Students' Personality Traits and Learning Approaches

This study examined students' usage of deep and surface approaches to learning as well as the relationship between students' personality attributes and their approaches to learning. Participants were 284 undergraduate education students registered with a South African regular university (females = 195, males = 89). They completed the Revised two-factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) (Biggs, Kember, & Leung (2001) and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) (Eysenck & Eysenck, 1975, 1985). Data were analysed for differences in proportion endorsing learning approach type (deep, surface) and the association between learning approach and personality attributes. The students self-reported to use predominantly deep learning strategies and lower rather than high surface strategies. The personality attributes of Extraversion and Neuroticism were unrelated to self-reported primary learning strategy.     

Approaches to learning,need for cognition,and strategic flexibility among university students

Background: Considerable research has described students' deep and surface approaches to learning. Other research has described individuals' self‐regulated learning and need for cognition. There is a need for research examining the relationships among these constructs. Aims: This study explored relationships among approaches to learning (deep, surface), need for cognition, and three types of control of learning (adaptive, inflexible, irresolute). Theory suggested similarities among the deep approach, need for cognition, and adaptive control (aspects of self‐regulated learning); and among surface, inflexible, and irresolute control (aspects of an ineffective approach to learning). One‐factor and two‐factor models were proposed. Sample: Participants were 226 Canadian military college students. Method: Participants completed the following questionnaires: the Study Process Questionnaire (Biggs, 1978), the Need for Cognition Scale (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982), and the Strategic Flexibility Questionnaire (Cantwell & Moore, 1996). Results: Confirmatory factor analysis supported the identification of the six scale factors. Second order confirmatory factor analysis indicated three factors representing constructs underlying these factors. Conclusions: Neither the one‐ nor two‐factor models accounted adequately for the data. Self‐regulated learning was defined by measures of the deep approach to learning, need for cognition, and adaptive control of learning. The second factor divided into one factor consisting of irresolute control, the surface approach, and negative need for cognition; and another consisting of inflexible and negative adaptive control. Substantial relationships among scales support the need for further theory development.     

The revised learning process questionnaire: A validation of a Western model of students' study approaches to the South Pacific context using confirmatory factor analysis

Background. Research evidence seems to suggest that the social and cultural environments influence students' approaches to their study. This social and cultural contention has led to the rethinking and reconceptualization of theories (e.g. Biggs, 1987 ; Marton & Säljö, 1976 ) pertaining to student approaches to learning (SAL) in academic settings. Aims. The present research discusses two separate empirical studies on student learning approaches situated in the South Pacific region with two respective cohorts of secondary students. Study I involved the examination of secondary Pacific Islands students in their learning approaches using a modified version of Biggs' (1987 ) original Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ). Study II involved the administration of a revised version of the LPQ (R‐LPQ‐2F; Kember, Biggs, & Leung, 2004 ) to another cohort of secondary Pacific Islands students. Sample. The first sample included 2,150 (1,285 girls, 865 boys) students and the second sample included 2,295 (1,363 girls, 932 boys) students. Methods. The factor structures of approaches to learning were examined by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using the LISREL program. Different a priori models were hypothesized and tested. Results. Results of Study I indicated a two‐factor structure solution to Biggs' LPQ, supporting Richardson's (1994) theoretical model of learning and emphasized the factors of Reproducing and Meaning. Study II indicated a hierarchical organization of two main study approaches – deep and surface – that are structured as higher‐order factors and a defined by four first‐order factors. Conclusion. The results from the two studies accentuate the important argument for the rethinking and reconceptualization of learning approaches, as well as for the redevelopment and modification of learning inventories such as the LPQ. They also suggest the importance of situating the theoretical paradigm of learning approaches in a social and cultural environment.     

An effective metacognitive strategy: learning by doing and explaining with a computer‐based Cognitive Tutor

Recent studies have shown that self‐explanation is an effective metacognitive strategy, but how can it be leveraged to improve students' learning in actual classrooms? How do instructional treatments that emphasizes self‐explanation affect students' learning, as compared to other instructional treatments? We investigated whether self‐explanation can be scaffolded effectively in a classroom environment using a Cognitive Tutor, which is intelligent instructional software that supports guided learning by doing. In two classroom experiments, we found that students who explained their steps during problem‐solving practice with a Cognitive Tutor learned with greater understanding compared to students who did not explain steps. The explainers better explained their solutions steps and were more successful on transfer problems. We interpret these results as follows: By engaging in explanation, students acquired better‐integrated visual and verbal declarative knowledge and acquired less shallow procedural knowledge. The research demonstrates that the benefits of self‐explanation can be achieved in a relatively simple computer‐based approach that scales well for classroom use.     

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.     

Self‐managed learning groups in higher education: Students' perceptions of process and outcomes

Background. Self‐managed learning groups are increasingly used in higher education. There is a need for more systematic investigation of university students' perceptions of the processes and outcomes of this learning method. Aims. This study aimed to identify the domains of process issues that students perceive as relevant to their participation in self‐managed learning groups, and how these processes are perceived to influence group outcomes. Sample. Participants were undergraduate psychology students who were members of self‐managed learning groups. Method. The first study employed qualitative methods (namely, students' written accounts, interviews, and observation) to study learning groups (N =180 students) and identify the process domains. In the second study, first and second year students (N =207) used a questionnaire (based on the domains identified in Study 1) to evaluate the processes and outcomes of their learning groups. Results. Analysis of qualitative data (Study 1) identified seven process domains: task focus, staff support, process learning, environmental fit, managing differences, equity and responsibility, and collaboration and cooperation. Factor analysis of students' responses (Study 2) identified an underlying structure of two process factors: personal responsibility and collaborative climate, and staff support and environmental fit. Both process factors were associated with the self‐reported satisfaction and productivity of this group of students. Conclusions. University students' perceptions of the processes of self‐managed learning groups have a clear structure. These process factors are associated with perceived group outcomes in systematic and theoretically consistent ways.     

Conversational Learning: A Feminist Pedagogy for Teaching Preaching

An increasing number of female students populate preaching classes in seminaries and theological schools across the United States. Based on the analysis of female students' needs and demands in preaching courses, I propose a pedagogy for conversational learning to teach homiletics. My own teaching experience and the knowledge gained through conversations with other feminist educators and homileticians are major resources upon which the principles and strategies of conversational learning are drawn. The ultimate goal for conversational learning is to enable “transformative learning” through which students transform their sense of identity, worldviews, values, ways of thinking, and enhance their unique voices in the pulpit. For this purpose, conversational learning employs student‐centered, group‐oriented, and inductive approaches in an egalitarian learning environment. Conversational learning is an on‐going process of learning preaching in a collaborative way.     

Individual differences in the preference for worked examples: Lessons from an application of dispositional learning analytics

Worked-examples have been established as an effective instructional format in problem-solving practices. However, less is known about variations in the use of worked examples across individuals at different stages in their learning process in student-centred learning contexts. This study investigates different profiles of students' learning behaviours based on clustering learning dispositions, prior knowledge, and the choice of feedback strategies in a naturalistic setting. The study was conducted on 1,072 students over an 8-week long introductory mathematics course in a blended instructional format. While practising exercises in a digital learning environment, students can opt for tutored problem solving, untutored problem solving, or call worked examples. The results indicated six distinct profiles of learners regarding their feedback preferences in different learning phases. Finally, we investigated antecedents and consequences of these profiles and investigated the adequacy of used feedback strategies concerning ‘help-abuse’. This research indicates that the use of instructional scaffolds as worked-examples or hints and the efficiency of that use differs from student to student, making the attempt to find patterns at an overall level a hazardous endeavour.     

The role of achievement goal orientations in students' perceptions of and preferences for classroom environment

Background . Recent research on achievement motivation has begun to examine the effects of environmental factors affecting students' motivational beliefs and goal tendencies. However, when interpreting and applying the results, individual factors underlying students' different perceptions of their learning environment are often ignored. An implicit assumption seems to be that regardless of their dispositional differences (e.g. motivational basis), students will experience and benefit from instructional practices in the same way. Aims . This paper highlights the importance of students' dispositional motivational factors when examining differences in their perceptions of and preferences for the learning environment. The study builds on a conception of student motivation that emphasizes the interaction of individual and contextual factors. Sample and method . Questionnaires served as self‐report tools and assessed students' achievement goal orientations, self‐esteem, causality beliefs, academic withdrawal and perceptions of and preferences for the learning environment. The sample consisted of 208 sixth grade elementary school students. Results . Based on latent class cluster analysis and one‐way analyses of variance, it was found that students' perceptions of and preferences for the learning environment vary depending on differences in students' motivational tendencies. Conclusions . Students' dispositional motivational characteristics should be taken into account both in theoretical considerations and in instructional interventions.     

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.     

Emotion control in collaborative learning situations: Do students regulate emotions evoked by social challenges/

Background During recent decades, self‐regulated learning (SRL) has become a major research field. SRL successfully integrates the cognitive and motivational components of learning. Self‐regulation is usually seen as an individual process, with the social aspects of regulation conceptualized as one aspect of the context. However, recent research has begun to investigate whether self‐regulation processes are complemented by socially shared regulation processes. Aims The presented study investigated what kind of socio‐emotional challenges students experience during collaborative learning and whether the students regulate the emotions evoked during these situations. The interplay of the emotion regulation processes between the individual and the group was also studied. Sample The sample for this study was 63 teacher education students who studied in groups of three to five during three collaborative learning tasks. Method Students' interpretations of experienced social challenges and their attempts to regulate emotions evoked by these challenges were collected following each task using the Adaptive Instrument for the Regulation of Emotions. Results The results indicated that students experienced a variety of social challenges. Students also reported the use of shared regulation in addition to self‐regulation. Finally, the results suggested that intrinsic group dynamics are derived from both individual and social elements of collaborative situations. Conclusion The findings of the study support the assumption that students can regulate emotions collaboratively as well as individually. The study contributes to our understanding of the social aspects of emotional regulation in collaborative learning contexts.     

Instructor and student knowledge of study strategies

Students' self-reported study skills and beliefs are often inconsistent with empirically supported (ES) study strategies. However, little is known regarding instructors' beliefs about study skills and if such beliefs differ from those of students. In the current study, we surveyed college students' and instructors' knowledge of study strategies and had both groups evaluate the efficacy of learning strategies described in six learning scenarios. Results from the survey indicated that students frequently reported engaging in methods of studying that were not optimal for learning. Instructors' responses to the survey indicated that they endorsed a number of effective study skills but also held several beliefs inconsistent with research in learning and memory (e.g., learning styles). Further, results from the learning scenarios measure indicated that instructors were moderately more likely than students to endorse ES learning strategies. Collectively, these data suggest that instructors exhibited better knowledge of effective study skills than students, although the difference was small. We discuss several notable findings and argue for the improvement of both students' and instructors' study skill knowledge.     

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.     

Interrelations that foster learning: An investigation of two correlational studies

The theoretical tenets of academic engagement, as outlined by Schaufeli and colleagues, have received limited attention. There is credence to indicate that Schaufeli et al.'s conceptualization has educational implications. Extending this avenue of inquiry, we report two longitudinal studies that explore the motivation‐related attributes of engagement within the framework of self‐efficacy. A number of research questions were developed for examination—for example, does enactive learning experience influence academic achievement, via students' engrossment (i.e. absorption) of a subject matter? Does students' sense of resilience and persistence (i.e. vigor) heighten their self‐efficacy beliefs for academic learning? For the two studies (Study 1: 311 Year 11 students; Study 2: 249 Year 12 students), utilizing different cohorts, we measured these constructs at multiple time points. Existing Likert‐scale inventories were administered repeatedly, and data collected were analysed using causal modeling procedures. MPlus 7.2 yielded a number of key findings—for example: (a) the positive impact of Time 1 enactive learning experience on Time 2 absorption and vigor, (b) the positive impact of Time absorption on Time 3 self‐efficacy, (c) the positive impact of Time 2 absorption on Time 4 achievement and (d) the positive impact of Time 1 self‐efficacy on Time 2 absorption and vigor.     

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’.     

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‐Regulatory Growth Effects for Young Children Participating in a Combined Social and Emotional Learning and Mindfulness‐Based Intervention

The authors analyzed findings from a counselor‐delivered social and emotional learning and mindfulness‐based intervention with twenty‐three 3‐ and 4‐year‐olds from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Using a multilevel modeling approach to illustrate students' growth across multiple behavioral observations in a randomized controlled design, the authors found that the treatment group exhibited more self‐regulatory‐related behaviors on days when the intervention occurred. Qualitative analyses revealed that the students adopted kindness language consistent with the intervention. Implications for practice are suggested.     

Teachers' and students' verbal behaviours during cooperative and small‐group learning

Background. Teachers play a critical role in promoting interactions between students and engaging them in the learning process. This study builds on a study by Hertz‐Lazarowitz and Shachar (1990) who found that during cooperative learning teachers' verbal behaviours were more helpful to and encouraging of their students' efforts while during whole‐class instruction, their verbal behaviours tended to be more authoritarian, rigid, and impersonal. Aim. This study seeks to determine if teachers who implement cooperative learning engage in more facilitative learning interactions with their students than teachers who implement group work only. The study also seeks to determine if students in the cooperative groups model their teachers' behaviours and engage in more positive helping interactions with each other than their peers in the group work groups. Samples. The study involved 26 teachers and 303 students in Grades 8 to10 from 4 large high schools in Brisbane, Australia. Methods. All teachers agreed to establish cooperative, small‐group activities in their classrooms for a unit of work (4 to 6 weeks) once a term for 3 school terms. The teachers were audiotaped twice during these lessons and samples of the students' language, as they worked in their groups, were also collected at the same time. Results. The results show that teachers who implement cooperative learning in their classrooms engage in more mediated‐learning interactions and make fewer disciplinary comments than teachers who implement group work only. Furthermore, the students model many of these interactions in their groups. Conclusions. The study shows that when teachers implement cooperative learning, their verbal behaviour is affected by the organizational structure of the classroom.