Abstract
The study reports findings from administration of the Biggs SPQ instrument to two cohorts of students (1993 and 2004) enrolled in a mechanical engineering design course. A substantial decrease in ‘surface’ approaches to study was found in 2004, but there was virtually no change in the ‘deep’ approach scores. Findings are discussed in relation to changes made to teaching and learning context over this time, and to the suitability of the SPQ instrument.