Conceptions of formal learning: Changes and developing awareness for indigenous university students

Objectives
The main aim of this phenomenographically inspired research, which involved individual semi-structured interviews, was to investigate conceptions of formal learning held by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students for the first two years of their degree courses in three Australian universities in Queensland. These students have the highest attrition rate of any group of students in Australia. Knowing more about their learning may facilitate changes in instruction and study methods which may help to address the attrition rate. Interviews were transcribed and an iterative analysis revealed categories of description that depicted students' conceptions of learning for each year.

Findings
Results indicated that, on a group level, conceptions of formal learning were mostly the same over the two years. During the first year, students held conceptions of learning that formed a hierarchy moving from those that are quantitative to those that exhibit qualitative dimensions. Initially learning was explained in terms of acquiring information, then acquiring and using what had been learnt, to understanding information and finally some explained learning as personal growth. Learning as understanding was expressed in three ways. Initially students stated they acquired information by memorisation then understood what was remembered; some stated that learning meant understanding and using information in a practical sense; finally understanding was explained as being achieved through processes such as elaboration, analysis and relating information to relevant experiences. During the second year, conceptions reported by some individual students changed. The two students who explained leaning as personal growth now spoke of learning as enabling them to see something in a different way. There was also evidence of the conception changing as a person.

Some students exhibited a greater awareness of specific aspects of their learning during second year that resulted in four categories of changed awareness. In some instances this was manifested as alternative ways of studying which included measures such as arguing information and questioning themselves and others. It was also evident that students were now making connections between their formal and informal learning experiences. They started seeing links between what they were learning with their everyday experiences or with information gained previously in informal settings. For some the changed awareness was evident in that they started to challenge assertions of their teachers, texts or generally respected people in their lives. A small number of students also developed alternative ways of seeing the world that included viewing phenomena from an alternative perspective.

Conclusions
It is interesting that some individual students' conceptions of learning changed during the second year. We attribute this, in part, to the changed awareness that students exhibited in relation to learning at university. Further we believe that this bears similarities to what Entwistle (1997) described as constituting a change in students' conceptions of themselves and the world around them. The changed awareness may also be a result of students' lacking the prerequisite knowledge for university studies and as their course progressed they may have developed greater awareness about themselves in terms of their own learning. Consequently they may have started to develop alternate methods and to question their prior knowledge and experiences. They may have experienced learning in a relational (Prosser & Trigwell, 1999) sense. That is they may have connected what they already know about their own learning with their new learning situation. It is our contention that the four dimensions of change are not taught overtly at university and we propose that university courses be structured to incorporate these dimensions. This may help students to become more critical learners who develop more meaningful conceptions of learning.