The Problems in Learning
Chasing dream universities to iPad kids: diving into what shapes the motive of learning today
With a black graduation cap and certificate in hand, many students dream of the day they receive that long awaited email from their dream college or university. Parents yelp in joy, overwhelmed with pride. For years, these teenagers had sacrificed their sleep, hobbies, and even mental health – all for a single goal: an admission in a top tier university. American teenagers pack their schedules with AP classes and various extracurriculars; some have even started full scale non-profit organisations or careers in high school.
Global market research firm Ipsos reported that 74% of Malaysians agreed on a strong emphasis on tertiary education for success.1 Many students aim to pursue an education with hopes of getting into top universities or colleges. However, do problems arise when the sole goal of learning is for the sake of completing a tertiary education?
The Dream University
According to a series of interviews conducted by The New York Times, American high schoolers around the states have expressed similar dissatisfaction in their jam-packed schedules, shedding some light on their deteriorated wellbeing caused by learning.2 The constant desire for academic validation pressured them to excel, to check boxes off in college admission criterias. Students are willing to make absurd commitments for a glimpse of hope - catching the college admission’s eyes among the sea of applications.
I’ve also gotten the opportunity to interview a couple of students studying in Malaysia, completing pre-university courses in colleges or in their final years of secondary education, about their learning schedules. Many of them are pursuing academically intense courses and are taking their shot at top universities and competitive courses. With that being said - let’s discover if overworking creates a problem in learning, particularly in shaping their goals for pursuing an education.
Balance between Social Life and Academics
Adam, a Cambridge A-Levels student at Taylor’s College, is currently taking Mathematics, Further Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science as his subjects. He is looking forward to pursuing a degree in Computer Science in the University of Manchester, United Kingdom - and residing in Manchester in hopes of expanding his career as an AI developer or software engineer.
Adam typically starts his day at 4 AM to care for his pets and get ready for school. As a morning person, he prefers revising at the crack of dawn before college starts. Classes usually start around 8 AM and end at 5 PM for him as an A-Levels student, with breaks in the middle which he would utilise for studying or hanging out with friends. Arriving home at 6 PM, he enjoys a couple hours of rest before completing some further revision, hitting the sack between 11 PM to 12 AM every night.
Despite his seemingly tedious schedule, Adam expresses contentment with his learning experience as he enjoys the flexibility of his college timetable. He is happy to maintain a balance between hanging out with friends and studying subjects he is passionate about. When asked about his goal of pursuing an education, Adam states that his goal is to ‘be able to network and find like-minded individuals’ through his career, giving him that stability he needed in life. Regarding his personal views on learning, he points out that the act of learning has significantly shaped him into the person he is now.
Looking at a Less Tedious Schedule
Sarah, studying Australian Matriculation at Sunway College, is currently taking Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and Computer Science and looking forward to pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in science in the University of Melbourne.
Sarah’s day typically starts around 8 AM to 10 AM, having 3 to 4 classes a day with an hour-long break in the middle, although her schedule varies day to day. Although her college is near a bustling shopping mall, her schedule does not allow her to frequently hang out at the mall with her friends. She transports to college via a shuttle everyday right before and after class.
As for her opinion on her schedule, not only does she think that her schedule is lenient, but also finds the course ‘quite the bare minimum’. She points out that compared to secondary school, she isn’t required to wake up early in the morning at 6 AM and attend a full day of 6 classes in college, not to mention that her workload had also decreased. Although her schedule is not demanding, her course has a crammed exam schedule, thus she has to study constantly.
The intensity of the course due to the constant examinations trains her time management ability due to the time constraints. ‘And of course at this stage of education, the purpose is prominently because of university’, stating that her goal of pursuing an education currently is also for a tertiary education.
Working on Discipline
Xin Ning, currently studying pure science in a national school (sekolah kebangsaan), is in her final year in secondary school, taking the Malaysian Certificate of Education (SPM) this year. Her course consists of mostly STEM related subjects, such as Additional Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Currently, she is interested in pursuing medicine in a university abroad.
Xin Ning’s school days usually end from 1 PM to 5 PM, and would end earlier on Fridays due to prayers. She describes her schedule as a ‘do what you like’ routine, explaining that she does not follow a strict schedule, rather depending on her varying discipline to study. She expressed her dissatisfaction in her lack of consistency in her current schedule, as she thinks there would be better ways to utilise her time, thus aiming to improve her time management.
Rather than her schedule shaping her learning, she thinks that her attitude plays a bigger factor in her learning, especially in terms of managing her time. Due to her varying schedule, for example; changes due to exam seasons, she believes that her attitude towards learning affects her learning more than her schedule. ‘I enjoy the learning process,’ she remarked, thus she does not think that her schedule affects her learning much.
Wanting to Get Into Your Dream University - Is There a Problem?
‘Goal theory’ is an educational psychology that studies the motivation to learn, exploring the relationship between a determined goal and actual performance of a student. As discussed above, many students are pursuing their education in hopes of getting a tertiary education. However, how does this goal affect their learning process?
According to Ryan & Deci (2000)3, intrinsic goals demonstrate a student’s interest in a learning task based on its quality, a preferable goal for learning as it ensures a meaningful and sustainable learning. However, most students' goals in learning, as explored above, are extrinsic goals. These goals are motivated by college admissions, grades, rewards or approval, rather than a genuine interest and passion in the learning content. Learning driven solely by extrinsic goals creates shallow learning in students, although beneficial for short term goals such as college admissions or outstanding academic performances, it hinders in-depth, analytical learning in further life.
Focalisation on extrinsic goals, especially college admissions, induces stress in students. Hundreds of bright minded students are crossing a narrow bridge in hopes for a seat at their dream university. This could be a major contribution towards stress rather than an intensive schedule. Students feel the need to load their schedules with extracurriculars and honor classes just to stand out in the pool of applicants with straight As. ‘A is the most popular high school grade in America ', Tim Donohue, an English high school teacher states in an New York Times article regarding ‘grade inflation’: 47% of American high schoolers graduate with grades in the A range in 2016, predominantly in high income areas.4 The rapidly decreasing acceptance rate of top colleges is the prominent reason for a student’s obsession with extrinsic goals.
Extrinsic goals prevent effective and beneficial learning and induce mental health issues for students. The American Institute of Stress reveals that students rate their stress level on an average of 5.8 on a 10 point scale, compared to adults scoring an average of 3.8. Negative emotions and even major mental health issues such as anxiety and depression is a distinct issue in up to 70% of American students.5 The competitive nature of such a learning environment drains their wellbeing into a critical state.
Learning Doesn’t Just Happen in School, It Happens at Home
The fundamentals of learning do not begin in school – it begins with parenting. A child’s dependency and attachment to parental figures in their early stages leads to parents being the windows to their perception of the world. It is undeniable that parenting plays an essential role in learning. Thus, issues arising from learning are significantly affected by parenting.
An iPad Kid’s Learning
Screen time is a major concern in parenting in the modern era. Many parents are aware of the dangers of excessive screen time in children: lack of attention span, overstimulation, decrease cognitive skills are all problems parents are warned about, that all severely hinders a child’s learning development. However, parents expressed the impracticality of totally prohibiting screen time to children. Parents appreciate the free time acquired from moments their children spend with the screen, whether it is to do chores, pack their bags, or even have a bathroom break. CNA interviewed parents to understand what changed their minds from deciding to create an entirely ‘screen-free’ environment for their children before birth, to allowing mobile phones to their 10 and 11-year-old children.6 Mr Yuen, a parent, expressed that it would be difficult to completely prohibit screen time in parenting, especially in this digital era.
Parents have to balance limiting screen time and giving children technological freedom, using technology as a learning tool instead of impairing learning. Although excessive technology use severely impairs learning, it is essential for learning too. Choosing the right educational content and limiting screen time allows children to learn through technology. According to Parent, ‘removing the guilt of raising an iPad kid’ should be normalised despite the heavy criticism of using screen time in parenting, as it is nearly impossible to create an entirely screen-free environment.7
Parenting Strategies For a Child’s Learning Prowess
The effectiveness of learning may not be entirely reflected by academic content in school, but rather the type of parenting a child grows up in.
Findings shown in the study ‘Effect of Parenting Styles Strategies on Emotional Intelligence and Academic Achievement of Adolescents’ reveals the effect parenting styles, authoritarian, permissive and neglectful, has on a child’s learning.8 In terms of academic achievements, authoritarian parenting shows the highest academic results compared to the rest. Its effects are also sustainable because children raised in authoritarian parenting maintain high academic performances in college, due to qualities such as intrinsic motivation and self efficacy nurtured. Compared to an adolescent who grew up in a negligent family, these adolescents adapt to low failure expectations and task-irrelevant behaviours, holding the key qualities to a successful academic journey. This demonstrates the possibility that a student’s problems in learning are caused not necessarily by their school learning environment or content, but rather the parenting style they are brought up in. The study proves that parenting could either negatively or positively affect learning.
However, factoring in peer relationships among adolescents, parenting may not be the only factor affecting a child’s learning. In fact, it is difficult for parents to control or supervise their teenager’s friendship. Peer influence could change a teenager’s attitude towards learning as much as parental influence, or even more.
There Is No Definite Answer
Goals, schedules, pressure, technology, parenting, peer influence - there is no isolated obstacle to pinpoint when it comes to learning. It is a multi-dimensional, complex topic, hence we mustn't point fingers or blame a singular factor that contributes to it. Rather, we should try to encourage certain positive qualities that have been proven to be beneficial in tackling these problems in learning.
Written by: Olivia Teo
Edited by: Airissya Qistina Putri
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(Ipsos study: Malaysians still big on education, tertiary qualifications for life success, n.d.)
The New York Times. 2024. “What Students Are Saying About the Demands of High School.” October 10, 2024.
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions.” n.d. selfdeterminationtheory.org. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://www.selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2000_RyanDeci_IntExtDefs.pdf.
Donahue, Tim. 2023. “Opinion | Grade Inflation Needs to Stop.” The New York Times, October 23, 2023.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/23/opinion/grade-inflation-high-school.html.
“TEENS & YOUNG ADULTS.” n.d. The American Institute of Stress. Accessed June 12, 2025.
https://www.stress.org/who-gets-stressed/teens-young-adults/.
Sufiyan Samsuri. n.d. “'No choice but to allow it': Parents cite challenges in keeping devices away from kids amid concerns over excessive screen time.”
“What Are iPad Kids?” 2024. Parents.
P. Bhavani, Ph. D. & Prof. T. G. Amuthavally. n.d. A LITERATURE REVIEW OF “EFFECT OF PARENTING STYLES STRATEGIES ON EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF ADOLESCENTS”.
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