Monitoring Attitude Change in Students to Teaching and Learning in a University Setting: a study using Perry's developmental model

We have studied whether changes brought about in the first year biology course at the University of Glasgow made any difference in students' attitudes to the way they learn. Students' attitudes were monitored with respect to the way they reacted or adapted to these changes using the Perry model of intellectual and ethical development. This model shows how students develop from a simplistic stance on the nature of knowledge to one which is more pluralistic and contextual. The results showed that the changes made to the course did make an impact on how the students learn and indicated that students were encouraged to learn autonomously. The results therefore have implications for some of the ways in which autonomy can be observed in students and also offers an insight which is of direct relevance to teachers who wish to plan courses which pursue autonomous learning.