Getting Inside Knowledge: the application of Entwistle's model of surface/deep processing in producing open learning materials

Abstract

The work carried out in this study is the result of an Open Learning in Business Education (OLBE) project from 1990‐1995, in which business education students training as teachers and lecturers were required to produce open learning materials on intercultural communications for use in the classroom. Distinctive stages, designed to maximise the effectiveness of this challenging learning task, were refined over the course of the project period. An analysis of student responses at the different stages enabled the authors to distinguish features of ‘deep’ and ‘surface’ learning (Entwistle), a construct widely recognised in the field of learning psychology and particularly well suited to the objective of evaluating and enhancing the quality of learning in the project. A particular sequence of learning modes which included a considerable degree of learner autonomy, combined with regular group discussions and feedback, were considered to have produced some impressive learning outcomes. However, subject matter involving culture is inherently difficult to grasp as it can only be understood in relative, rather than objective, terms. Thus, an established model of the dimensions of culture, recognised in the social sciences (Hofstede), was recently used to analyse further, from collated responses, the depth of student understanding of the concept of cultural variation on each of five dimensions. An overview of the general transition from surface to deep learning which was evident for most students during the progress of the project stages is provided in this paper. The authors believe that the progressive and varied format of the project with the strongly motivational open learning production task, encouraging students themselves to view knowledge and concepts from a learner's perspective, has a wide range of potential applications.