e-Pedagogium 2022, 22(1):19-33 | DOI: 10.5507/epd.2022.005

Approaches to Learning of the Czech University Students of Business in Writing a Seminar Paper

Ivana Mičínová
Kontakt:
Katedra cizích jazyků, Vysoká škola obchodní v Praze

Although seminar papers and essays are an important part of self-study in higher education, they seem to be on the verge of official interest. Thus the aim of this qualitative study is to examine how students reflect on the writing of a paper and which approaches to learning they adopt. Thematic analysis of 19 semi-structured interviews with students of Czech universities doing a degree in economics showed that students perceive as meaningful a seminar paper that has a comprehensive assignment that solves problems of practice, to which they receive specific feedback and in which they can express their invention. Such assignments then support students' deep approach to learning. Conversely, seminar paper with isolated theoretical topics may support the use of a surface approach to learning if it is not actively integrated within the classroom practice a if students do not receive factual feedback.

Keywords: in-depth approach to learning, surface approach to learning, university pedagogy, assignment of a seminar paper, preparation of a seminar paper, feedback.

Received: December 13, 2021; Revised: December 13, 2021; Accepted: March 5, 2022; Prepublished online: June 19, 2022; Published: August 23, 2022  Show citation

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Mičínová, I. (2022). Approaches to Learning of the Czech University Students of Business in Writing a Seminar Paper. e-Pedagogium, 22(1), 19-33. doi: 10.5507/epd.2022.005
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