Pharmacy students' approaches to learning in an Australian university.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how pharmacy students' approaches to learning change over the duration of a bachelor of pharmacy degree program.


METHODS
Data were obtained from a cross-sectional, repeated measures design, using a validated self-report survey instrument. Areas examined included processing and regulation strategies, motivational preferences for learning, and the relationship between approaches to learning and academic performance.


RESULTS
Pharmacy students were strongly vocationally oriented in their studies across all year groups. This approach had a significant relationship to academic performance. Overall, students indicated a preference for external regulation strategies. There was little evidence of maturation in approaches to learning as students progressed through the curriculum.


CONCLUSIONS
Students' preference for vocationally related strategies can be harnessed to increase both adoption of self-regulation behaviors and motivation for mastery of material. Comparison of our results with other studies indicates that approaches to learning may be influenced more by the learning environment than the discipline of study.
Smith
Lorraine
L
Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Australia. lsmith@pharm.usyd.edu.au
Saini
Bandana
B
Krass
Ines
I
Chen
Timothy
T
Bosnic-Anticevich
Sinthia
S
Sainsbury
Erica
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003479:Curriculum; D003625:Data Collection; D004512:Education, Pharmacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D012580:Schools, Pharmacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013339:Students, Pharmacy / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult