| Attempts to change student learning approach from a rote or surface approach to a more meaningful orientation have in general not been successful in short term interventions (Marton, 1978; Dahlgren, 1975). This research report deals with a direct teaching attempt in a laboratory course to begin such a transition. 750 students in an introductory biology course received computer tutorial instruction in a heuristic based on a constructivist view of knowledge. They were required to use this heuristic, the Vee, (Gowin, 1981) as a method of analysis for several laboratory sessions. Two in particular, dealing with enzyme kinetics and photosynthesis were used for detailed investigation of student understanding and use of the Vee.;Thirty-one students were selected for interview on the basis of their scores on a learning approach questionnaire administered early in the semester. In general, the group categorized as having a deep approach to learning gave more comprehensive responses to the novel problems posed in the interview than students in the group identified as surface approach learners. The qualities which distinguished their responses to the novel problem were also seen in the Vees which the two groups constructed for the laboratory exercises.;In a repeat administration of the questionnaire at the end of the semester, statistically significant differences were detected in the learning approach orientation of the class. There was a shift toward a surface approach for both males and females, though in the earlier survey females had been identified more in the deep approach style. The interpretation offered is that the underlying epistemology of the discipline of science as supported by the grading and teaching practices exerts a more powerful influence than an isolated attempt to alter students' basic views on the construction of knowledge. The accommodation of students to such governance factors is indicated in their shift in learning approach used. |
