Conceptions of learning,approaches to studying and personal development in UK higher education

Background Students in higher education are known to vary in their conceptions of learning, their approaches to studying, and the personal development and personal change that result. Aims This study aimed to explore the relationships among these four aspects of students' experience; to examine whether there were variations across academic subjects and across departments in each subject; and to explore whether there were changes from first year to after graduation. Sample Students in the first year and the final year of the undergraduate programmes at 15 departments, five offering each of three subjects: bioscience, business studies, and sociology. Method Participants completed a questionnaire containing four instruments and were given a similar questionnaire roughly two years later (when the entering students were in their third year, and when the exiting students were in their second year after graduation). Results The students' conceptions of learning showed a clear relationship with their approaches to studying, but the relationships with their personal development and personal change were much weaker. The students' scores were significantly related to age and gender and showed some significant differences across academic subjects and departments. However, there was little change in their scores over time. Conclusion Students' approaches to studying are influenced by their conceptions of learning and are relatively consistent across different contexts. In contrast, their reports of personal change and development seem to be determined by their implicit theories on entering higher education.     

Investigating the relationship between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in study behaviour in distance education

Background. Recent research on student learning in higher education has identified clear associations between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in their study behaviour. Aims. This research investigated a general theoretical model linking students' demographic characteristics, perceptions and study behaviour with measures of outcome and in particular compared four accounts of the casual relationship between perceptions and study behaviour. Samples. Study 1 employed data from 1,123 students taking six courses by distance learning; Study 2 employed data from 2,049 students taking seven courses by distance learning. Methods. Path analysis was used to assess the causal relationships among the students' age, gender and prior qualifications, their scores on the Course Experience Questionnaire, their scores on a short version of the Approaches to Studying Inventory or the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory, their overall marks and their ratings of general satisfaction. Results. Both studies yielded evidence for the causal efficacy of all the paths identified in the general theoretical model. Conclusions. There exists a bi‐directional causal relationship between variations in students' perceptions of their academic environment and variations in their study behaviour.     

Mental models of learning in distance education

Background. Interview‐based research has shown that students in higher education hold a number of different conceptions of learning and of themselves as learners. There is debate about whether these conceptions constitute a developmental hierarchy. Aims. This study evaluated the Mental Models section of Vermunt and van Rijswijk's (1988) Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) as a measure of students' conceptions of learning and sought to identify conceptions of learning as qualitatively different patterns of scores. Sample. A random sample of 1,000 students who were taking courses by distance learning with the Open University in the UK. Method. A translated and adapted version of the Mental Models section of the ILS was administered in a postal survey. Complete data were obtained from 441 students and were subjected to principal component analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis. Results. The five scales in the Mental Models section of the ILS were homogeneous and achieved a satisfactory level of internal consistency, but two of the five scales could not be differentiated from each other in the students' responses. A cluster analysis identified four subgroups of students who had different patterns of scores on two discriminant functions. Conclusion. The four mental models identified in this study were broadly similar to those identified by Vermunt (1996) in an interview‐based study. However, these do not seem to constitute a developmental hierarchy, and, following Vermunt, it is suggested that they are better interpreted as aspects of four over‐arching ‘learning styles’ or ‘learning patterns’.     

Students' conceptions of constructivist learning in different programme years and different learning environments

Background Constructivist views of learning have brought conceptions of learning to attention again. Conceptions are considered important determinants of effective learning. Students can differ in their conceptions depending on their educational experience. Aims The present study investigated students' conceptions of constructivist learning. Do students with greater experience in their academic programme differ in their conceptions of constructivist learning compared to students with less experience/ In addition, to what extent are conceptions of constructivist learning different in a conventional, lecture‐based curriculum compared to a constructivist, problem‐based learning curriculum/ Samples Three groups (i.e. first‐year, second‐year, and third‐year students) in two different curricula (i.e. conventional, lecture‐based and constructivist, problem‐based) were tested. Methods A cross‐sectional design was used. Students' conceptions of constructivist activities (i.e. knowledge construction, cooperative learning, self‐regulation, use of authentic problems, self‐perceived inability to learn, and motivation to learn) were measured by a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a two‐way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Results A significant difference in questionnaire's scores between year 1 and year 2 (but not between year 2 and 3) was found with respect to conceptions about knowledge construction, self‐regulation, and the use of authentic problems, but not for cooperative learning and motivation to learn. For self‐perceived inability, an interaction effect was found. Furthermore, results showed significant differences between both curriculum groups on all dependent measures. Conclusions Differences in conceptions can be perceived between students who enter a new learning programme (i.e. higher education) and students who already have one year of experience in higher education. Among students with more than one year of educational experience, differences disappear. Furthermore, this study shows that the learning environment can make a difference with respect to students' conceptions of constructivist learning activities.     

University students' achievement goals and approaches to learning in mathematics

Background 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. Aims 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. Sample 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). Method Participants completed a series of questionnaires that measured their conceptions of mathematics, approaches to learning, course experience, personal 2 × 2 AG, and perceived AG. Results 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. Conclusio This study reveals a consistent pattern of relationships between SAL and AG perspectives across different methods of analysis, supports the relevance of the 2 × 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.     

Self‐perceived competence,learning conceptions and preferred learning situations in the domain of communication

Background: An important purpose of education in the field of social work is the development of social‐communicative competence and students' individual learning theories (ILTs) concerning this domain. Aims: Our first aim was to develop diagnostic instruments for ILT assessment and to understand the relationships between ILT variables. Our second purpose was to study the differences in ILT variables between students of three study years. Samples: A total of 396 full‐time social work students participated in this study: 176 first‐year, 147 second‐year and 73 fourth‐year students (92% women and 8% men). Method: Based on a theoretical framework, three questionnaires have been constructed, covering three ILT variables: self‐perceived competence, learning conceptions and preferred learning situations. For scale construction, principal component analyses and reliability analyses were conducted. ANOVAs and post hoc comparisons of means were used to investigate cross‐sectional differences regarding ILT variables. Pearson correlations and regression analyses were performed to gain more insight into the relationships between ILT variables. Results: Five aspects of self‐perceived competence, four learning conceptions and five preferred learning situations were found. Learning conceptions and self‐perceived competencies were found to be predictors of students' preferred learning situations. Many differences were found between the three groups of students, especially between the first‐year students and the others. Conclusions: When studying the acquisition of social‐communicative competence, it is important to take students' individual learning theories into account. Increased insight into the role ILTs play can be of help in improving social work education.     

Ethnic‐Related Curricula and Intergroup Attitudes in College: Movement Toward and Away From the In‐Group1

Using a 5‐year longitudinal study, we investigated the long‐term effects of courses with ethnic studies content and courses with Latino or Black professors on university students' intergroup attitudes. We found that these curricular variables significantly affected the intergroup attitudes of students beyond pre‐existing differences in attitudes and beyond other curriculum variables. As expected, we found differences between ethnic groups: White students showed movement toward other groups as a result of these curricular factors, whereas Latino and African American students showed both increased tolerance toward other groups and movement toward the in‐group. The results are discussed in terms of group status differences between the dominant White majority and the stigmatized Latino and Black minority groups.     

A Comparison of University Students' Approaches to Learning Across Taiwan and Turkey

In this study, university students'approaches to studying were investigated across Turkey and Taiwan. Four hundred sixty-four Turkish university students and 546 Taiwanese university students filled out the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI). Approaches to studying was treated as a multidimensional scale with the subdimensions of Meaning Orientation, Reproducing Orientation, and Strategic Orientation. This 3-factor model was fitted across the cultures through the use of linear structural modeling and for each dimension mean differences between Turkish and Taiwanese students were evaluated. The 3-factor model gave sufficient fit regarding goodness-of-fit (GFI) and adjusted goodness-of-fit (AGFI) indexes, and moderate fit regarding the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) index within each culture and across the cultures. The means of the Turkish students were found to be significantly greater than the Taiwanese students in all the dimensions.     

Expecting the best for students: Teacher expectations and academic outcomes

Background. Research into teacher expectations has shown that these have an effect on student achievement. Some researchers have explored the impact of various student characteristics on teachers' expectations. One attribute of interest is ethnicity. Aims. This study aimed to explore differences in teachers' expectations and judgments of student reading performance for Maori, Pacific Island, Asian and New Zealand European students. A further objective was to compare teacher expectations and judgments with actual student achievement. Sample. The participants were 540 students of 21 primary teachers in Auckland schools. Of these students, 261 were New Zealand European, 88 were Maori, 97 were Pacific Island and 94 were Asian. Methods. At the beginning of the year, the teachers completed a survey related to their expectations for their students' achievement in reading and, at the end of the year, they judged the reading levels their students had actually achieved. The survey data were compared with running record data. Results. Teachers' expectations for students in reading were significantly higher than actual achievement for all ethnic groups other than Maori. Maori students' achievement was similar to that of the other groups at the beginning of the year but, by the end of the year, they had made the least gains of all groups. Conclusions. Sustaining expectation effects are one explanation for Maori students' limited progress. For Pacific Island, Asian and New Zealand European students, positive self‐fulfilling prophecies may be operating. Future research could investigate the learning opportunities provided to these ethnic groups and the relationship of these to teachers' expectations.     

Academic self‐handicapping: Relationships with learning specific and general self‐perceptions and academic performance over time

Background. Academic self‐handicapping (ASH) tendencies, strategies students employ that increase their chances of failure on assessments while protecting self‐esteem, are correlated with classroom goal structures and to learners' general self‐perceptions and learning strategies. In particular, greater ASH is related to poorer academic performance but has yet to be examined with respect to learners' performance across a series of tests. Aims. This research was designed to examine the relationship between students' ASH tendencies and their self‐concept clarity, learning strategies, and performance on a series of tests in a university course. Sample. A total of 209 (153 female; 56 male) Canadian university psychology students participated in this study. Methods. Participants' ASH tendencies, self‐concept clarity, approaches to learning, and self‐regulatory learning strategies were assessed along with expected grades and hours of study in the course from which they were recruited. Finally, students' grades were obtained for the three tests for the course from which they were recruited. Results. Students reporting greater self‐handicapping tendencies reported lower self‐concept clarity, lower academic self‐efficacy, greater test anxiety, more superficial learning strategies, and scored lower on all tests in the course. The relationships of ASH scores and learner variables with performance varied across the three performance indices. In particular, ASH scores were more strongly related to second and third tests, and prior performances were accounted for. ASH scores accounted for a relatively small but significant proportion of variance for all three tests. Conclusions. These results showed that ASH is a unique contributing factor in student performance outcomes, and may be particularly important after students complete the initial assessment in a course.     

Individual differences in students' retention of knowledge and conceptual structures learned in university and high school courses: the case of test anxiety

The purpose of this research was to assess individual differences in students' retention of knowledge several years after studying the material. Assessment of retention of materials as a function of students' test anxiety can allow one to evaluate whether high test-anxious students' original deficient academic performance and organization of the materials are due to a retrieval deficit or a deficit in learning and knowledge organization. In two studies, students with different test-anxiety levels completed tasks that enabled us to evaluate both students' levels of knowledge and their cognitive organization of the materials. The tasks were administered either at the end of the course, or at different retention intervals up to 7 years after the end of learning. Results indicated that whereas high test-anxious students tested at the end of the courses performed worse than other students on tests of knowledge and cognitive organization, high test-anxious students tested at various retention intervals after the courses performed as well as other students. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Towards more powerful learning environments through combining the perspectives of designers,teachers, and students

In order to reach the main aims of modern education, powerful learning environments are designed. The characteristics of the design of PLEs are expected to have positive effects on student learning. Additionally, teachers' conceptions of learning and teaching do influence the implementation of a PLE. Moreover, students' perceptions of a learning environment affect their subsequent learning behaviour and the quality of the learning outcomes. The different perspectives of educational designers, teachers, and students are summarized in the Combination‐of‐perspectives (COOP) model. Combining these perspectives by mutual exchange of conceptions and perceptions is expected to have positive effects on the power of PLEs.     

The relationship between personality, approach to learning and academic performance

This study considers the relationship between students' approaches to learning, as measured by a short-form of Entwistle and Tait's (1995) Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI), the Big Five personality factors, as measured by Cattell's 16PFi, and the background variables of age, gender and prior educational achievement and academic performance. Subjects were 146 social science undergraduate students at a university in Scotland. Structural equation modelling identifies the Big Five personality factor scores account for between 22.7% and 43.6% of the variance across scores on the three approach to learning dimensions. Four of the Big Five personality factors and the three approach to learning dimensions were found to be poor predictors of academic performance. A linear regression analysis with academic performance as the dependent variable and age, prior educational attainment and conscientiousness as independent variables, accounted for 24.1% of the variance in performance. Our investigation suggests approach to learning is a subset of personality. However, we conclude it makes sense to measure these two groups of variables separately in educational settings.     

Epistemological beliefs and approaches to learning: Their change through secondary school and their influence on academic performance

Background. In recent decades, two lines of research, phenomenographic and meta‐cognitive, have examined students' approaches and epistemological beliefs about learning. To date there has been very little research describing the change in epistemological beliefs in European secondary students, or analysing interrelationships between epistemological beliefs and approaches in order to explain their influence on academic performance. Aims. The first aim of this investigation is to analyse the change in epistemological beliefs and learning approaches in secondary students as they progress through their studies. The second aim is to examine the effects of epistemological beliefs on learning approaches, and learning approaches on academic performance. Sample. About 1,600 Spanish students, boys and girls, from several secondary schools took part in the study. They were between 12 and 20 years old and their average age was 14.79 years. Methods. Measures of epistemological beliefs (EQ: Epistemological Questionnaire), learning approaches (LPQ: Learning Process Questionnaire), and academic performance were obtained. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the dimensionality of the EQ and LPQ questionnaires. In order to achieve our two aims, different statistical techniques were used: MANOVA and ANOVA for our first aim, and structural equation modelling for our second aim. Results. Throughout secondary education epistemological beliefs undergo change, becoming more realistic and complex, and deep‐approach scores decline significantly. It was shown that, as predicted, epistemological beliefs influenced academic achievement directly, and also indirectly via students' learning approaches. Conclusions. Our findings point to two conclusions. First, epistemological beliefs and learning approaches change as pupils advance in their studies. Second, the relationship between epistemological beliefs and academic achievement is mediated by approaches to learning.     

Mathematics Performance of Immigrant Students Across Different Racial Groups: An Indirect Examination of the Influence of Culture and Schooling

Immigrant students are commonly assumed lower performers in US schools. Their inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are often seen as obstacles to their successful school learning. However, whether and to what extent this assumption is sustainable for immigrant students' performances in mathematics is the question that has not been empirically explored. Proper answer to the question would help verify the popular assumption about the immigrant students and their learning in the mainstream US schools. Guided by the straight-line, segmented assimilation and cultural capital theories, this study examined this issue using US grades 4 and 8 datasets of Trend in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 and 15-year-old dataset of Program for International Student Assessment 2009. It was found that there were substantial differences in the mathematics performances of students across different racial groups. Being immigrant students does not always mean they are lower performers than their mainstream peers. The immigrant students coming to the USA earlier did not always show worse mathematics performance over their immigrant peers who came to the USA later. These findings challenge the popular assumption that immigrant students' inadequate English language skills and adaptation to the mainstream US school norms are obstacles to their successful school learning and call for a deeper understanding about the academic performance of immigrant students in different content areas and at various stages of immigration across different racial groups.     

Natural Mentoring Relationships and the Adjustment to College among Underrepresented Students

This study investigated associations between natural mentoring relationships and academic performance via psychological distress among underrepresented college students attending an elite predominantly White institution (PWI). Specifically, this study explored whether the quantity of natural mentors possessed upon college entry, the retention of natural mentors across the first year of college, and overall changes in the number of natural mentors possessed during the first year of college predicted improvements in students' semester grade point averages (GPAs) via reductions in psychological distress. Participants in this study included 336 first‐year undergraduate students attending a selective PWI. Students were eligible to participate in this study if they were first‐generation college students, students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, or students from underrepresented racial/ethnic minority groups. Results of this study indicated that a greater number of retained natural mentoring relationships across the first year of college were associated with improvements in students' GPAs via reductions in symptoms of depression from the Fall to Spring semester. The results of this study suggest that institutional efforts to support the maintenance of preexisting mentoring relationships may be an effective approach to promoting the academic success of underrepresented college students during the first year of college.     

Student Perceptions of Campus Cultural Climate by Race

Five hundred and seventy-eight African American, Asian American, Latino/a, and White undergraduates responded to a questionnaire assessing perceptions and experiences of the campus cultural climate. Results revealed significant differences between racial and ethnic groups on multiple dimensions of the campus cultural climate. African American students consistently reported significantly more racial—ethnic conflict on campus; pressure to conform to stereotypes; and less equitable treatment by faculty, staff, and teaching assistants. White students' responses reflected limited perceptions of racial—ethnic tensions and a university climate characterized by respect for diversity. Counseling implications are presented.     

What spelling tells us about the orthographic development and word study instruction with emergent bilingual secondary students

Educators need ways to assess orthographic knowledge and differentiate word study instruction for secondary, emergent bilingual learners. In this study, the spelling of 199 students in grades 7–12 across eight features and four spelling stages was examined to understand students' orthographic development; all but two were learning Spanish and English. Spelling data were collected three times over a nine-month period. There were significant changes across the time periods that show students progressing across four stages of spelling development, with a large effect size (partial eta squared = .498). Data from a standardized assessment of language proficiency were examined to study the relationship between students' orthographic knowledge and their language scores. This study suggests ways to use spelling assessments to plan differentiated vocabulary and word study instruction.