Issues in Educational Research, 4(2), 1994, 25-56.

Local and overseas students' goals and management of study

Denise Chalmers
University Learning Systems
Edith Cowan University
This paper reports a study which traces the changes in local and overseas students' learning and performance goals, learning strategies and perceptions in an undergraduate economics course in Australia. The study sought to describe changes in students' learning intentions, learning strategies, perceptions and attempted grades in the context of one unit over one semester and to determine if overseas students differed from local students for these variables. Three questionnaires were administered over one semester. Students' learning and performance goals, strategies and perceptions changed during the course of the semester and few differences between local and overseas students were identified. This paper supports the view that it is not appropriate to view university students as holding stable learning intentions and perceptions, and questions whether overseas students should be characterised as different from local students.

Introduction

Investigation of students' goals and management of their learning has only recently received attention (Biggs, 1990; 1993; Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993; Renshaw & Volet, 1993; Volet & Kee, 1993; Volet, Renshaw & Tietzel, 1993). One reason for this has been the difficulty in identifying student learning goals and learning strategies in different academic settings. Another reason has been that the role of learning goals and their influence on student learning has not been understood. Recent research has begun to address both these issues with the investigation of students' goals across various fields of academic study, for example, economics (Volet & Chalmers, 1992), educational psychology (Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993; Volet & Lawrence, 1989), and computer science (Volet & Styles, 1992), and the variation of students' goals, learning strategies and perceptions in the course of their study (Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993; Chalmers & Volet, 1992; Volet & Chalmers, 1992).

Overseas and local students' goals and management of study is an area highly relevant to Australian higher education. A number of reports and surveys have identified demographic and economic information on overseas students as well as their perceptions of tertiary institutions in Australia (Burns, 1990; Gillett, 1985; Kim & Crowley, 1990; Sealie, Gurry & Quintrell, 1990), but little has been done to identify their learning goals and strategies, and their perceptions of the learning situation. The extent that overseas students are alike or different from local students on these dimensions has also received little attention (Volet & Renshaw, 1993).

Learning goals

Goals are important in giving meaning and direction to the learning activities in which students engage, and provide criteria for students to evaluate their progress (Volet & Lawrence, 1989; Zimmerman, 1986). The way in which they affect learning in university learning situations, or how they are affected by students' perceptions and experiences in the course of their study is part of a program of research conducted at Edith Cowan University (Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993; in progress; Fuller, Chalmers & Kirkpatrick, 1994) and Murdoch University (Volet & Chalmers, 1992; Volet & Renshaw, 1993; Volet & Styles, 1992).

The work of Saljo (1979) on conceptions of learning provides a basis for learning goals to be described in qualitative terms along a hierarchy of goals. As a result of interviews with adult students, Saljo inferred from their descriptions of their learning practices that learning could be described in terms of five different conceptions: increase of knowledge, memorising, acquisition of information that can be used later, abstraction of meaning, and interpretation of reality. Saljo's five conceptions of learning have been confirmed by Marton, Dall'Alba and Beaty (1993) who provide more precise definitions of the conceptions.

Volet and her colleagues (eg, Volet & Lawrence, 1989; Volet & Chalmers, 1992; Volet & Renshaw, 1993) worked with university students in a variety of subject areas to investigate whether Saljo's (1979) conceptions of learning could be used as a basis for developing a hierarchy of specific goal statements. They derived statements of goals from the various conceptions of learning and presented them to students to determine whether students perceived them as hierarchic, and whether they accepted them as describing the type of outcomes they intended to achieve. Using an unfolding model of stage development (Andrich, 1989), they developed and validated the following hierarchy of goals: remembering, understanding, comparing and contrasting, critically assessing theories, and constructing one's own theoretical perspective (Volet & Chalmers, 1992; Volet and Renshaw, 1993). These five learning intention statements have been used in this study to identify students learning goals.

Learning goals in the context of academic learning are not always conceptualised as those identified by Saljo (1979) and quantified by Volet and colleagues (eg. Volet & Chalmers, 1992; Volet & Renshaw, 1993). Theorists currently distinguish between learning and performance goals (Dweck & Elliot, 1983). In a university learning setting, students' goals may also be conceptualised as performance goals which focus on achieving particular grades. Although learning and performance goals are directed at different types of achievement, students can hold both types of goals simultaneously (Nichols, Patashnick & Nolen, 1985). In the university context performance goals would be reflected in the grades that students try to achieve, and differences between students would be evidenced by their attempting to achieve different grades (Stipek, 1993).

Much of the previous research on goals assumed that they were stable, but recent findings suggest that this may not be the case. For example, Volet and Styles (1992) used both learning and performance goal measures to investigate first year university students' goals in a computer course, and found a shift from higher level to lower level goals over the course of a semester. A similar observation was made by Volet and Chalmers (1992) with both the learning and performance goals of first year economics students. On the other hand, Gibbs, Morgan & Taylor (1984) found evidence of change towards higher level goals, and Volet and Renshaw (1990) found that introducing a reflective assessment procedure into a course was associated with a significant upward shift in the level of students' personal goals for the course. Volet and Renshaw's (1993) study on students' goals in a first year economics unit found the overseas students held higher learning goals than local students at the beginning of their first semester of university study. However, by the end of one semester of study there were no difference between the learning goals of local and overseas students with the overseas students adopting the lower level learning goals of the local students. Both local and overseas students adopted lower level goals as the semester progressed. The context of learning would seem to be important in affecting the level of student goals (Chalmers & Volet, 1992), with the studies reviewed indicating that students may set different goals for the various units in which they enrol and adjust them according to their changing perceptions of the learning context as the semester progresses.

Both the learning goals and performance goals of first year economics local and overseas students are identified in this study. The evidence suggests that students' goals are dynamic, and are likely to change according to their experiences and perceptions of various aspects of the learning situation. In this study the stability of local and overseas students' learning and performance goals over one semester is examined.

Learning strategies

Learning strategies refer to the activities in which students engage in order to achieve their intended learning outcomes. These include cognitive activities, such as rehearsal, elaboration and organisation, metacognitive activities such as planning, monitoring and self regulation, and resource management activities such as management of time and effort. (McKeachie et al 1987). The particular learning strategies used by students can be expected to be affected by the goals that students seek to achieve (Nolen, 1987).

While there has been little investigation of the study strategies and management of overseas students in comparison to their Australian counterparts, a number of survey studies have described some typical learning problems encountered by first year overseas students (eg, Ballard, 1987; Barker, Child, Gallois, Jones & Callan, 1991; Burke, 1986; Gassin, 1982; Kim & Crowley, 1990). These studies typically stereotype overseas students as passive, respectful and textbook dependent students, who do not participate in class discussions and who lack analytical and critical skills (Bourke, 1986; Ballard, 1987; 1989; Samuelowics, 1987). Overseas students are also presented as surface learners who aim to rote learn factual knowledge. However, recent research on learning orientations and study strategies of these students presents a different view indicating that rather than being passive learners, overseas students seek full understanding of their chosen area of study, and may even possess more effective learning orientations than local students (Biggs, 1989, 1990,1993; Volet & Kee, 1993; Volet, Renshaw & Tietzel, 1993). For example, students from South East Asia were found to seek assistance from their friends and tutors more than local students (Renshaw & Volet, 1993). Similarly, students in Hong Kong were found to establish spontaneous collaborative learning groups to support their learning (Tang, 1993). These student initiated strategies could be seen as strategic ways to promote learning. It is argued by these authors that their studies demonstrate that overseas students are highly strategic and responsive to the learning demands of the learning context. This study seeks to identify local and overseas students' learning strategies in the context of one unit of study over one semester.

Perceptions

Student perceptions of the learning situation have an important influence on their motivation (Wittrock, 1986), their achievement (Entwistle, 1991), and on the approach they adopt to learning a particular task (Biggs, 1993). Perceptions that have been found to be important are student perceptions of their personal competence, how successful they expect to be, and how interesting and relevant they find the task (Boekaerts, 1987; Volet & Lawrence 1989, Volet & Styles, 1992). These perceptions are likely to affect the goals that students try to achieve. For example, Pintrich & de Groot, (1990) reported that students who saw themselves as competent learners and perceived the task to be interesting and important were likely to engage in more metacognition, use more cognitive strategies and more effective effort management. Perceptions have been found to vary across different learning contexts (Boekaerts, 1987; Chalmers & Volet, 1992), and within one learning context, change over the duration of a semester (Volet & Chalmers, 1992). In this study the perceptions of both local and overseas students are sought on three occasions to identify changes over in the course of the semester.

Identifying overseas students

The overseas students in this study originate from countries in South East Asia. It is recognised that it is not appropriate to describe these students as a homogeneous group for they differ in terms of their country of origin, education systems, cultural and religious heritages and as individuals. These students however do share in a number of common experiences as a result of studying in Australia. They have had to relocate to a different country; the language of instruction is English; the language for social activities is predominantly English; and the learning context is different in terms of expectations, learning support and academic and social requirements. Students are grouped as overseas students for administrative purposes and a number of policy and administrative decisions are based on this distinction. So while it is not intended to perpetuate a stereotyped view of overseas students or convey that they are a homogeneous group, the grouping is relevant for the purpose of this study.

In this study it is proposed to draw a profile of first year local and overseas students' management of study in a Bachelor of Business course in terms of students' initial and revised learning and performance goals, learning strategies and perceptions throughout the semester. It is also intended to investigate the relationship of local and overseas students' goals, study strategies and perceptions of study and explore possible interaction effects with age and gender.

Method

Participants

Participants were drawn from a first year introductory economics unit with a total enrolment of 765 students in the Faculty of Business at a university in Perth, Western Australia. A total of 547 students completed Questionnaire 1. Of these 448 were enrolled as local students and 99 were enrolled as overseas students from South-East Asia. A total of 174 students completed all three questionnaires, 146 local students and 28 overseas students. The student group distribution by age is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Age by student group distribution of participants

LocalOverseasTotal

Under 20200 (45%)41 (41%)241
Over 20248 (55%)58 (59%)306

Total448 (100%)99 (100%)547

The local students comprised 59% (265) male and 41% (183) female and the overseas students comprised 46% (44) male students and 54% (52) female, which was significantly different, X2(1) 5.77, p =.02.

Procedure

Students were invited to participate in a study on students' learning and study management at the beginning of their lecture period in the second week of semester 2. They were informed this would involve them in completing a total of three questionnaires over the semester. Questionnaires were completed by the participants on three occasions, the beginning of semester, the middle of semester, and the end of semester. Administration of the questionnaires took place at the beginning of the regular lecture periods of a compulsory first year economics unit. All questions directed the students to respond in relation to the economics unit in which the questionnaires were administered. The different components of the questionnaire and the occasions on which they were administered are illustrated in the design in Table 2.

Table 2: Design of the study

Start SemesterMid SemesterEnd Semester

Learning Goals
Learning Strategies
Perceptions
Attempted Grades
Obtained Grades
N = 547N = 352N = 231

Questionnaires

The questionnaires included questions on students' learning intentions, learning strategies, perceptions and attempted grades. In addition, the questionnaires sought background demographic data such as age, gender, student status and program of study, and indications of language difficulties. The questionnaires were based on instruments used by Volet and Chalmers (1992) and Chalmers & Volet (1992).

Learning goals. The five learning conceptions identified by Saljo (1979) and Marton and Saljo (1984) were incorporated into goal statements (Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993; Volet and Chalmers, 1992; Volet & Renshaw, 1993). Each of these five statements were paired with each other to make a total of ten pairwise combinations. Students were asked to choose a statement that reflected their preferred learning intention for the Economics unit from each pair of statements. The statements in order were: Remember the key features of economic theories and the economic world, Understand the key features of economic theories and the economic world, Compare and contrast economic theories as they apply to the economic world, Critically assess theories as they apply to the economic world, and Construct your own theoretical perspective of the economic world.

Performance goals. Performance goals were identified by the grades students were attempting to achieve. On each of the three occasions, students were asked to indicate the grades they were trying to get in the unit. These ranged from A grade (4), B grade (3), C+ grade (2) and C grade (l) which are the grades awarded by the university.

Learning strategies. Learning strategy statements were developed to describe activities which students may engage to achieving their learning intentions. The 10 statements used in the Chalmers and Volet (1992) interview study were further developed for the questionnaires in this study. The strategies related to managing class and learning requirements, working with difficult concepts, and developing personal understanding of the unit materials and concepts. Students were required to respond to each statement on a 4 point scale: I do this - Very Often (4), Often (3), Not Often (2), Never (1).

Perceptions. On each of the three occasions, students were asked to rate their perceptions of study in the economics unit in terms of their competence, success, interest, relevance of the program to their course of study and to their personal interest in the subject. These were rated on a 5 point scale of Very (5) to Not at all (1). The instrument was initially based on Boekaert's (1987) research, and has been used in previous studies with computing students (Voles & Styles, 1989), economics students (Voles & Chalmers, 1992: Volet & Renshaw, 1993) and education students (Chalmers, Fuller and Kirkpatrick, 1993; Fuller, Chalmers & Kirkpatrick, 1994).

Data analysis

Changes over time were computed using repeated measures MANOVAs for the different occasions as indicated in the design. Relationships between the learning strategies, perceptions, attempted grades and obtained grades were investigated using Pearson product moment correlation analyses. All analyses were computed by the SPSS statistical program.

Results

Analyses were carried out on each of the three questionnaire occasions to identify the changes and differences for local and overseas students' learning and performance, learning strategies, and perceptions over the course of one semester as well as the students' obtained marks for the unit. In addition, background information of the students' previous study experience was obtained.

Students' previous study experience

Students were not different in the amount of time they had previously spent at university with 57% of local and 67% of overseas students in their first year of study at university, p >.05, nor were they different in their enrolment options with 87% of local and 90% of overseas students enrolled in a three year Bachelor of Business degree.

Students were different in their previous economics study experience with 49 % of local and 74 % of overseas students having previously studied economics, X2(1) 13.60, p =.000. Of those who had previously studied economics, 66% of local students and 87% of overseas students had studied one unit, and 34% of local students compared with 12% of overseas students had previously studied two or more units X2(2) 7.83, p =.02. Most students who had previously studied economics found this useful for their study of the university economics unit (85% local and 92% overseas).

Forty-six percent of overseas students found they had difficulty with the language and they experienced difficulty when writing assignments (16%), reading (6%), or in a combination of learning situations, for example, lectures, tutorials, and private study (15%). Fifty-four percent of overseas students indicated that they experienced no difficulty with language.

The local and overseas students were similar in the time previously spent at university and their course of study. More overseas students had studied one unit of economics, while more local students had studied two or more units. Approximately half of the overseas students experienced difficulty with the language in the learning situation.

Learning goals

A comparison of students' learning goals was made at the beginning of semester and the end of semester. The number of students who selected higher level goals over lower level goals systematically decreased from the beginning of semester to the end of semester. The breakdown of selected goals for each pair and by occasion is shown in Table 3.

The percentages indicate that fewer students preferred higher level goals over lower level goals at the end of the semester than at the beginning of semester for all pairs except Critical (4) over Compare (3).

Chi-square analyses found no differences between the overseas and local students' learning goals either at the beginning of semester or at the end of semester. Regardless of student group, the students did not differ in their endorsement of goals, or in the general trend to endorse lower level goals over higher level goals as the semester progressed.

Table 3: Percentage of students choosing the higher
paired preference of learning intentions by student group

Learning
Intention
RememberUnderstandCompareCritically
assess

Local %O/seas %Local %O/seas %Local %O/seas %Local %O/seas %

Understand
Start Semester
End Semester

92
81

92
83






Compare
Start Semester
End Semester

75
56

76
63

30
27

38
33





Critically assess
Start Semester
End Semester

69
52

64
59

35
31

44
30

24
32

20
41


Construct
Start Semester
End Semester

53
40

45
37

22
21

27
20

27
22

30
18

29
28

26
28

Performance goals

On each of the three questionnaire occasions, students indicated the grade they were trying to achieve. The grades were scored on a 4 point scale, A grade (4), B grade (3), C+ grade (2), and C grade (1). A 2 age by 2 gender by 2 student group repeated measures MANOVA found that students did not differ for age, gender or student group in the grade they were attempting to achieve, but they did change over time, F(2,167) 3.09, p =.05. Students' attempted grades changed from the beginning of semester (mean, 3.27) to the middle of semester (2.97), F(1,168) 28.71, p =.000, and again from the middle of semester to the end of the year (2.63), F(1,168) 8.56, p =.004. The mean scores of students' attempted grades are shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Attempted grades mean scores by student group

Attempted gradesLocal
Mean (sd)
Overseas
Mean (sd)
Significance

Start Semester3.30 (.78)3.01 (.72)
Mid Semester2.98 (.94)2.90 (.86)
End Semester2.56 (1.01)2.67 (.93)Time ***

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

Additional questions showed that students were aware they had changed their attempted grade. In the middle of semester when asked if they thought they had changed their attempted grade about a quarter of students indicated that they had changed (25% local, 21% overseas). By the end of semester 47% of local and 36% of overseas students indicated that they had changed the grade they were initially aiming for at the beginning of semester. Students based their decision of attempted grades on work in tutorials (22% local, 18% overseas), assignment work (14% local, 27% overseas), a combination of these (34% local, 30% overseas) or other reasons (30% local, 25% overseas). These other reasons varied but tended to relate to the time and effort they had put in to their study.

Students were asked their reasons for selecting a particular grade. More students gave the reason for selecting particular grade as they "wanted to do their very best but not necessarily aim for an A". Sixty-two percent of local students indicated this reason compared with 79% of overseas students, X2(3) 13.72, p =.003.

Students, regardless of age, gender or student group systematically lowered the both their learning and performance goals as the semester progressed. Students were aware of their changing performance goals with the majority indicating that it was a result of feedback received through assessment and tutorial participation.

Learning strategies

Students were asked to indicate the learning strategies they were currently using on two occasions, in the middle of the unit and at the end of the unit. A total of 174 students completed both questionnaires 2 and 3.

Students responded on a 4 point scale on the frequency for each strategy from I do this very often (4) to I never do this (1). A series of 2 age by 2 gender by 2 student group repeated measures MANOVAs were carried out on the 17 items for the two questionnaire occasions to identify changes in students' learning strategies over the semester. Most effects related to changes over time with few age, gender or student group effects.

Strategies to manage class and learning requirements
A number of learning strategy items related to students' strategies to meet unit requirements and prepare for lectures and tutorials. Four of the six items changed over time: attending lectures and tutorials; completing suggested reading before class; completing tutorial questions before class; and handing assignments in on time.

Students indicated that they: attended lectures and tutorials more in the middle of semester than they did at the end of semester (mean: 3.80>3.61), F(1,169) 12.18, p =.001; did the suggested reading before class more in the middle of semester than they did at the end of semester (mean: 2.69>2.41), F(1,166) 9.31, p =.003; prepared tutorial questions before class more in the middle of semester than they did at the end of semester (mean: 3.38>3.04), F(1,166) 14.35, p =.000; and worked on independent study questions more in the middle of semester than they did at the end of semester (mean: 2.33>2.16), but this was of marginal significance, p =.06. The trend of decreasing use of strategies as the semester progressed was reversed for handing in assignments on time where students did this less in the middle of semester and more at the end of semester (mean: 3.15<3.84), F(1,164) 17.51,p=.000.

While the strategy for practicing worked exercises again and again did not change over time, here was a age by student group by time interaction, F(1,166) 4.41, p =.04. The interaction is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Age by student group by time interaction for
practising worked exercises again and again

Local students under 20 years of age and overseas students over 20 years of age increased their reported use of the practice strategy while local students over 20 years and overseas students under 20 years reported a decreased use of this strategy. The mean scores for strategies to manage class and learning requirements are shown in Table 5.

Table 5: Learning strategies for managing class and learning
requirements mean scores by student group

Learning StrategyLocal
Mean (sd)
Overseas
Mean (sd)
Significance

Attend lectures/classes
Start Semester
End Semester
3.74 (.51)
3.60 (.56)
3.75 (.50)
3 54 (.63)
Time**
Do suggested reading
before classes

Start Semester
End Semester
2.65 (.83)
2 41 (.77)
2.49 (.75)
2.29 (.74)
Time**
Prepare tutorial
questions before class

Start Semester
End Semester
3.37 (.74)
2.98 (.78)
3.13 (.78)
2.93 (.71)
Time***
Complete independent
study questions

Start Semester
End Semester
2.37 (.88)
2.17 (.86)
2.42 (.84)
2.21 (.81)
Time NS (p =.06)
Practise worked
examples again and again

Start Semester
End Semester
2.16 (.67)
2.16 (.74)
2.22 (.62)
2.24 (.62)
Age x Group x Time*
Hand assignments in on time
Start Semester
End Semester
3.19 (1.17)
3.88 (.34)
3.31 (.99)
3.62 (.66)
Time***

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

Working with difficult concepts
A number of learning strategy items related to students working to understand the information. Items in this group of strategies related to memorising important information, organising a study plan, making summaries of difficult material and working with others.

Two of the six items changed over time: Working with other students and getting help from staff. Students indicated that they worked with other students less in the middle of semester than at the end of semester (mean: 1.65<1.77), F(1,167) 7.28, p =.008, and that they sought help from staff when they needed it less in the middle of semester than at the end of semester (mean: 1.87<1.92), F(1,167) 6.39, p =.01.

There was an age by student group by time interaction for getting help from staff when needed, F(1,167) 8.78, p =.003. The interaction is illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Age by student group by time interaction for
getting help from staff when needed

Overseas students aged over 20 years and local students aged under 20 years reported they sought help from staff less in the middle of the semester than they did at the end of semester, while overseas students aged under 20 years, and local students aged over 20 years reported little change in their strategy of seeking help from staff throughout semester.

There was an age by gender by student group by time interaction for memorising important information, F(1,168) 4.96, p =.03. The interaction is illustrated in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Age by gender by time interaction for memorising
important information strategy

Female students aged over 20 years reported an increase in the memorising strategy more than male students. At the end of semester female students overall reported greater use of memorising important information than male students.

There was also an age by time interaction for memorising important information, F(1, 168) 4.68, p = .03. The interaction is illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 4: Age by time interaction for memorising important information strategy

Students under 20 years of age reported they memorised important information more in the middle of the semester than the end of semester, while students under 20 years of age did not change in their use of this strategy. The mean scores for working with difficult concepts by student group are shown in Table 6.

Table 6: Learning strategies for working with difficult
concepts mean scores by student group

Learning StrategyLocal
Mean (sd)
Overseas
Mean (sd)
Significance

Memorise important information
Start Semester
"End Semester

2.84 (.69)
2.98 (.68)

2.90 (.68)
3.02 (.65)

Age x Time*
Age x Sex x Time*
Summarise difficult material
Start Semester
End Semester
2.66 (.86)
2.69 (.85)
2.40 (.80)
2.58 (.84)
Write difficult material in own words
Start Semester
End Semester
2.72 (.80)
2.67 (.85)
2.43 (.78)
2.54 (.77)
Organise a study plan
Start Semester
End Semester
2.33 (.82)
2.30 (.82)
2.21 (.64)
2.14 (.65)
Work with other students
Start Semester
End Semester
1.72 (.79)
1.73 (.77)
1.74 (.64)
1.93 (. 69)
Time**
Get help from staff when needed
Start Semester
End Semester

1.87 (.69)
1.87 (.67)

1.89 (.68)
2.17 (.69)

Time **
Age x Student group x Time**

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

Strategies to develop personal understanding
A number of learning strategy items related to students developing personal meaning and understanding. Items in this group of strategies related to contrasting theories with one another, critically assessing the information, and reassessing their own viewpoints. There were no effects for age, gender or student group and no changes over time. The mean scores to develop personal understanding by student group are shown in Table 7.

Table 7: Learning strategies to develop personal understanding
mean scores by student group

Learning StrategyLocal
Mean (sd)
Overseas
Mean (sd)
Significance

Concentrate on
understanding concepts

Start Semester
End Semester

3.18 (.62)
3.19 (.55)
3.03 (.72)
3.07 (.60)
Contrast theories with
one another

Start Semester
End Semester
2.16 (.80)
2.11 (.76)
2.21 (.75)
2.21 (.76)
No significant
differences were found
for these strategies
Critically assess the
information

Start Semester
End Semester
2.38 (.73)
2 42 (.71)
2.45 (.66)
2.45 (.77)
Reassess own viewpoint
Start Semester
End Semester
2.72 (.80)
2.68 (.78)
2.43 (.78)
2.41 (.67)
Construct own theories
Start Semester
End Semester
2.11 (.70)
2.03 (.72)
2.19 (.72)
2.02 (.76)

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

The students reported decreased use of learning strategies over time regardless of age, gender and student group. Local and overseas students were similar in their reported use of learning strategies. Overseas students differed with local students on only two strategies; practising worked exercises and getting help from staff. For these strategies the older overseas students and younger local students were more alike with each other than they were with the younger overseas students.

Obtained marks

Students' marks for individual assessment points in the unit were analysed in a series of 2 age by 2 gender by 2 student group ANOVAs. Students' scores differed in the mid semester test, F(3, 460) 8.37, p=.000. Students' marks were different for age and gender with older students scoring higher (11.43) than younger students (10.65), F(1,460) 5.50, p=.02, and male students scoring higher (11.63) than female students (10.28), F(1,460) 18.28, p=.000.

Students' scores did not differ for the major assignment but differed in the final grade, F(3, 443) 5.15, p=.002. Students' marks were different with older students attaining a higher grade (1.65) than younger students (1.31), F(1,443) 9.19, p=.003. Overseas students scored slightly higher final marks and grades than local students but this was only of marginal significance, p=.07. Mean scores for students' obtained marks are shown in Table 8.

Table 8: Obtained marks mean scores by student group

Obtained MarksLocal
Mean (sd)
Overseas
Mean (sd)
Significance

Mid Semester Test

11.08 (3.26)

10.96 (3.42)

Age*
Gender**
Major Assignment
Final Mark
Final Grade
12.55 (3.89)
54.42 (17.69)
1.44 (1.14)
13.06 (3.46)
57.26 (16.51)
1.67 (1.19)
Age**

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

Perceptions

Six perceptions were examined on each of the three questionnaire occasions. The items related to students' perceptions of personal competence in the unit, expected success, difficulty of the unit, interest in the unit, and the perceived relevance of the unit to their program of study and personal interest. A series of 2 age by 2 gender by 2 student group repeated measures MANOVAs were carried out on the three occasions. The students' mean scores for these perception are shown in Table 9.

Five of the six perception items changed over time: competence, success, difficulty, relevance of the unit to the overall program and relevance of the unit to their personal interest.

Competence
There was an age by student group by time interaction for perception of their personal competence, F(2,166) 5.30, p =.006. Students changed their perception of competence from the beginning of semester to the middle of semester, F(1,167) 4.77, p =.03, and again from the middle of semester to the end of semester, F(1, 167) 5.24, p =.02. The interaction is illustrated in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Age by student group by time interaction for perceptions of competence

While students held similar perceptions of competence at the start of the semester, overseas students aged over 20 had lower perceptions of competence in the middle of the semester than all other students. At the end of the semester their perception of competence had increased, while the perceptions of competence of the local students aged over 20 years did not. Overseas students aged under 20 years did not change significantly their perceptions of competence from the beginning of semester to the end of semester .

There was an age by time interaction for perception of competence, F(2,166) 5.53, p =.005. Students changed their perceptions of competence according to age from the beginning of semester to the middle of semester, F(1,167) 4.34, p =.04, and again from the middle of semester to the end of semester, F(1,167) 6.13, p = .01. The interaction is illustrated in Figure 6.

Figure 6: Age by time interaction for perceptions of competence

Students were similar in their perceptions of competence at the beginning of the semester but as the semester progressed students over 20 years of age decreased their perceptions of competence more than younger students.

Students indicated that their perception of competence decreased over time, F(2,166) 11.83, p =.000, with students perceiving themselves more competent at the beginning of the semester (mean, 3.46) than the middle of the semester (3.04), F(1,167) 20.73, p =.000. At the end of semester this had not changed (3.10).

Success
Students indicated that their perception of success decreased over time, F(2,165) 5.01, p =.008, with students perceiving themselves more successful at the beginning of the semester (mean, 3.63) than the middle of the semester (3.37), F(1,166) 9.09, p =.003. At the end of semester this had not significantly changed (3.30).

Difficulty
Students indicated that their perception of the difficulty of the unit increased over time, F(2,165) 3.37, p =.04, with students perceiving the unit as more difficult at the middle of the semester (mean, 2.48) than the beginning of the semester (2.25), F(1,166) 5.60, p =.02. At the end of semester this had not significantly changed (2.35).

Additional questions in the middle and end of semester asked students if they were experiencing difficulty working on the unit. About half of all students indicated that they were, 52% local and 46% overseas, p>.05. At the end of the semester more local than overseas students indicated that they were experiencing difficulties in the unit, 65% local and 48% overseas, X2(1) 4.57, p=.03.

Relevance of the unit to the overall program of study
Students indicated that their perception of the relevance of the unit to their overall program of study decreased over time, F(2,158) 9,20, p =.000, with students perceiving the unit as less relevant at the middle of the semester (mean, 3.32) than the beginning of the semester (3.66), F(1,159) 17.50, p =.000. At the end of semester this had not significantly changed (3.25).

Relevance of the unit to their personal interest
There was a gender by time interaction for relevance of unit to their personal interest, F(2,158) 3.13, p =.05. Students changed their perceptions of relevance to their personal interest according to their gender from the middle of semester to the end of semester, F(1,160) 5.73, p =.02. The interaction is illustrated in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Age by gender by time interaction for perceptions
of relevance to personal interest

Male students' perceptions of relevance to their personal interest continued to decrease from the beginning of semester to the end of semester. However, female students' perceptions of relevance had changed by the end of semester where they perceived it as more interesting than the male students.

Students indicated that their perception of the relevance of the unit to their personal interest decreased over time, F(2,159) 5.58, p =.005, with students perceiving the unit as less relevant to their interest at the middle of the semester (mean, 3.08) than the beginning of the semester (3.41), F(1,160) 11.13, p =.001. At the end of semester this had not significantly changed (3.16). The students' mean scores for perceptions are shown in Table 9.

Table 9: Perception mean scores by student group

PerceptionsLocal
Mean (sd)
Overseas
Mean (sd)
Significance

Competence
Start Semester
Mid Semester
End Semester
3.55 (.78)
3.08 (.79)
3.11 (.69)
3.40 (.78)
3.21 (.62)
3.22 (.57)
Age x Student x Time**
Age x Time**
Time***
Success
Start Semester
Mid Semester
End Semester
3.72 (.63)
3.38 (.75)
3.29 (.61)
3.64 (.71)
3.42 (.68)
3.45 (.64)

Time**
Difficulty
Start Semester
Mid Semester
End Semester
2.27 (.78)
2.47 (.88)
2.37 (.93)
2.46 (.76)
2.59 (.91)
2.49 (.84)

Time*
Interesting
Start Semester
Mid Semester
End Semester
3.33 (.91)
3.05 (.99)
3.11 (.99)
3.26 (.89)
3.25 (.77)
3.29 (.90)

Relevance of unit
to overall program

Start Semester
Mid Semester
End Semester
3.66 (.94)
3.34 (1.07)
3.26 (1.01)
3.37 (.78)
3.33 (.75)
3.29 (.75)

Time***
Relevance of unit
to personal interest

Start Semester
Mid Semester
End Semester
3.33 (1.02)
3.11 (1.09)
3.15 (1.05)
3.17 (.93)
3.21 (1.03)
3.15 (1.08)
Gender x Time*
Time**

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

An additional question at the end of semester asked students if the unit turned out as they had expected. Fewer local students (58%) found the unit as they expected compared to overseas students (81%) who found it to be as they had expected, X2(1) 7. 19, p =.007.

Few differences in the perceptions of students were observed, regardless of age, gender and student group for the three questionnaire occasions. Differences were found in students' perceptions of competence in the unit, and their perceptions of the relevance of the unit to their personal interest according to age, gender and student group. A general trend was for students' perceptions to decrease from the beginning of semester to the middle of semester and then to remain stable through to the end of semester.

Relationships between attempted grades, learning strategies, perceptions and obtained grades

A series of correlations were carried out to explore the relationships that existed between students' attempted grade and their learning strategies, perceptions and obtained grades. Two-tailed tests were used when testing the significance of the correlations because clear relations were not necessarily assumed. The correlations that emerged tended to be low, and inspection of the frequency scores indicated that students did not always use the full range of the scale for all the variables.

There were 8 learning strategies that correlated with the grade which local students were attempting to achieve at the middle of semester. These were handing assignments in on time, working on independent study questions, writing difficult material in their own words, concentrating on understanding the concepts, contrasting theories with one another, critically assessing the information, constructing their own theories and reassessing their own viewpoint. All correlations were low ranging from .13 to .18, but are significant at 0.05. In contrast, there were no correlations between overseas students' attempted grade and learning strategies in the middle of semester.

At the end of semester there were 6 learning strategies that correlated with the grade local students were attempting to achieve. These were organising a plan or study plan, practising worked exercises again and again, working on independent study questions, concentrating on understanding the concepts, contrasting theories with one another, and critically assessing the information. Correlations continued to be low, ranging from .17 to .26. For overseas students there were only two significant correlations between attempted grade and learning strategies at the end of semester; contrasting theories with one another, and critically assessing the information. The correlations were higher than local students, and ranged from .32 to .35. Significant correlations for learning strategies with attempted grades are shown in Table 10.

Table 10: Correlations for learning strategies with attempted
grade at mid semester and learning strategies and attempted
grade at end of semester by student group

Learning StrategyLocal
r Sig
Overseas
r Sig

Hand assignments on time
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.17**
0.03
0.02
-0.09
Organise a study plan
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.01
0.18*
0.00
-0.14
Practise worked examples again and again
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.09
0.17*
-0.01
-0.11
Complete independent study questions
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.14*
0.26**
-0.10
0.10
Write difficult material in own words
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.13*
0.14
0.11
-0.10
Concentrate on understanding concepts
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.13*
0.24**
0.05
0.26
Contrast theories with one another
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.14*
0.22**
0.08
0.32*
Critically assess the information
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.18*
0.24**
0.11
0.35*
Reassess own viewpoint
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.13*
0.12
0.11
-0.00
Construct own theory
Mid Semester
End Semester
0.13*
0.11
-0.11
0.05

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

Students' perceptions and attempted grades correlated more for local students than overseas students. Local students' perceptions of their competence, success and relevance of the unit correlated highly with their attempted grade. Overseas students' attempted grades correlated with their perception of competence but with few perceptions. Both local and overseas students had high correlations with their attempted grade and their obtained marks. Significant correlations for perceptions and obtained marks with attempted grades are shown in Table 11.

Table 11: Correlations for perceptions with attempted grade at
the beginning, mid and end of semester by student group

PerceptionsLocal
r Sig
Overseas
r Sig

Competence
Mid Semester
End Semester
End Semester
0.39**
0.45**
0.37**
0.38**
0.27*
0.42**
Success
Mid Semester
End Semester
End Semester
0.42**
0.53**
0.51**
0.49**
0.47*
0.35*
Difficulty
Mid Semester
End Semester
End Semester
0.17**
0.24**
0.05
0.05
0.26*
0.39*
Interesting
Mid Semester
End Semester
End Semester
0.24**
0.22**
0.14
0.31**
0.07
0.05
Relevance of unit to overall program
Mid Semester
End Semester
End Semester
0.14**
0.16*
0.19*
0.14
0.12
-0.13
Relevance of unit to personal interest
Mid Semester
End Semester
End Semester
0.20**
0.25**
0.30**
0.28**
0.13
0.12
Obtained Marks with Attempted
Grade at end of semester

Mid Semester
End Semester
End Semester
0.43*
0.11
0.33**
0.44**
0.07
0.49**

Key: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001

In summary, there were few differences between local and overseas students. The local and overseas students were similar in their learning and performance goals, learning strategies, and perceptions. Where differences did emerge it was found that older overseas students were similar to younger local students. The grade local students were attempting to achieve related more to their reported learning strategies and perceptions while the grade overseas students were attempting to achieve related to fewer learning strategies and perceptions.

Discussion

In this study a profile was drawn of first year local and overseas students' management of study in an economics unit during the second semester. Few differences were found between local and overseas students' learning and performance goals, learning strategies and perceptions. Students generally reported a decrease in their learning and performance goals, learning strategies and perceptions as the semester progressed.

Goals

Previous studies have indicated that students' learning and performance goals are affected by the learning context and may decline during a semester (Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993; Volet & Chalmers, 1992; Volet & Renshaw, 1993; Volet & Styles, 1992). First year students in these studies reported a similar decline in their learning and performance goals as the students in the present study. The overseas students in the Volet et al (Voles & Chalmers, 1992; Volet & Renshaw, 1993) studies reported higher learning goals than the local students at the beginning of their first semester of study in Australia. However, by the end of the first semester the overseas students had lowered their learning goals to the same level as the local students. This supports the findings of this study where the local and overseas students in their second semester of study held the same learning and performance goals. Both groups reported a decline in their learning and performance goals as the semester progressed.

Learning strategies

There was an overall decrease in the level of learning strategies used by the students over the semester. They progressively made less use of learning strategies that involve managing class and learning requirements, working with difficult concepts, and developing personal understanding which is consistent with previous research (eg, Biggs, 1982; Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993; Ramsden, Beswick & Bowden, 1986). The decrease in use of learning strategies also relates to the decrease in learning goals observed over the semester. As students became less interested in pursuing higher learning and performance goals their use of learning strategies also declined.

Overseas students have often been characterised as surface learners who aim to rote learn factual knowledge (Ballard, 1989; Samuelowics, 1987). However, the overseas students in this study did not report greater use of memorising strategies than the local students. More significantly their reported use of strategies to develop personal understanding were not different from local students, nor did they decrease over time. Where differences were found between overseas and local students, age was a contributing factor. Older overseas students were more like younger local students than younger overseas students. These findings support the growing body of research that overseas students are not passive or surface learners but instead seek full understanding of their chosen area of study (Biggs, 1992; 1993; Volet & Kee, 1993)

Perceptions

Students reported a decrease in their perceptions of competence, success and relevance of the unit to their program of study and personal interest. This decrease is not unexpected given the students reported decrease in their learning and performance goals and learning strategies. Relationships have been previously been established between perceptions and motivation (Wittrock, 1986), achievement (Entwistle, 1991), and learning and study approaches (Biggs, 1993). The decrease of students' perceptions over a semester has been found for students studying economics (Voles & Chalmers, 1992) and education (Chalmers, Fuller & Kirkpatrick, 1993) and supports the notion that perceptions are not stable and may change in response to the learning context (Boekaerts, 1987).

Overseas and local students did not differ in their perceptions of success, difficulty, interest, and relevance. There were differences between students at the beginning of the semester in perceptions of competence. Again the older overseas students and the younger local students were more alike in their perceptions of competence. Younger overseas students did not change their perceptions of competence throughout the semester.

Relationships between performance goals and learning strategies and perceptions

The relationships between students' performance goals and learning strategies were different for local and overseas students. Local students' performance goals correlated with ten learning strategies while overseas students' goals correlated to only two, these occurring only at the end of the semester. It is interesting to note that the two strategies related to developing personal understanding and further supports the evidence that overseas students seek understanding rather than rote memorisation.

It was expected that performance goals and perceptions would be related, since they involved perceptions about the unit and about the students' expected success and competence in the unit (Entwistle, 1991; Volet & Styles, 1992). Students who perceived the unit as being interesting or relevant, or themselves as being competent and likely to achieve success, were expected to hold higher performance goals that students whose perceptions of competence and success were lower. This relationship was found for the local students and to a lesser extent, for the overseas students. Local students' performance goals correlated with all six of the perceptions while overseas students' goals correlated with only two, perceptions of competence and success.

While local students' performance goals related to both their learning strategies and perceptions, this relationship was not evident for overseas students' goals and learning strategies. It is not clear why this would be the case and warrants further investigation.

Conclusion

Local and overseas students' goals, strategies, and perceptions changed over the course of one semester. In this study, students' learning and performance goals, use of learning strategies, perceptions and attempted grade decreased over the semester of study. This decrease is similar to that reported by Chalmers, Fuller and Kirkpatrick (1993), Volet & Chalmers (1992) and Volet & Styles (1992). Overseas and local students in their second semester of study held similar learning and performance goals, reported similar use of learning strategies and held similar perceptions of themselves and the unit of study. These findings were not unexpected and support the findings of Volet and colleagues (Voles & Chalmers, 1992; Volet & Kee, 1993; Volet & Renshaw, 1993) who found that after one semester of study in an Australian institution the local and overseas students were not different in their learning goals and perceptions. This study confirms that the local and overseas students were not different throughout their second semester of study in terms of goals, learning strategies and perceptions. Where changes did occur, they took place in the same direction for both groups of students.
Note: This research was supported by a research grant from Edith Cowan University.

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Author: Denise Chalmers is currently working as an instructional designer with University Learning Systems, Edith Cowan University. She was previously a Lecturer in Educational Psychology and Human Development in the Faculty of Education. She is currently involved in a number of research projects on university students' goals, study strategies and management of study.

Please cite as: Chalmers, D. (1994). Local and overseas students' goals and management of study. Issues In Educational Research, 4(2), 25-56. http://www.iier.org.au/iier4/chalmers.html


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