Abstract:

Understanding how university students engage with official course documentation is essential for enhancing teaching and learning in higher education. Course syllabus and teaching plans provide critical information on learning outcomes, assessment, and workload, yet students’ actual comprehension and use of these materials remain underexplored.

The methodology has consisted of a repeated-measures design. A structured survey was carried out at three points during the academic period: at course onset, prior to the midterm exam, and shortly before final examinations. Repeated-measures models have been applied to analyse within-subject changes in access, comprehension, and perceived usefulness over time. The sample has included students from business and technical studies. Findings reveal both disciplinary and cultural differences in engagement patterns, highlighting heterogeneous interactions with course documentation. The study also emphasizes the potential benefit of promoting early exposure to structured curricular information in pre-university education to support academic preparedness.

These results provide evidence to inform strategies aimed at fostering sustained engagement with official course materials and enhancing students’ readiness for higher education learning.

Keywords:

Student engagement, Course syllabus, Higher education, Repeated-measures design, Academic preparedness.