Abstract
The thesis has as its main focus the investigation of student learning from the lecture and individualised learning (IL) in terms of the perspectives of students and lecturers in the Malaysian context. The sample of lecturers and students was drawn from the Specialist Teacher Training Institute (STTI) and the Faculty of Education, University of Malaya (FEUM), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A group of twenty five students at STTI formed the case study group which I personally taught, using a set of individualised learning materials (ILM) that I prepared. Besides this, two hundred other students also used selected units of the ILM, but they were supervised by their respective lecturers. Data from questionnaires administered to all the two hundred and twenty five students were supported and amplified by the analysis of semi-structured interviews of a selected number of students. On the basis of this and from the analysis of interview transcripts of the lecturers, the present study indicated the following findings: 1. In IL the students were inclined to adopt a self-oriented learning approach (SOL) while in the lecture they were inclined to adopt a lecturer-oriented learning approach (LOL). In either case the students displayed different study methods and habits. 2. In IL the SOL students appear to use 'deep level' approach in their learning while in the lecture they appear to adopt a LOL approach and used 'surface level' learning. 3. In the lecture some LOL students appear to become SOL students who may or may not use 'deep level' approach in their learning. 4. The lecturers also seem to demonstrate different teaching styles in different teaching modes. In IL some of the lecturers were inclined to adopt a 'responsive' teaching style as opposed to a 'restrictive' one as may be possible in the lecture situation. The lecturers' teaching style was found to be the function of their own orientations in terms of their perception of the characteristics of Malaysian students and their conceptualisation of IL. In the final analysis I suggested that by adopting a composite teaching approach in which IL is the basic teaching method, teachers may develop a 'responsive' style of teaching which can promote more effective student learning.