Nature of Conceptions of Learning in a Collectivistic Society: A Qualitative Case Study of Pakistan
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Rafaquat Ali 1, Khalid Khurshid 2, Abid Shahzad 3 * , Irshad Hussain 4, Zainudin Abu Bakar 5
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1 Department of Education, Bahawalnagar Campus, Bahawalnagar, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, PAKISTAN2 Department of Education, Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan, PAKISTAN3 Department of Education, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, PAKISTAN4 Department of Educational Training, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur PAKISTAN5 Department of Educational Foundation and Social Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai, Johor, MALAYSIA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

Conceptions of learning determine students’ ways to learn, motivations and expectations in schools. Conceptions have potential to understand and mold their learning behaviors at schools. Certain types of conceptions of learning appear obvious feature of students performing poorly in schools. Literature suggests that students’ conceptions of learning are affected by students’ social and cultural backgrounds. Students in underdeveloped, minority and Asian social and cultures have quite different conceptions than the students in developed countries. In Pakistani public school, most students are from the lower socio-economic background. Available literature reports drill, memorization, and external regulation of learning and lack of adequate motivation to learn in students of these schools, which signpost undesired conceptions of learning. The current study deals with the students studying in Pakistani schools to determine and understand their conception of learning. A qualitative data collection approach was used to collect the data from the respondents. An approach of applied thematic analysis used reduced qualitative data into themes, sub-themes and into sub-sub-themes. The thematic analysis corroborated Pakistani secondary school science students’ intake of knowledge and cooperation conceptions of learning. The findings were in line to various studies on Asian students. The high failing rate at secondary school level in science education in Pakistani schools is congruent to presence of intake of knowledge and cooperation conceptions of learning.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2018, Volume 14, Issue 4, 1175-1187

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/81867

Publication date: 05 Jan 2018

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