Study Habits of Greek University Students: Effects of Aender, age, Academic Discipline, and Handedness: A Review Study

Abstract

The disparities in students' learning approaches hold considerable importance, particularly the divide between "deep" and "surface" approaches. The former entails a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter, critical evaluation, and recognition of its significance, while the latter involves memorization for practical purposes without considering the broader context or value of the content. Although there is a prevalent belief that the implementation of the Revised Approaches of Studying Inventory (RASI) lacks consistency, an endeavor is undertaken to quantify the diverse methodologies.  The objective of this study was to assess the factor structure of a pre-existing instrument, known as the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI), among a group of undergraduate students in Greece. This was achieved by examining the influence of variables such as gender, age, academic discipline, and handedness on students' study habits. The study population comprised individuals who were currently enrolled in diverse academic programs.

The study had a total of 452 freshmen enrolled at a Greek university, which was classified as a medium-sized institution.The present study focuses on the methods employed and the conceptual framework utilized in the research. A factor analysis was conducted to evaluate a shortened version of the RASI consisting of thirty items. The study revealed the presence of five distinct factors, namely academic self-confidence, metacognitive awareness, deep approach, strategic approach, and surface approach. A mixed-design analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted for each of the RASI scales.The concluding remarks and recommendations are outlined as follows: The outcomes of the MANOVA revealed statistically significant affects of sex on strategic approach and faculty on academic self-confidence. A statistically significant two-way interaction was seen between sex-6 handedness and strategic approach. Additionally, a statistically significant three-way interaction was found between sex-6 age faculty and deep approach. Both of these interactions exhibited statistical significance.