Assessing undergraduate students’ conceptions of and approaches to learning public health in Taiwan: a cross-sectional study

Few studies have examined factors influencing public health students’ learning processes. The objective of this study was to examine the conceptions and approaches to learning public health in undergraduate students and to analyze the interrelationships between these conceptions and learning approaches. This cross-sectional study recruited undergraduate public health students from multiple departments at three universities in Central Taiwan. The Conceptions of Learning and Revised Study Process Questionnaire were used to measure students’ conceptions and approaches to learning, respectively. Principal component analysis clarified the questionnaires’ factor structures. Pearson’s correlation assessed the relationship between Conceptions of Learning and Revised Study Process Questionnaire, while multiple linear regression models examined associations between their factors. A total of 120 undergraduate students in public health participated in the study. The lower-level conception of “Preparing for Tests” exhibited a positive correlation with both surface motive (β = 0.43, p < 0.01) and surface strategies (β = 0.39, p < 0.01). Similarly, the lower-level conception of “Calculating and Practicing” was positively correlated with deep motive (β = 0.16, p = 0.04) and deep strategies (β = 0.24, p < 0.01). Public health educators should adopt teaching strategies that enhance students’ motivation and engagement with deep and self-directed learning approaches to achieve better learning outcomes.