Approaches to study and achievement of the students of Universitas Terbuka (the Indonesian Open Learning University)
Date
1994
Authors
Huda, Nurul
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Student learning can be seen as the ways in-which the students approach their study. The students' study approach is regarded as essential to student success because it relates to learning outcome. One widely-used instrument to measure the students approaches to study is the the Approaches to Study Inventory (ASI) developed by Ramsden (1983).
Universitas Terbuka (UT), the Indonesian Open Learning University, has unfortunately experienced unsatisfactory student achievement. As the Approaches to Study Inventory has a demonstrated relationship with learning outcome, the unsatisfactory student achievement at UT might be related to inappropriate approaches to study employed by the students. It was, therefore, considered to be worthwhile to conduct a study on Approaches to Study at Universitas Terbuka.
The main focus of this study was to investigate the approaches to study of UT students using a standardized instrument, the Approaches to Study Inventory (ASI), which was translated from English into the Indonesian language. The research questions addressed in this study were related both to student achievement and to a number of contextual variables.
From a sample of 600 students from the four faculties of Universitas Terbuka, 348 students responded to the questionnaire. The data were collected at the first semester of 1993 (93.1).
The results revealed six conclusions. Firstly, the Indonesian version of the ASI is comparable to the original version (English version). Secondly, in general, UT students, compared to other distance education students in a different cultural setting, tended to have similar patterns in the mean scores of approaches to study. Thirdly, no significant differences were found in study approach among the four faculties of Universitas Terbuka. Fourthly, with a few exceptions, there were no significant relationships between study approach and GPA. Significant relationships (p < .001) were found for the total sample on Surface Approach (r = -.19) and Negative Attitude (r = -.19). Fifthly, essentially there were no significant differences between the different levels of student achievement and their approaches to study. However, significant differences were found between low achievement and high achievement students on the subscales of Negative Attitude (p < .05) and Surface Approach (p < .05). Low achievement students tended to have higher scores (mean= 5.9) on Negative Attitude than those of high achievement students (mean = 4.0 ). As well, low achievement students tended to have higher scores on Surface Approach (mean = 16.7) than those of high achievement students (mean = 14.8). Sixthly, essentially no significant relationships were found between the contextual variables and study approach. However, significant relationships were found on the contextual variables of age, continuity in registering courses, study status, and student satisfaction on at least one scale of the Approaches to Study Inventory.
The results found in this study are discussed in terms of the implications for increasing student achievement at Universitas Terbuka.