ABSTRACT

Students in university-based courses designed to prepare them for undergraduate studies can greatly benefit when they engage in pedagogical practices designed to gain greater insights into self as learner. The discussion in this chapter is based on qualitative research revealing the impact of pedagogical practices and strategies used in Preparation Skills for University (PSU), the core unit in the Skills for Tertiary Education Preparatory Studies (STEPS) pre-university enabling course at CQ University Australia. Strategies used included the Myers-Briggs Jung Typology test, the Felder-Soloman Index of Learning Styles and assorted careers websites. Findings suggest that these strategies were highly valued by students in terms of the insights they gained about their learning styles preferences, personality traits and career options. More profoundly, critical reflection on new knowledge of self as learner was found to assist students in the deconstruction of previous perspectives of school, work or life and empower them to consider new personal possibilities for themselves.