By Richard Rooney
How students studying Media Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of
Botswana say they prefer to learn.
Abstract
This paper presents the findings of a survey undertaken among students attached to the
Media Studies Department, University of Botswana. It interrogates the research question:
How do students studying Media Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of
Botswana say they prefer to learn?
To facilitate this, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to 115 students across years
one to four.
The research assumes there are three types of student: A) shallow learners; B) deep learners
and C) strategic learners and attempts to identify how many of each there are in Media
Studies.
The results suggest that the majority of students may be C-type. That is they have a
confidence in their ability to learn for themselves and realise that there are sources of
knowledge besides the teacher: books, programs, other teachers, peers or even themselves.
They believe assessments are not occasions to spout received information, but are
opportunities to show a considered response.
Even though C-type students might be a majority, significant numbers remain A-type and
prefer simply to commit material to memory in an uncritical way. They expect the teacher to
give them all they need.
There are also significant minorities of B-type who know they should be critical, but are
unsure about how to do it. They try to second-guess what position the teacher favours and
give that view in assessments. They feel insecure in this position.
Introduction
This paper presents the findings of a survey undertaken among students attached to the Media
Studies Department, University of Botswana. It interrogates the research question: How do
students studying Media Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Botswana
say they prefer to learn?
To facilitate this, a questionnaire was designed and distributed to 115 students across years
one to four.
The research assumes there are three types of student: A) shallow learners; B) deep learners
and C) strategic learners and attempts to identify how many of each there are in Media
Studies.
The results suggest that the majority of students may be C-type. That is they have a
confidence in their ability to learn for themselves and realise that there are sources of
knowledge besides the teacher: books, programs, other teachers, peers or even themselves.
They believe assessments are not occasions to spout received information, but are
opportunities to show a considered response.
Even though C-type students might be a majority, significant numbers remain A-type and
prefer simply to commit material to memory in an uncritical way. They expect the teacher to
give them all they need.
There are also significant minorities of B-type who know they should be critical, but are
unsure about how to do it. They try to second-guess what position the teacher favours and
give that view in assessments. They feel insecure in this position.
The paper cautions that the results may be problematic. When the author discussed these
results informally with some colleagues in the Media Studies Department they expressed
surprise that students reported they wanted to learn for themselves and did not want to be
unduly led by the teacher. Colleagues said that in their own experience typically the students
wanted guidance and were insecure when required to work independently. This would mean
that the majority of students might at best be B-type or A-type with a smaller number at Ctype than the present research suggests.
This raised an issue with the research: could we be certain that students answered wholly
truthfully?
the Faculty of Humanities and include, among other programmes, English Language, African
Languages and Literature, History, Theology and Religious Studies (University of Botswana,
2012).
The structure of the Media Studies programmes means that a Media Studies student has to
take a significant number of non-Media Studies credits to graduate. In the case of BMS 220
this would be at least 26 percent of total credits and in BAH 210 this would be at least 54
percent of total credits.
We should therefore be cautious in thinking of Media Studies students as people who only
study Media Studies, but rather we should see them as Humanities students who specialise in
Media Studies. We might reasonably believe that the results obtained by this research could
generally reflect the way Humanities students say they prefer to learn, rather than just
Media Studies students, and it could therefore be of interest to teachers across the faculty.
Goal
To investigate how students on Media Studies courses at the Faculty of Humanities in the
University of Botswana prefer to learn.
Rationale
There is no information about this topic. A survey of students attitudes would help us to
work towards establishing a learning and teaching policy in the Media Studies Department.
The work also speaks to the UB Learning and Teaching Policy (University of Botswana,
2008, Pp. 3-4).
This policy is guided by the principle of intentional learning which puts an emphasis on
pedagogical strategies that encourage active learning. It says, Approaches to learning should
be creative, diverse and flexible and should benefit from the application of appropriate
technologies. It also privileges learner-centeredness, saying, Learning and teaching
processes should adapt existing methods and techniques, adopt new ones and adjust to the
learners styles and pace of learning, and focus on the achievement of learner outcomes.
Objectives
1. To investigate students attitudes to the role of lecturers in teaching.
2. To investigate the knowledge transfer relationship between lecturer and student.
3. To investigate students attitudes to their own role in learning.
4. To investigate students understanding of the concept of knowledge.
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Research question
How do students studying Media Studies in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of
Botswana say they prefer to learn?
Samples
Questionnaires were distributed at one class meeting at one Media Studies core course in
each of Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, and Year 4. These were conducted in February 2012.
Students who attended the class were invited to complete a questionnaire. They had not been
told in advance that the survey would be conducted. The sample sizes ranged from 50 percent
to 74 percent of the available populations.
Table 1: Sample size
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Combined
No in sample
13
49
26
27
115
Size of population
26
66
40
43
175
%age of population
50
74
65
63
66
looking at things, they accept this, but try to find out which the teacher favours so that they
can be sure of giving that view in the exam. They are beginning to realise that the teacher
may not know all the answers and that makes them feel very insecure. When it comes to the
exam, they write all they know and leave the teacher (as examiner) to pick out what is
relevant.
Johnstone says students in position C have moved from the insecurity of students in position
B and now display a confidence in their ability to learn for themselves, seeking meaning and
pattern in knowledge. Knowledge is no longer black and white, but its interpretation and use
depends upon the context. Students in position C realise that there are sources of knowledge
besides the teacher, such as books, programs, other teachers, peers or even themselves.
Exams are not occasions to spout received information, but are opportunities to show a
considered response and to exhibit lateral thinking. This type of student dislikes multiplechoice testing.
In terms of confidence, students in position A are confident in the system: the teacher, the
lecture, and the exam. Students in position C are confident in themselves and in their ability
to learn on their own or in a group or by whatever method they find congenial. Students in
position B, however, sit in a trough of uncertainty and low self-esteem.
In Part One of the questionnaire used in the present research, students were presented with
two statements, one A and one C, on the same attitude dimension. Between the statements
were five boxes and the students were asked to shade the box nearest to their view. There is a
range between strongly agreeing with the A statement, agreeing with it, strongly agreeing
with the C statement, agreeing with it and, in the middle, is a neutral position which
subscribes to neither pole and so may be identified with the B position.
In Part Two of the questionnaire, following the work of Perry, four dimensions were chosen
(cited in Johnstone, 2005, Pp. 8-10).
These were:
Student role;
Lecturers role;
View of knowledge;
View of examinations.
In the vertical columns the three types of student (A, B and C) have been described.
Results
Johnstone (2005, p.6) reminds us that data are, at best, ordinal and not cardinal. And there is
no way of knowing if the interval between neutral and agree is the same as that between
agree and strongly agree. If we number strongly agree as 1, agree as 2, and so on to
strongly disagree as 5, these numbers cannot, with any confidence, be added, subtracted or
averaged to give anything meaningful.
Academic colleagues at the UB will recognise that this numerical approach is the one
preferred by the University for its SECAT questionnaire in which students evaluate their
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lecturers at the end of the course. The SECAT form utilises what Johnstone calls pseudo
arithmetic.
He states that if the class were to respond to any question in the form of a normal distribution
of frequencies, the pseudo arithmetic would give an average value of 3. However, if the
class were split equally between strongly agree and strongly disagree the average value
would still be 3. The same value would arise from any symmetrical distribution of response
frequencies. To carry out this averaging is to lose the vital data which can be seen only by
inspecting the whole frequency distribution. Another illogical outcome of the pseudo
arithmetic is seen when one asks if disagree, labelled 4, is twice as great as agree, labelled
2. Clearly they are not.
To avoid the SECAT error the responses to the questions in the present research were not
assigned a value. Instead, to make sense of the data the distributions of the frequencies to
each response were studied. This showed trends, skews and polarities.
Table 2: Results from Part One of the questionnaire, expressed as percentages
Note: C donates all years combined.
Year 1
0
Year 2
2
Year 3
0
Year 4
0
Combined
1
15
10
15
15
13
85
88
85
85
86
Year 1
23
Year 2
2
Year 3
12
Year 4
4
Combined
7
69
94
85
96
89
Year 1
23
Year 2
21
Year 3
24
Year 4
11
Combined
20
38
47
56
52
49
38
32
20
37
31
Year 1
31
Year 2
17
Year 3
15
Year 4
19
Combined
19
46
62
58
48
56
23
21
27
33
26
Between 54 and 59 percent of students across all four years are C-type students. They say
they do not have to rely totally on the lecturer and part of their learning is to work things out
for themselves. However, in year one, nearly one in four (23 percent) are A-type. They say
they should just study what the lecturer says and they might fail the course if they do not. A
further 23 percent remained neutral about whether they should study just what the lecturer
tells them or work things out for themselves.
Q2
Most students are C-type. They do not to believe they should accept what the lecturer says
and not question it for fear of failing. A total of 69 percent of Year one, 75 percent of year
two, 74 percent of year three and 67 percent of year four students disagreed or disagreed
strongly with this proposition. However, a sizeable minority (15 per cent of year one and 11
percent of year four students), were A-type students and agreed they should accept the
lecturers word and not question it.
Q3
Students were undecided (B-type) whether it is the lecturers job to supply all the knowledge
they need or to stimulate their thinking. Responses were spread across all available categories
and only students in year four agreed by a majority (52 percent) that the duty of the lecturer
was to stimulate the students thinking.
Elsewhere, there are significant minorities of A-type students: 28 percent of year two
students, 28 percent of year two students and 32 percent of year three students agreed
strongly or agreed that the lecturer should supply all the knowledge needed. Nearly one in
four (19 percent) of year four students also agreed strongly or agreed with the statement.
Q4
Students across all years are C-type. They overwhelmingly agreed strongly or agreed that a
good lecturer should give all conflicting views on an issue and give students a chance to
evaluate them. Responses ranged from 82 percent to 93 percent.
Q5
Many students are C-type. They want their lecturers to provide them with challenges, but
they are in a minority - 49 percent of all years combined disagreed strongly or disagreed that
lecturers should avoid teaching material they know their students will find difficult. Year
three students (57 percent) and year four students (55 percent) were the most willing to
accept challenges.
Sizeable numbers strongly agreed or agreed lecturers should avoid teaching difficult material,
ranging from 35 percent to 39 percent among years one, two and three and 19 percent in year
four.
A quarter (26 percent) of year four students and 19 percent of both year two and year three
students were undecided and remained neutral.
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Q6
Students are overwhelmingly C-type. They like to work with other students and get their
points of view: between 71 percent and 86 percent of students appreciated this. Among all
students those in year four were more likely to not want to work with other students (14
percent) than year three (8 percent) and year two (2 percent). No student in year one said they
did not want to work with other students.
Q7
More than 85 percent of students in all years are C-type students. They believe their job is to
accept what they are given, but to think about it critically and to take responsibility for what
they learn.
Q8
The overwhelming majority of students in Years 2, 3 and 4 are B-type students. They believe
the job of the lecturer is to provide them with information but that the student must find out
things for themselves to supplement it. Nearly a quarter of Year 1 students (23 percent) are
A-type students. They believed lecturers should give them all the information they need to
know and where there is more than one way of looking at things to indicate which is the
preferred way.
Q9
Students are uncertain what knowledge is. They mostly are B-type or C-type students, but
in all years, except Year 4 there are substantial minorities (at least one student in five) of Atype students.
Q10
In assessment and examinations, most students are either B-type of C-type, with a skew
towards B-type in Year 2 and Year 3. Year 1 students are most uncertain about their role: 31
percent are A-type students, 46 percent B-type and 23 percent C-type.
Discussion
From the results of the questionnaire, the following narrative statements may be made that
might assist the Media Studies Department in formulating a learning policy:
Students do not want to rely totally on the lecturer, but Year one students are more likely to
want guidance from the lecturer (Q1).
Students do not want to be just led by the lecturer; they want challenges and want to find
things out for themselves. They want lecturers to stimulate them and give them conflicting
views on a topic so they can evaluate for themselves (Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5).
Students expect information from lecturers but they want to also supplement what they have
been told by finding things out for themselves (Q8).
Students like working with other students. (Q6).
Students believe their job is to think critically, but a sizeable minority are not sure what is
expected of them. (Q7).
Students are unclear about what knowledge is. A sizeable minority think it is a collection of
unchangeable facts which a either right or wrong. A larger minority say they know there are
shades of grey, but this makes them feel uncomfortable. (Q9).
Students want assessments that do not force them into writing short answers (e.g. multiple
choice), but a sizeable minority want questions demanding single clear-cut answers. A
minority of students want the lecturer to take a large role in deciding what is relevant in a
students answer and what is not. (Q10).
Although the research is mainly interested in how the majority of students behave there are
some interesting minority views that could have impact on any future teaching strategies that
are devised by the Media Studies Department. For example:
Large numbers of students do not appreciate that knowledge in not a collection of certain
facts. 20 percent of the combined total believes it is. This does not change between Year
one, two and three, but falls in Year four (Q9).
A sizeable minority believe it is the job of the lecturer to supply them with all the knowledge
they need (Q3).
A sizeable minority think lecturers should avoid teaching material they know students will
find difficult (Q5).
A sizeable minority are uncomfortable with uncertainty (Q3).
A sizeable minority of Year one students believe in order to pass the course they need to
study just what the lecturer says, dont question it, otherwise they might fail (Q1 + Q2).
A sizeable minority of Year two, Year three and Year four students believe it is the job of the
lecturer to supply all the information they need (Q3).
A sizeable minority of students believe lecturers should avoid teaching material they know
students will find difficult. This applies to students in all years, but drops in Year four (Q5).
In assessments, a sizeable minority of students want only to give back facts they have learned
as accurately as possible they also want questions requiring simple clear-cut answers. This
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applies most in Year one (31 percent) and continues through other years, including Year four
(19 percent) (Q10).
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In this case, the students would have moved from classes in year two to year four under the
same instructor, who would have the opportunity to tailor the learning experience so as to
guide progression from being the A-type to the C-type student.
My experience with students in the more theoretical classes is less positive. Here students in
years two, three and four (I dont teach year one students) continue to struggle, often unable
to synthesise material they have gathered or critique it. Critical thinking skills especially
seem to be lacking. In these classes C-type student appear to be in a small minority, while Atypes are the majority.
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