Students' Approaches To Learning Research Articles

Students’ approaches to learning (SAL) and their relations to burnout among university freshmen in Singapore

Assessing students’ approaches to learning (SAL) is crucial for evaluating their critical thinking abilities and subject domain comprehension. A deep approach and organised studying have been linked to lower study-related burnout, while an unreflective approach is associated with elevated levels of burnout. Despite evidence of the SAL–burnout connection, limited research exists on the bidirectional relationship between the two constructs. This study aims to fill this research gap by analysing changes in SAL and burnout during the freshmen year and determining whether there exists a reciprocal relationship between these constructs. Freshmen data was collected from two cohorts (Cohort 1, n = 261; Cohort 2, n = 216) at the beginning and end of their first year. Findings revealed increased overall burnout, exhaustion, cynicism, and inadequacy from T1 to T2 in both cohorts. Deep approach decreased across T1 and T2 in both cohorts, while organised studying decreased in Cohort 1 but remained unchanged in Cohort 2. Conversely, unreflective approach decreased in Cohort 1 but increased in Cohort 2. Bidirectionality between SAL and burnout was observed in both cohorts, indicating that higher unreflective approach could lead to increased cynicism, and vice-versa. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing the interplay between unreflective approach and cynicism for interventions targeting reduction in unreflective approaches and emphasizes the need to consider the potential unintended consequences of heightening freshmen’s cynical attitudes towards studying when attempting to reduce unreflective approach.

Students Approaches to Learning: Towards a Context-specific Learning Approaches Instrument

Students' Approaches to Learning (SAL) are a critical determinant of learning outcomes and have been assessed around the world, from Asia to Africa, using the traditional questionnaires developed in the Western context. However, studies in Asia have challenged the traditional dichotomous view of SAL by supporting the presence of intermediate approaches, suggesting that the current view of SAL may not be universal. In response to the need for a broader understanding of SAL, a new instrument, the Approaches to Learning Questionnaire (ALQ), was developed during a pilot study. This instrument captures both memorization and understanding in an African context, which makes it distinct from traditional instruments. Additionally, the ALQ challenges the current individualistic view of SAL by including a group dimension. Given the high psychometric quality of this new instrument, it is crucial to validate it with a large sample. Therefore, this paper discusses the validation processes and recommends the use of the ALQ for comparative purposes in the Congolese context. Further research will explore the extension of this context-specific instrument to other cultural settings and the assessment of cross-cultural validity.

Students' approaches to learning (SALs): Validation and psychometric properties of a tool measurement.

Deep learning is an important outcome of the higher education and is mostly determined by students' approaches to learning (SALs). The latest version of the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) is one of the most used instruments assessing SALs. Many studies from various contexts have either validated or used this famous tool. But none of them-to the best of our knowledge-stem from the Moroccan tertiary context. The current study fills this gap by first: Getting a local translation of the questionnaire following the standardized methodological process and secondly to update the validity and psychometric properties of the construct. Arabic back translation was performed. Data were collected among tertiary scientific students. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, and confirmatory factor analysis were carried out under SPSS version 22. A strong fit of the dichotomic construct (deep and surface) was found, whereas the hierarchical models were disappointing. Following the standards of the psychometrics' validation, this Arabic version could be used only in first-order factor model to evaluate the deep and surface approach within tertiary education in Moroccan context.

Digital learning of English as a foreign language among university students: How are approaches to learning linked to digital competence and technostress?

AbstractBackgroundIn view of the widespread use of digital technologies in English as a foreign language (EFL) learning and the importance of students' approaches to learning (SAL) and digital competence, as well as the threats of technostress in digital settings, digital EFL learning requires a critical examination.ObjectivesThis study sought to investigate the interrelationships among of SAL, students' digital competence, and the emerging technostress in digital learning of EFL.MethodsSurvey and EFL test data of 477 university students taking EFL courses were collected. Partial least square structural equation modelling and cluster analysis were employed to analyze these data.Results and ConclusionsThe results indicate that a surface approach to learning was significantly positively associated with technostress while negatively associated with digital competence. The deep and organized learning approaches positively predicted digital competence, which further negatively predicted technostress and burnout in digital learning of EFL. Technostress was found to be positively related to exhaustion and cynicism, with cynicism being negatively related to EFL learning outcomes. The cluster analysis identified three clusters of EFL learners and revealed that, overall, high scores in the deep and organized approaches to learning were generally aligned with strong digital competence, low technostress, low burnout, and high EFL learning outcomes.TakeawaysThe findings of this study carry important implications for practitioners of EFL learning and teaching in the design of strategies, pedagogies, and EFL learning technologies that improve EFL learning in digital settings while maintaining learners' wellbeing.

Contrasting undergraduate mathematics students’ approaches to learning and their interactions within two student-centred learning environments

The Students’ Approaches to Learning (SAL) tradition comprehends an approach to learning as a combination of students’ aims for learning and the processes used to achieve them. The tradition values a deep approach to learning; this is the case also in the context of university mathematics, where a deep approach is seen as a requirement for learning proof-based mathematics. However, supporting a deep approach through learning environments has turned out to be a complex endeavour. The present study addresses this complexity by qualitatively contrasting the same students’ approaches learning in two pedagogically different undergraduate mathematics learning environments. The study is a follow-up on a quantitative study and reports on 16 student interviews aiming to connect the students’ quantitatively determined approaches to learning with their aims for learning and the actualized learning processes within the learning environments. The results suggest that student subgroups with different approaches to learning are distinguished by their aims for learning, and based on the students’ own reporting, by the ability to reflect on learning and utilize student collaboration. We discuss the results and conclude that a sequence of courses with well-aligned instructional practices is needed to support the development of a deep approach to learning.

Impact of a spanish Higher Education teacher development programme on approaches to teaching. Psychometric properties of the S-ATI-20 scale

La calidad de la formación de los profesores en las Universidades ha sido un debate inacabado entre las autoridades y los académicos debido a su impacto en el aprendizaje de los estudiantes. Aprender a enseñar en educación superior no es un camino directo, existen pocas oportunidades para aprender cómo enseñar a este nivel antes de entrar a enseñar directamente. Las Universidades deberían monitorizar hasta qué punto los profesores cumplen con sus funciones docentes y se dedican a mejorar sus habilidades y aptitudes docentes, así como sus actitudes y el compromiso hacia sus estudiantes. Siguiendo la línea de investigación sobre enfoques de aprendizaje (SAL), este estudio atiende a la formación docente analizando el impacto de un breve programa de desarrollo en los enfoques de enseñanza a través del uso de un cuestionario en español (S-ATI-20) que no es sino una revisión y validada versión del Approaches to Teaching Inventory (ATI), así como de otra información de corte cualitativo. El diseño es pre-experimental (pretest-postest) sin grupo de control. Se recogió información de 85 profesores a lo largo de tres cursos académicos consecutivos: 2014-2015 (n = 48), 2015-2016 (n = 22) y 2016-2017 (n = 15). Los resultados muestran que los programas de desarrollo cortos tienen un efecto positivo en los enfoques de enseñanza. Además, los resultados corroboran la estructura de dos factores del S-ATI-20, distinguiendo entre profesores que al enseñar se centran en el cambio conceptual y el estudiante (CCSF) o en la transmisión de la información y en el profesor (ITTF). Por último, la discusión teórica del impacto en los enfoques de enseñanza nos anima a (re)pensar la relación entre distintas formas de manejar las responsabilidades docentes. ¿Están los enfoques realmente en un continuo bipolar?, ¿deberíamos pensar en los enfoques como si fuera un modelo basado en una muñeca rusa (matrioshka)?

Refocusing the 3P model to incorporate a learning and teaching environment and graduate attributes

The 3P (presage, process, product) model was introduced as a conceptualisation to underpin research into students’ approaches to learning (SAL). This paper proposes the refocusing of the 3P model by formulating the initial presage phase as a teaching and learning environment, thus making the 3P model more consistent with SAL research which examines the influence of perceptions of aspects of teaching, learning and assessment on approaches to learning. The method was to use structural equation modelling to test a hypothesised version of the refocused 3P model. Data from a questionnaire administered to students at a university in Hong Kong showed a good fit to the data. The model showed that a teaching and learning environment influenced approaches to learning then impacted on the attainment of graduate attributes. The model showed that a well-designed teaching and learning environment, including teacher-student and student-student interaction, plus a lively co-curriculum had a part to play in promoting deep approaches to learning. Deep approaches then had a positive effect on attribute development in students.

Aprendizagem de estudantes do ensino técnico brasileiro: motivos, investimento e satisfação

Resumo O estudo exploratório e qualitativo do qual este artigo faz um recorte teve como objetivo caracterizar a motivação para a aprendizagem de estudantes do ensino médio técnico brasileiro, no enquadramento da teoria Students’ Approaches to Learning (SAL). Participaram 20 estudantes com idades entre 16 e 18 anos, que cursavam, em 2014, o primeiro ano do Ensino Médio Técnico do Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio de Janeiro, Campus Rio de Janeiro, os quais foram inquiridos sobre as suas orientações motivacionais para a aprendizagem. Para a recolha dos dados foram realizadas entrevistas semiestruturadas com base em um roteiro orientado para várias dimensões da orientação motivacional, nas quais este artigo incide: Intenção (motivos pessoais da aprendizagem), Investimento (quantidade de energia normalmente empregada na aprendizagem) e Satisfação (grau usual de satisfação com a aprendizagem). As respostas às entrevistas foram submetidas a uma análise de conteúdo temática. Os resultados são consistentes com a imagem sobre a variação da orientação motivacional dos estudantes para a aprendizagem em geral, fornecida pela teoria SAL, ou seja, motivação instrumental, motivação intrínseca e motivação de realização. Apresenta, porém, alguma especificidade e novidade, revelada pelo aparecimento de novas subvariantes dessas orientações, assim como de um padrão degradado de motivação. Os resultados são discutidos à luz das características dos estudantes inquiridos e das particularidades do ensino técnico brasileiro.

The effect of perceptions of the teaching-learning environment on the variation in approaches to learning – Between-student differences and within-student variation

The study explored the extent to which university students' approaches to learning (SAL) are related to their perceptions of the teaching-learning environment (TLE), both at the group level (between-student variation) and at the individual level (within-student variation). Moreover, the study explored how a general tendency to perceive the TLE in a certain way predicts course-specific approaches to learning over and above the course-specific perceptions. The participants were 147 natural sciences undergraduate students. SAL and perceptions of the TLE were measured after five courses using the Learn questionnaire. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used as the analysis method, which enabled us to test whether the relationships of the TLE and SAL variables were similar at the group and individual levels. For the most part, the relationships were similar but stronger at the group level; further, some of the within-student variation in SAL could be predicted by the group-level perceptions of the TLE.

Cognitive flexibility and undergraduate physiology students: increasing advanced knowledge acquisition within an ill-structured domain.

Cognitive flexibility is defined as the ability to assimilate previously learned information and concepts to generate novel solutions to new problems. This skill is crucial for success within ill-structured domains such as biology, physiology, and medicine, where many concepts are simultaneously required for understanding a complex problem, yet the problem consists of patterns or combinations of concepts that are not consistently used or needed across all examples. To succeed within ill-structured domains, a student must possess a certain level of cognitive flexibility: rigid thought processes and prepackaged informational retrieval schemes relying on rote memorization will not suffice. In this study, we assessed the cognitive flexibility of undergraduate physiology students using a validated instrument entitled Student's Approaches to Learning (SAL). The SAL evaluates how deeply and in what way information is processed, as well as the investment of time and mental energy that a student is willing to expend by measuring constructs such as elaboration and memorization. Our results indicate that students who rely primarily on memorization when learning new information have a smaller knowledge base about physiological concepts, as measured by a prior knowledge assessment and unit exams. However, students who rely primarily on elaboration when learning new information have a more well-developed knowledge base about physiological concepts, which is displayed by higher scores on a prior knowledge assessment and increased performance on unit exams. Thus students with increased elaboration skills possibly possess a higher level of cognitive flexibility and are more likely to succeed within ill-structured domains.

The Mediating Effects of Approaches to Learning on the Academic Success of First-Year College Students

ABSTRACTStudents’ personal predictors of academic success are particularly relevant for first-year college students, given the specific challenges that these students face when entering higher education (HE). Academic success in HE has been related to multiple factors, including the students’ approaches to learning (SAL), satisfaction (linked to commitment and persistence), study time (effort), and prior academic achievement. This study analyzes the combined effect of these predictors on perceived academic success. Data from 247 students was collected using the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students and other specific measures to assess presage and process variables of academic success. Although academic success is multidimensional and difficult to explain, factors such as prior academic achievement, satisfaction with the course, SAL, and study time contribute to explain perceived academic success in first-year college students.

MAPPING PROCESSING STRATEGIES IN LEARNING FROM EXPOSITORY TEXT: AN EXPLORATORY EYE TRACKING STUDY FOLLOWED BY A CUED RECALL

This study starts from the observation that current empirical research on students’ processing strategies in higher education has mainly focused on the use of self-report instruments to measure students’ general preferences towards processing strategies. In contrast, there is a rather limited use of more direct and online observation techniques to uncover differences in processing strategies at a task specific level. We based our study on one of the most influential studies in the domain of Students’ Approaches to Learning (SAL) (Marton, Dahlgren, Säljö, & Svensson, 1975). In our exploratory experiment we used eye tracking followed by a cued recall to investigate how students use processing strategies in learning from expository text. Nineteen university students participated in the experiment. Results suggested that students in the deep condition did not look longer at the essentials in the text compared with students in the surface condition, but that they processed them in a more deep way. In our sample, students in the surface condition looked longer at facts and details and also reported repeating these facts and details more often. We suggest that the combination of eye tracking followed by a cued recall is a promising tool to investigate students’ processing strategies since not all differences in processing strategies are reflected in overt eye movement behaviour. The current methodology allows researchers in the domain of SAL to complement and extend the present knowledge base that has accumulated through years of research with self-report questionnaires and interviews on students’ general preferences towards processing strategies.

Managing the transition: a case study of self-regulation in the learning of first-term business and management undergraduate students at an English university

The growth in opportunities to enter higher education in the past two decades has led to a remarkable increase in the proportion of the British population who are now educated to graduate level. This transformation of the landscape of higher education has also been associated with an increase in student dropout, increasing dependence on lecturers, and ultimately failure. In short, although the agenda of widening participation has many worthy aspirations, it has also engendered some issues relating to students’ outcomes. As a new recruit to academia from teaching in the sixth form college sector, the author was interested to see how students made the transition from college to university study. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the approaches taken by two groups of undergraduate students to study during their first term at a business school. The research involved a cohort of 50 students and a 25-item structured questionnaire together with feedback from focus groups. This research sought to bridge the conventional methodological and theoretical divide between those who focus on self-regulated learning (SRL) and those, particularly in British context, who choose to investigate students’ approaches to learning (SAL). In doing so, this research serves both as a primer for further exploration and debate for a possible synthesis between these two approaches. In particular, the findings highlight the importance of self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation, and self-image, and how these concepts may be linked to strategic, deep and surface forms of learning.

Achievement Goal Theory: The Relationship of Accounting Students’ Goal Orientations with Self-efficacy, Anxiety, and Achievement

Students’ goal orientations are examined using two major frameworks for learning: achievement goal theory (AGT) and students’ approaches to learning (SAL). Previous student success research is extended, by examining goal constructs from the AGT framework to determine if they help explain the learning process in accounting. Data were gathered using an established instrument and used to examine how mastery and performance goals are related to students’ academic expectations, achievement, self-efficacy, and test anxiety. Cluster analysis was used to identify four motivation groupings (multiple-goal, mastery, performance, and low motivation). Pairwise comparisons of groups, for expected grades, self-efficacy, anxiety, final exam grade, and course grade, identified differences among some of the clusters. Results suggest that a combination of mastery and performance goal motivations, rather than a singular perspective, may provide better outcomes related to course grades, while reducing dysfunctional outcomes. Based on the results, suggestions are provided to help instructors influence student success.

Students’ approaches to learning in problem-based learning: Taking into account professional behavior in the tutorial groups, self-study time, and different assessment aspects

Problem-based learning (PBL) represents a major development in higher educational practice and is believed to promote deep learning in students. However, empirical findings on the promotion of deep learning in PBL remain unclear. The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationships between students’ approaches to learning (SAL) and academic achievement in a PBL environment, taking into account the role of self-study time and students’ professional behavior in the PBL tutorial groups. In addition, different knowledge categories that determine achievement (i.e., understanding of concepts, understanding of the principles that link concepts, and the linking of concepts and principles to conditions and procedures for application) were taken into account. A hypothesized structural equation model including these variables was tested. Results showed that the PBL students in this study reported more use of a surface compared to a deep approach to learning. The hypothesized model demonstrated an excellent fit of the model with the data. The relationship between SAL and academic achievement was mediated by self-study time and professional behavior. These findings imply that self-study time and professional behavior are crucial variables to take into account when studying SAL.

Impact of Entry Mode on Students' Approaches to Learning: A Study of Accounting Students

This study examines the impact of prior learning experience on students' approaches to learning (SAL). It compares SAL of accounting students admitted to university in Australia on the basis of Institutes of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) qualifications (TAFE-to-university) and through direct entry mode (Year 12-to-university). The motivation for the study lies in the need to understand potential learning differences to inform learning interventions for optimal learning outcomes for all students—regardless of entry mode. The findings suggest that prior TAFE learning experience impacts SAL in university. However, the findings question the stereotypical view of the TAFE learning context as fostering surface approaches to learning, as higher scores on deep and achieving approaches were recorded by TAFE-to-university students. The level of adoption of a surface approach was found to be less among students undertaking predominantly third-year units regardless of entry mode. This study's findings have important implications for designing curricula and assessment for accounting units to cater for all students from different educational pathways, for university teachers to adopt an inclusive approach, and for higher education access policy.

Academic achievement among first semester undergraduate psychology students: the role of course experience, effort, motives and learning strategies

This study investigated the relationship between multiple predictors of academic achievement, including course experience, students’ approaches to learning (SAL), effort (amount of time spent on studying) and prior academic performance (high school grade point average—HSGPA) among 442 first semester undergraduate psychology students. Correlation analysis showed that all of these factors were related to first semester examination grade in psychology. Profile analyses showed significant mean level differences between subgroups of students. A structural equation model showed that surface and strategic approaches to learning were mediators between course experience and exam performance. This model also showed that SAL, effort and HSGPA were independent predictors of exam performance, also when controlling for the effect of the other predictors. Hence, academic performance is both indirectly affected by the learning context as experienced by the students and directly affected by the students’ effort, prior performance and approaches to learning.

University students' achievement goals and approaches to learning in mathematics

Achievement goals (AG) and students' approaches to learning (SAL) are two research perspectives on student motivation and learning in higher education that have until now been pursued quite independently. This study sets out: (a) to explore the relationship between the most representative variables of SAL and AG; (b) to identify subgroups (clusters) of students with multiple AG; and (c) to examine the differences between these clusters with respect to various SAL and AG characteristics. The participants were 680 male and female 1st year university students studying different subjects (e.g. mathematics, physics, economics) but all enrolled on mathematics courses (e.g. algebra, calculus). Participants completed a series of questionnaires that measured their conceptions of mathematics, approaches to learning, course experience, personal 2 x 2 AG, and perceived AG. SAL and AG variables were moderately associated and related to both the way students perceived their academic environment and the way they conceived of the nature of mathematics (i.e. the perceptual-cognitive framework). Four clusters of students with distinctive multiple AG were identified and when the differences between clusters were analysed, we were able to attribute them to various constructs including perceptual-cognitive framework, learning approaches, and academic performance. This study reveals a consistent pattern of relationships between SAL and AG perspectives across different methods of analysis, supports the relevance of the 2 x 2 AG framework in a mathematics learning context and suggests that AG and SAL may be intertwined aspects of students' experience of learning mathematics at university.

The Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F): Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses at item level

The underlying structure of the Revised Two Factor version of the Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F), a 20-item instrument for the evaluation of students' approaches to learning (SAL), was examined at item level using two independent groups of undergraduate students enrolled in the first (n=314) and last (n=522) years of their studies. The methods used were (a) Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) assisted by rigorous procedures such as Velicer's MAP test, parallel analysis and the Schmid Leiman solution with the first sample; and (b) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the second sample. The results of EFA indicated that the latent structure of the R-SPQ-2F is best described by two factors and the results of CFA suggested that out of four a priori structural models, the best fit was achieved by a simple first-order two-factor model. Taken together, these results seemed to converge, suggesting (a) that SAL might be defined as a co-variation between a motive and its intended strategy, these not necessarily being divided into separate first-order factors (subscales), and (b) that the underlying structure of the R-SPQ-2F is apparently non-hierarchical, being best described by a parsimonious first-order two-factor model in which Deep and Surface learning approaches are each measured by their ten corresponding items.

Understanding learning behaviour of Malaysian adult learners: a cross-cultural sensitive framework

The link between learning and the knowledge-economy is so crucial that the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development has reconceptualised the term knowledge-economy to call it “learning economy”. Ultimately, one of the main challenges of learning and development in the 21st century is to evaluate the significant learning attributes of the adult learners. Literature on Students’ Approaches to Learning (SAL), were used to conceptualise the study. However, researchers have reported the weakness of the SAL for cross-cultural studies. This study acknowledges the importance of cultural issues in the study of learning approaches. The adapted version of SPQ, i.e. R-SPQ-2FM (Revised-Study Process Questionnaire-2 Factors Malaysia) which considers both etic (universal) and emic (culturally specific) characteristics was administered on 532 Malay and 326 Chinese Malaysian adult learners. Results show that there are significant cross-cultural insights between Malay and Chinese adult learners, particularly in the Understanding and Memorising Approach, Career/Achieve Motives constructs, the effects of “work experience” and “time spent on study” have on approaches to learning. Findings above would strengthen “evidence-informed” policy making for Malaysian authorities or regional policy makers in the Asia Pacific.