A recent research suggests there is a wide disparity between the students' and teachers' perception of their performance as well as their own expectations when it comes to learning.
In a study conducted by Aarhus University in Denmark which involved 1,400 undergraduates, 72 percent of them said that they were "prepared" for class, reported Times Higher Education. However, when their teachers were asked about these same students, most of them disagreed and only 43 percent felt that they could agree with the statement.
According to Study International News, the study which was presented at the Society for Research into Higher Education's annual research conference and took place in Wales earlier this month, also found that only less than half of the 282 teachers surveyed agreed that their students submitted assignments that were worked thoroughly even when 83 percent of the total student respondents claimed their work was thorough.
Hanne Balsby Thingholm, the study's co-author and assistant professor in education at Aarhus' Centre for Teaching Development and Digital Media, said that most students think they are doing their work well but clearly, most of their teachers disagree.
She added that the huge gap between students' expectations and that of their teachers clearly shows that there is a lack of effective communication between educators and learners, and that teachers should be more explicit about their expectations from their students because students cannot just figure it out on their own.
Dr. Balsby Thingholm also believes that teachers need to think about what they teach but they should also determine if their students learn how to study. She also said that teachers should be able to discuss and not just formulate their learning goals to their students as this is one of way for students to understand what their lecturers want them to achieve and they can develop their own learning strategies.
