'Picturing' instruction: an exploration of higher education students' knowledge of instruction.

Especially in higher education – but true for any setting – what students do within a learning environment determines their learning outcomes. Given that they regulate their own learning, students do not always act in accordance with the instructions and intentions of the designed learning environment, which in turn has implications for their learning and achievement. To better understand this phenomenon, a variety of research examined factors that are presumed to influence students' learning behavior within learning environments. This paper aims to broaden this research by pointing attention to students' knowledge of micro-level education as a type of domain-independent prior knowledge. This so-called 'instructional knowledge' of students is also presumed to have important implications for learning in educational settings. An attempt was made to map this construct by thematically analyzing 91 drawings depicting Flemish higher education students' spontaneous and general knowledge of instruction. Findings confirm previous research by revealing that students' instructional knowledge is (a) very similar, and (b) rather 'classical' in nature. In extension to previous findings, it was also revealed that in addition to classical and common elements, many drawings portray new (especially digital) and individual elements. This study contributes to understanding instructional knowledge as a complex and personal set of shared and unique experiences susceptible to slow structural change. Moreover, it provides opportunities for further research and – in time – the enhancement of instructional design models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]