Approaches to studying and perceptions of the academic environment among university students in Pakistan

Abstract

There has been a paucity of research on the experiences of students at Pakistani universities. A survey of over 900 students at two universities examined their approaches to studying and perceptions of their courses. Evidence was obtained for a deep approach, a surface approach and two aspects of a strategic approach. Their perceptions were based upon the instructional practices, the acquisition of generic skills, the appropriateness of the assessment and of their workload, and the available learning resources. A higher‐order analysis revealed two broad dimensions of the student experience in Pakistan. Students who had positive perceptions tended to adopt a deep approach, to prefer courses, teaching and assessment that supported their understanding and to be engaged and reliable in their studies. However, students who had negative perceptions tended to adopt a surface approach and to prefer courses, teaching and assessment that reinforced this approach through the bare transmission of information.

Keywords:

• approaches to studying
• Course Experience Questionnaire
• higher education
• learning preferences
• motivation
• Pakistan
• perceptions of academic environment

Acknowledgements

This research was carried out by Raza Ullah in fulfilment of the requirements of a PhD at the University of the Punjab and was supervised by Professors Muhammad Hafeez and Ashraf Khan Kayani. This article was written while Raza Ullah was a visiting research student at the Open University, where he was supervised by Professor John T.E. Richardson. The authors are grateful to the students and staff of the relevant universities for their co‐operation, to Nick Mulhern, Librarian of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, for his helpful advice and to Professor James Hartley for his comments on a previous version of this article. Raza Ullah is grateful for financial support from the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. Both the intellectual rights and the publication copyright in the Course Experience Questionnaire rest with Professor Paul Ramsden of the University of Sydney, the Graduate Careers Council of Australia, and the Australian Commonwealth Department of Education, Training, and Youth Affairs. The authors are grateful to Professor Noel Entwistle for his permission to reproduce the questionnaire items contained in Tables 4 and 6.