Abstract
Two studies on monitoring and assisting students at risk are presented against a contemporary perspective in higher education: that of monitoring and developing the quality of student learning. A basis for risk categorisation at an individual level is outlined, and the effects of an intervention aimed at students at risk are evaluated in two contrasting settings. ‘At risk’ in the present study represents, in conceptual terms, a relatively extreme set of learning behaviours.
The first study approximates an ideal set of circumstances in which an individual-level intervention for students conceptually at risk is described. The second study reflects the uncompromising reality of a large first-year service course, in which a reduced form of the same intervention was pragmatically attempted. In both interventions the emphasis was on assisting students to engage manifestations of their own self-reported, contextualised study behaviour. This was the starting point of a developmental and reflective programme in which students were not taught ‘study skills’, but were rather assisted to develop deeper contextual perceptions, metalearning awareness, and internal locus.
The targeted students in these studies, and the basic nature of the intervention employed, differ considerably from those used in other intervention studies. The first study produced positive results, while the second study did not. An overall conclusion is that, while interventions of the type described can assist students to develop their learning potential, they can only do so in carefully managed circumstances that are sensitive to individual students' learning problems and the discipline-specific context in which these occur.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Biggs, J.B. (1979). ‘Individual differences in study processes and the quality of learning outcomes’,Higher Education 1, 381–394.
Biggs, J.G., and Rihn, B.A. (1984). ‘The effects of intervention on deep and surface approaches to learning’, in Kirby, I. (ed.),Cognitive strategies and educational performance Orlando: Academic Press.
Biggs, J.B. (1985). ‘The role of metalearning in study processes’,British Journal of Educational Psychology, 55, 185–212.
Cliff, A.F. (1992).The ‘educationally disadvantaged’ student factors impacting upon conceptions of learning and perceptions of learning contexts. Unpublished M. Ed. dissertation, University of Cape Town.
Dunne, T.T. (1992).Learning Statistics: a guide for first year students, Mimeograph, Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Cape Town.
Eizenberg, N. (1988). ‘Approaches to learning anatomy: developing a programme for preclinical students’, in Ramsden, P. (ed.),Improving Learning: New Perspectives. London: Kogan Page, pp. 178–198
Entwistle, N. and Ramsden, P. (1983).Understanding student learning. London: Croom Helm.
Entwistle, N.J., Meyer, J.H.F., and Tait, H. (1991). ‘Student failure: disintegrated patterns of study strategies and perceptions of the learning environment’,Higher Education 21, 249–261.
Gibbs, G. (1990).Improving student learning project. Briefing, Paper for Participants in the Project. Oxford: the Oxford Centre for Staff Development.
Martin, E., and Ramsden, P. (1987) ‘Learning skills, or skill in learning?’ in Richardson, J.T.E., Eysenck, M.W., and Warren Peper, D. (eds.),Student Learning. Milton Keynes: S.R.H.E. and Open University Press.
Meyer, J.H.F. (1991). ‘Study orchestration: the manifestation, interpretation and consequences of contextualised approaches to studying’,Higher Education 22, 297–316.
Meyer, J.H.F. (1994). ‘Academically “at risk” study behaviour: a categorisation procedure and an empirical exploration based on programmable logic’,South African Journal of Higher Education 8, in press.
Meyer, J.H.F. and Dunne, T.T., (1991). ‘The study approaches of nursing students: effects of an extended clinical context’,Medical Education 25, 497–516
Meyer, J.H.F., Dunne, T.T., and Sass, A.R. (1992). ‘Impressions of disadvantage. I-school versus university study orchestration and implications for academic support’Higher Education 24, 291–316.
Meyer, J.H.F., and Muller, M.W. (1990). ‘Evaluating the quality of student learning. I—an unfolding analysis of the association between perceptions of learning context and approaches to studying at an individual level’,Studies in Higher Education 15, 131–154.
Meyer, J.H.F., Parsons, P., and Dunne, T.T. (1990). ‘Individual study orchestrations and their association with learning outcome’,Higher Education 20, 67–89.
Meyer, J.H.F., and Sass, A.R. (1993). ‘Engineering students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds: assumptions, research conclusions, and curriculum responses’,International Journal of Engineering Education 8, 328–335.
Meyer, J.H.F., and Sass, A.R. (in press). ‘The impact of the first year on the learning behaviour of engineering students’,International Journal of Engineering Education.
Meyer, J.H.F., and Watson, R.M. (1991). ‘Evaluating the quality of student learning. II-study orchestration and the curriculum’,Studies in Higher Education 16, 251–275.
Novak, J.D. (1985). ‘Metalearning and metaknowledge strategies to help students learn how to learn’, in West, L.H.T., and Pines, A.L. (eds.)Cognitive Structure and Conceptual Change. Orlando: Academic Press.
Parsons, P. (1992).An investigation into the association between qualitatively different perceptions of the learning context and students' approaches to studying. Unpublished Ph. D. Thesis, University of Cape Town.
Parsons, P.G. (1993). ‘The student at risk: the successful integration of intervention into the regular teaching programme’,South African Journal of Higher Education, in press.
Parsons, P.G., and Meyer, J.H.F. (1990). ‘The academically “at risk” student: a pilot intervention programme and its observed effects on learning outcome’,Higher Education 20, 323–334.
Ramsden, P., Beswick, D.G., and Bowden, J.A. (1986). ‘Effects of learning skills interventions on first year university students' learning’,Human Learning 5, 151–164.
Van Overwalle, F., and de Metsenaere, M. (1990). “The effects of attribution-based intervention and study strategy training on academic achievement in college freshmen’,British Journal of Educational Psychology 60, 299–311.
Van Overwalle, F., Segebarth, K., and Goldschtein, M. (1989). ‘Improving performance of freshmen through attributional testimonies from fellow students’,British Journal of Educational Psychology 59, 75–85.
Vermunt, J.D.H.M., and Van Rijswijk, F.A.W.M. (1988). ‘Analysis and development of students' skill in selfregulated learning’,Higher Education 17, 647–682.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Meyer, J.H.F., Cliff, A.F. & Dunne, T.T. Impressions of disadvantage: II-Monitoring and assisting the student at risk. High Educ 27, 95–117 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01383763
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01383763