Students' learning approach in relation to attendance in private supplementary tutoring

Abstract

This research explores the possibility of a relationship between students’ learning approach and attendance to private supplementary tutoring. The phenomenon of private supplementary tutoring is prevalent in Hong Kong because of the public examination at the end of senior secondary. There have been numerous researches on private supplementary tutoring in Hong Kong. However there has not been any research relating private supplementary tutoring to learning approach. The research was done using mixed method. For qualitative data Kember, Biggs and Leung’s (2004) Revised Learning Process Questionnaire (R-LPQ-2F) was used to identify student’s learning approach. For quantitative date a semi-structured interview was used, containing questions pertaining to learning approach of students. The result of the research was that there was not a strong relationship between students’ learning approach and attendance in private tutorial center. This is due to the fact that learning approach of students is a dynamic entity and is not stagnant. External and internal factors affect students’ learning approach. Therefore learning approach does not seem to have a strong relationship to attendance to a private tutorial center.