Students' Views on Prior Knowledge.

N

31

Background; College Students; Experience; Foreign Countries; Higher Education; Interviews; Knowledge Level; Models; Prior Learning; Student Attitudes; Telephone Surveys; Time Factors (Learning)

978-90-358-0590-3

In this preliminary investigation (part of a study of the role of prior knowledge in learning) the views of students about prior knowledge and the importance it has for learning were studied. An effort was made to verify whether the previously proposed model of the concept was congruent with student views. Forty of 120 students at the Open University of the Netherlands returned a questionnaire about prior knowledge beliefs, and 14 of these were selected for in-depth telephone interviews. Experimental interviews were also conducted with 2 of the 26 students who were not able to participate in the study. The students interviewed generally were in agreement in considering that they had an average degree of prior knowledge in the course selected. They were able to recognize the proposed components of prior knowledge, information, experience, and skills. The proposed model seemed feasible from the point of view of the student, although a variable accounting for the effects of time should be introduced into the model. Allowing students to assess their own prior knowledge appeared to be too subjective for research use. Twenty-two figures illustrate study findings. (SLD)

1996

ED387488