Academic Entitlement in the Context of Learning Styles

This study explores the linkages between students’ sense of entitlement and their approaches to learning, based on survey research at a large public university in Canada. Through literature review and pilot testing, a questionnaire instrument was developed that measures four constructs: academic entitlement, deep learning, surface learning and strategic learning. Survey responses (n=1=2116) suggest that students approach learning in mixed ways, and that approaches to learning intersect with students’ sense of entitlement in complex ways. Overall, students’ scores on the sense of entitlement scale were found to be moderate, challenging some of the assertions about today’s students that have been made in the popular press.