Implications for instruction arising from the relationship between approaches to studying and academic outcomes

The study used the Approaches to Studying Inventory of Ramsden and Entwistle (1981) on a sample of 1095 internal and external students at the Capricornia Institute and the Tasmanian State Institute of Technology in Australia. The inventory yields scores for sixteen sub-scales relating to approach to study. Discriminant analyses were performed separately for external and internal students, using the sub-scale scores as discriminating variables. The variables distinguished significantly between those who persisted with a course and those who withdrew or failed. Discriminant functions were also produced to distinguish students receiving pass grades from those achieving a higher grade. A different set of variables appeared in this discriminant function showing that withdrawal or drop-out could not be treated as part of a continuous scale of grades awarded. The results are discussed in terms of the relationship between input variables (eg, curriculum, instructional design and learning environment), process (approach to studying) and the output or course outcomes. Surface approach was the major discriminator between withdrawal, or failure, and persistence. The effect of study skills programmes and curriculum changes on surface approach and hence persistence is discussed.

[1]  Vincent Tinto.  Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research , 1975 .

[2]  F. Marton.  Phenomenography — Describing conceptions of the world around us , 1981 .

[3]  F. Marton,et al.  ON QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING—II OUTCOME AS A FUNCTION OF THE LEARNER'S CONCEPTION OF THE TASK , 1976 .

[4]  Graham Gibbs,et al.  Teaching students to learn : a student-centred approach , 1981 .

[5]  F. Marton,et al.  ON QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES IN LEARNING: I—OUTCOME AND PROCESS* , 1976 .

[6]  N. Entwistle,et al.  EFFECTS OF ACADEMIC DEPARTMENTS ON STUDENTS' APPROACHES TO STUDYING , 1981 .

[7]  Charles M. Reigeluth,et al.  Instructional Design Theories and Models : An Overview of Their Current Status , 1983 .

[8]  Donald F. Dansereau,et al.  Development and Evaluation of a Learning Strategy Training Program. , 1979 .

[9]  Gordon Pask,et al.  CONVERSATIONAL TECHNIQUES IN THE STUDY AND PRACTICE OF EDUCATION , 1976 .

[10]  Nigel Ford,et al.  Recent Approaches to the Study and Teaching of ‘Effective Learning’ in Higher Education , 1981 .

[11]  Richard T. White,et al.  Promoting self-control of learning , 1982 .

[12]  N. Entwistle,et al.  Understanding Student Learning , 1983 .

[13]  J. Novak,et al.  Educational Psychology: A Cognitive View , 1969 .

[14]  Roger Säljö,et al.  Qualitative differences in learning as a function of the learner's conception of the task , 1975 .

[15]  David Watkins,et al.  Identifying the Study Process Dimensions of Australian University Students , 1982 .

[16]  David Kember,et al.  Some factors affecting attrition and performance in a distance education course at the University of Papua New Guinea , 1981 .

[17]  J. Biggs.  Individual differences in study processes and the Quality of Learning Outcomes , 1979 .

[18]  David Kember,et al.  Approaches to Study of Distance Education Students , 1986 .

[19]  N. Entwistle,et al.  Identifying distinctive approaches to studying , 1979 .

[20]  James Hartley,et al.  Designing instructional text , 1978 .

[21]  M. L. Plume,et al.  SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) , 2002, Encyclopedia of Information Systems.

[22]  G. Pask.  STYLES AND STRATEGIES OF LEARNING , 1976 .

[23]  F. Marton,et al.  The Experience of Learning , 1984 .

[24]  D. Ausubel.  The psychology of meaningful verbal learning. , 1963 .