Education Commons^™

Understanding First Year University Students: Personal Epistemology And Learning, Sue Walker, Joanne Brownlee, Sandra Lennox, Beryl Exley, Kerry Howells, Fiona Cocker

Sandra Lennox

Whilst participation in higher education has increased dramatically over the last two decades, many universities are only now beginning to pay more attention to the learning experiences of first year students. It is important for universities to understand how first year students conceive of learning and knowing in order to promote effective approaches to learning. Even though an extensive body of research demonstrates that beliefs about learning and knowing influence student approaches to learning and learning outcomes, there has been no Australian research that has investigated this critical learner characteristic across first year university students.

This paper reports on preliminary …