title: Pharmacy students' approaches to learning in an Australian university.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmacy, The University of Sydney, Australia. lsmith@pharm.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Bandana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Saini
authors.forename: Ines
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Krass
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Sinthia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bosnic-Anticevich
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sainsbury
mesh_terms: 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