Abstract:

A study has been conducted in first-course subjects of scientific and technical university degrees in order to deepen our understanding of factors that may incur the students’ workload perception.

A sample of 129 students were interviewed to provide an in-depth picture of aspects of their first semester academic experience.

The students were asked open-closed response questions divided into five different categories for an appropriate analysis of the collected data.
Being asked first about which subjects they joined and, more specifically, how many of them studied actively, the study has been focused on questions regarding the number of tasks, portfolios, individual and group assignments to analyse if they were submitted on time, delayed, or finally were not sent.

Other questions were related to the percentage of time objectively dedicated to managing all these tasks so as to identify whether the accumulation of tasks or their complexity could be time-consuming and sometimes disruptive of the exam period.

The results shown that the workload was manageable in quality and difficulty but not in quantity, so this had a real impact on how they behaved to make time to study. The analysis has drawn the use of illicit materials and illegal actions to success with the requirements. There have been important differences among degrees, as well as interesting justifications to take into consideration for future course design decisions.

The satisfaction of their individual marks and their perception of the learning process in group has also been studied. The students’ perception considering the contents and the acquired competences in grouped activities has failed in being useful. It has been found that a perceived lack of information implied students’ surface approaches to learning, and the tasks appeared to be not connected to real life or functional for their future occupations.

We have seen the students’ perception can differ considerably from the curriculum planning or the expectation of the lecturer. It is, therefore, desirable to re-evaluate the contents, clarify the purposes of the tasks, and concentrate on the quality of students’ learning, on stimulating students’ motivation to study and offer a more desirable or meaningful approach to enhance learning.

Keywords:

Approaches to learning, motivation, student experience, workload.