Abstract:

The aim of the paper is to direct attention to behavior patterns, as by identifying them, schools can adapt the learning experience to the needs of students and increase the quality of the learning process as well as its outcomes. A behaviour pattern is a person’s relatively constant manner of reacting to the same stimuli. Behaviour patterns are formed throughout the course of a person’s life. Numerous external and internal, as well as known and unknown, factors influence the shaping of a behaviour pattern. The relative constancy of a behaviour pattern makes it possible to predict how a person will react.
The goals of this paper are threefold: 1) to present behavior patterns by defining different roles that are inherent in an individual; 2) to report research results of students' behavior patterns at Faculty of economics, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; 3) on the basis of average (dominant) behavior pattern to outline the factors (in the educational area) that increase student's learning motivation with the focus on teaching methods.
We argue that we should frame classroom activities in accordance with students' behavior patterns, particularly by using teaching methods that are »in line« with behavior patterns. The importance of this topic in the area of education lies in the fact that appropriate teaching methods increase students' motivation for learning and gaining experience. The benefits are on the side of schools (students' eagerness and involvement in activities boostrs the quality of learning process itself) as well as the employing companies (who can choose from a larger pool of candidates demonstrating appropriate competencies).
Adizes identifies 4 behavior roles that are theoretically present in a behavior pattern and names them as produces, administrator, entrepreneur and integrator. Based on the presence of each particular role in behavior, different patterns of behavior are constructed and named. Adizes’ assumptions that it is possible to recognize the characteristics of behaviour patterns in the manner of thought and orientation in decision-making, and that visible signs of individual behaviour patterns are expressed in communication and decision-making in general, are the basis for Lipicnik’s questionnaire that we used to measure behaviour patterns. We used this measure to assess students' behavior patterns at the Faculty of economics. The results show students have a characteristic cognitive orientation and prefer using ideas rather than written rules in their work. Their decision-making is oriented toward long-term effectiveness and long-term success, rather than short-term effectiveness and short-term success, and their communication is indecisive and unreliable. Their behaviour pattern is somewhat unstable, changing over time.
In the learning process, students ought to reinforce appropriate behaviour patterns to help them do their work successfully. All jobs require a particular behaviour pattern from a worker. If a worker has a behaviour pattern inappropriate for the job he does, in the best case he is merely dissatisfied with his work, but often the organization is also dissatisfied with his work. When a worker’s behaviour pattern does not match the behaviour pattern required by the job, it is only that individual that represents a problem for the organization.

Keywords:

behavior patterns, undergraduate studies, roles, slovenia.