| Abstract: | Two studies are reported which explore the approach to learning of Nigerian secondary school pupils from both emic and etic perspectives. In the first study, 150 14–16-year-olds were asked to provide open-ended answers to the question “What do you mean by learning?” Content analysis identified learning conceptions similar to those found in Western studies which are thought to underlie deep and surface approaches to learning. The second study investigates the reliability and validity of a Western-developed instrument, the Learning Process Questionnaire, for 265 14–16-year-old Nigerian children. The findings based on internal consistency reliability estimates, scale factor analysis, and hypothesized correlations with other variables were generally encouraging. Tentative comparisons of the approach to learning of these Nigerians with same-aged Australian, Nepalese, Hong Kong, and Filipino children questioned the stereotype of Third-World learners as rote learners. |
