solutions, and more students prefer to work under supervision. These results show that it is essential that teaching and learning are designed according to the needs of the specific group of students it is meant for, not a mythical ‘new generation’ student