Teaching-Learning from Students' Perspectives: Implications for Active Learning Strategies

The purpose of the study was to analyse students' perceptions regarding the concepts of teaching and learning using the qualitative method. Subjects were 162 first year university students. The findings indicated that there were two categories of teaching, namely 'directism' and 'openness'. The majority of students preferred directism or structured teaching. Only a small percentage of students were found in the openness category, where teaching was regarded as part of their responsibility. There were five categories of learning: quantitative increase in knowledge, memorisation, application of knowledge, abstraction of meaning, and changing a person. The implication of the findings is so that those who approached teaching as directism would probably learn in a superficial who compared to those in the openness category. Teachers have to change their way of teaching if they want to change the quality of learning among the students.