Abstract

Ask lecturers what approach they want students to adopt, and generally they will state that ideally students should adopt a deep approach to learning where they understand, and can apply, what they are studying. This presentation considers how students’ perceptions of a heavy workload can interfere with this goal, where workload is defined as the out of class study students engage in. It is shown how assessment and an over-stuffed curriculum can also interfere with the goal of encouraging a deep approach to learning. A number of factors are explored which influence students’ perception of their workload and it is argued that if lecturers are aiming to achieve quality learning outcomes and student persistence, it is desirable to find out how students perceive their workload and the effect this has on their approach to learning. Ideally, we want students’ perceptions to change to “My workload is manageable and I have time to understand what I’m studying.”