A study on learning approaches used among post-graduate students in research university

Abstract

This paper aims to determine the method of learning approaches adopted by post-graduate students in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and to identify whether these approaches are associated with demographic factors (age, gender,main streams, mode of study and working experience). Participants included 354post-graduate students from different faculties in UTM whereas questionnaires were distributed via email and through designated contact person. The One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed that there were significant differences on the usage of the three post-graduates’ learning approaches across age, mainstreams and years of working experience. Significance was not seen between learning approaches on gender and mode of study. Deep approach was found to be preferred approaches to their learning methods. Our investigation suggests that approach to learning should be included in their academics, however the suggestion is tailored according on the tasks given to the students. Hence, we concluded that further investigation could be carried out the effect of learning environment towards students dynamic in learning.