Frameworks for understanding as experienced in essay writing and in preparing for examination

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Abstract
Two small-scale qualitative studies are presented that explore the experiences of final-year undergraduate students in developing understanding of the process of revision for final examinations and of planning and writing term papers. Interviews with 23 students were supplemented with written descriptions from a further 11 students. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed to identify categories of description. The experience of understanding was described by students in similar ways, emphasizing coherence, provisional wholeness, and confidence in explaining. However, contrasting forms of understanding were also identified, which differed in terms of the breadth, depth, and structure that students tried to develop. Those who had reached a deep level of understanding also reported being able to perceive and review frameworks for their understandings in ways suggesting an awareness of knowledge objects experienced in a quasi-sensory way. Similar perceptions were reported in researching and writing term papers, indicating that structures of knowledge objects serve to control explanations as they evolve during the writing process.

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