Abstract:

Learning is an active process whereby students construct their understanding, yet often utilizing emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aspects unknowingly. While student awareness of learning typically involves comprehension and application of learned material, it often overlooks the affective dimension of learning. Additionally, students tend to interpret learning requirements based on past experiences. This paper, focusing on higher education, investigates whether students can assess their own learning, especially when transitioning from traditional classrooms to practical contexts. It also examines the effectiveness of traditional assessment tools in capturing student perceptions and evaluations and assesses students' ability to self-assess across various learning contexts. The paper presents findings from a longitudinal study involving 160 international Master's students in Management of Engineering. They completed surveys before and after a 4-month curricular internship, exploring attitudes and perceived learning between traditional courses and internships. Semantic Differential analysis revealed distinct evaluative and descriptive dimensions characterizing both contexts. Results suggest that internships evoke more extreme experiences and higher positive perceptions, yet are perceived as more demanding and less structured than traditional teaching methods.

The paper also provides some reflections on the methodological advantages and challenges of using the semantic differential methodology in the evaluation within higher education.

Keywords:

Learning awareness, internship, higher education, semantic differential.