Learning Patterns in Higher Education

Dimensions and research perspectives

David Gijbels, Vincent Donche, John T. E. Richardson, Jan D. Vermunt

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781134633524
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Learning Patterns in Higher Education brings together a cutting edge international team of contributors to critically review our current understanding of how students and adults learn, how differences and changes in the way students learn can be measured in a valid and reliable way, and how the quality of student learning may be enhanced.

There is substantial evidence that students in higher education have a characteristic way of learning, sometimes called their learning orientation (Biggs 1988), learning style (Evans et al. 2010) or learning pattern (Vermunt and Vermetten 2004). However, recent research in the field of student learning has resulted in multi-faceted and sometimes contradictory results which may reflect conceptual differences and differences in measurement of student learning in each of the studies. This book deals with the need for further clarification of how students learn in higher education in the 21st century and to what extent the measurements often used in learning pattern studies are still up to date or can be advanced with present methodological and statistical insights to capture the most important differences and changes in student learning.

The contributions in the book are organized in two parts: a first conceptual and psychological part in which the dimensions of student learning in the 21st century are discussed and a second empirical part in which questions related to how students' learning can be measured and how it develops are considered.

Areas covered include:

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• Cultural influences on learning patterns

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• Predicting learning outcomes

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• Student centred learning environments and self-directed learning

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• Mathematics learning

This indispensable book covers multiple conceptual perspectives on how learning patterns can be described and effects and developments can be measured, and will not only be helpful for 'learning researchers' as such but also for educational researchers from the broad domain of educational psychology, motivation psychology and instructional sciences, who are interested in student motivation, self-regulated learning, effectiveness of innovative learning environments, as well as assessment and evaluation of student characteristics and learning process variables.

Chapter I

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Students’ learning patterns in higher education and beyond

Moving forward

David Gijbels, Vincent Donche, John T. E. Richardson
and Jan D. Vermunt

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The idea for this book originated at the first meeting of the ‘learning patterns in transition’ network in December 2011 in Antwerp. This research network sponsored by the Scientific Research Network of the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) enables 12 international research units to foster a collaborative network and develop a joint research agenda of which the first results are presented in this book. For the name of the network and also for the title of the book, we have deliberately chosen for the term ‘learning patterns’ to include the wide range of theoretical perspectives that describe individual differences in student learning (e.g. Biggs 1993; Entwistle and McCune 2004; Meyer, 1995; Prosser and Trigwell 1999; Rayner and Cools 2010; Richardson 2011; Sadler-Smith 1996; Vermunt 2005).

The term learning patterns refers broadly to students’ habitual ways of learning described in terms of how students cognitively process information and/or the metacognitive, motivational and affective strategies they use (Vermunt and Vermetten, 2004). Research has indicated that a large number of person- and environment-related factors are linked to students’ learning patterns. In the past decade a multitude of empirical studies have shown that how students cope with learning in specific learning situations is not solely determined by their general preferences but is the result of an interaction between their perceptions of the learning context, their disposition and other learner characteristics (Baeten et al. 2010; Entwistle et al. 2003; Vermunt and Vermetten 2004). Research has also shown that some learning pattern characteristics are to some degree variable across course contexts and throughout time in higher education settings (Donche et al. 2010; Vermetten et al. 1999). Inducing changes within students’ learning patterns has, however, proven to be difficult in studies that took place in learning environments designed for that aim (Gijbels and Dochy 2006; Vermunt and Minnaert 2003). Part of the explanation for conflicting results in this latter domain of research may be generated by the conceptual base and measurement of student learning in these studies (Dinsmore and Alexander 2012; Donche and Gijbels 2013). Recent empirical contributions in the domain of learning pattern research stress the need for further clarification of vital components of students’ learning patterns such as learning conceptions (Richardson 2011) and learning strategies (Vermunt and Endedijk 2011) and how these patterns develop in higher education in the 21st century (Vanthournout et al. 2011). This also brings in important questions concerning how differences and changes in student learning can be validly measured (Coertjens et al. 2013) and which future research perspectives are needed to increase our present understanding of student learning and development (Richardson 2013).

Against this background, the aim of this book is twofold: to further deepen our current understanding of (1) the dimensionality of student learning patterns in higher education and (2) how differences and changes within learning patterns can be measured in a valid and reliable way. The chapters in the first part of the book, ‘Dimensions of learning patterns’, provide theoretical perspectives aiming to broaden, deepen and integrate the present knowledge base on dimensions and patterns of student learning. The second part of the book, ‘Measuring learning patterns and development’, provides a range of research perspectives to further examine core measurement issues raised in previous learning pattern research regarding the nature or construct of a learning pattern and its development in higher education contexts and beyond.

We have to acknowledge that not all of the included chapters put emphasis on only one of these two vital research perspectives. Some chapters could be classified in both parts as research took place on important junctions (for instance, studies aiming to increase more conceptual understanding through using alternative measurement analysis techniques). To ensure that this book is intended not only for researchers but also for practitioners interested in student learning and enhancement, all authors were encouraged to pay attention to the relevance of the empirical research or developed theories for educational practice in their chapter. In the rest of this introduction we will briefly introduce the two parts that structure the book and the chapters within each part.

Part I: Dimensions of learning patterns

The first perspective concerns the quality of the learning pattern constructs under study and recent research is detailed in Chapters 2–6. Over the last few decades, a lot of research effort has been invested in exploring the ways in which students learn in higher education (Vermunt and Vermetten 2004). This research stems from a variety of research traditions and has evolved in different directions. A large number of studies have been carried out in diverse areas, such as: cognitive aspects of learning (Sadler-Smith 1996); learning conceptions or beliefs about learning and teaching (Säljö 1979); specific learning strategies (Marton and Säljö 1976); aspects of self-regulation (Boekaerts 1997); metacognition (Flavell 1987); and motivational aspects (Entwistle 1988). A shared feature of many of these studies is the search for relationships between various aspects of learning and an attempt to arrive at integrative models of student learning. In the domain of research on students’ approaches to learning and learning patterns, models developed by researchers such as Biggs, Entwistle and Vermunt stress various key components and dimensions of student learning which show to some extent conceptual similarities but also point to different views on how components such as student motivation and processing strategies are situated and further elaborated in different sub-dimensions.

As the grounding knowledge base was developed two decades ago, there is a need to revise the theoretical components, especially against the background of 21st-century learning environments and learning demands in higher education. In particular, as new developments have been demonstrated within the fields of cognitive psychology, motivation psychology and educational sciences on the level of regulative aspects of learning, conceptions and motivation, theoretical and empirical validation studies are needed to investigate the possibilities of integration of these advanced theoretical perspectives within more fine-grained models of student learning patterns. This not only requires more in-depth research into the dimensions of student learning and interrelationships but also the relationship with the contexts and cultures in which student learning is investigated. In the following five chapters of Part I, this is thoroughly discussed.

In Chapter 2 the need for more theoretical and empirical investigation of dimensions of student learning is further addressed by Vanthournout, Donche, Gijbels and Van Petegem. In the first part of their chapter central theoretical concepts in two main theoretical models are clarified and compared: the concepts in the approaches to learning model (e.g. Biggs 2003; Entwistle et al. 2003) and the learning pattern model as developed by Vermunt (2005). In the second part of the chapter two alternative empirical research perspectives are explored: (1) a person-oriented perspective aimed at identifying subgroups of students with similar learning profiles, and (2) a longitudinal perspective interested in the complex growth trajectories in student learning in higher education.

In Chapter 3, Vermunt, Bronkhorst and Martínez-Fernández compare students’ learning patterns from various countries and continents around the globe, and present empirical evidence from studies in different cultures using the same research instrument. Six underlying dimensions of learning patterns could be identified, representing an important extension compared to previous studies. They argue that research in this domain should go beyond Western countries only, and that universities should develop induction measures to help international students adapt to foreign learning cultures.

In Chapter 4, Price presents a heuristic model of student learning based on four other theoretical models: Dunkin and Biddle's (1974) model, Biggs’ (1987) Presage-Process-Product model, Prosser and Trigwell's (1999) research on teaching and Price and Richardson's (2004) 4P model. The latter has four main groups of factors: presage, perceptions, process and product.

In Chapter 5, Raemdonck, Meurant, Balasse, Jacot and Frenay stress the need for a theory to understand learning patterns across the lifespan. Since characteristics of adult learning patterns have been connected with self-directedness in learning, the paper describes the concept of self-directedness in learning from the adult education research area.

Chapter 6 by Endedijk, Donche and Oosterheert closes the first research perspective on dimensions of learning patterns. Based on the results of a series of studies using the Inventory Learning to Teach Process (ILTP) a theoretical framework is provided on student teachers’ learning patterns in relationship with personal, contextual and time-related variables.

Part II: Measuring learning patterns and development

In the second part of this volume, we present a selection of research perspectives to further examine core measurement issues often raised in the literature but scarcely investigated in the context of student learning in higher education, in particular regarding the nature or ‘construct’ of a learning pattern and development in higher education contexts and beyond. As we will illustrate below, several chapters explicitly deal with the question of how student learning patterns can be measured through self-report questionnaires and to what extent student learning patterns are related with personal and contextual variables as well as attainment or academic achievement in various educational contexts. Another important issue concerns the development of learning patterns and the need for more attention to change or development within and between crucial transitional phases in students’ study career, such as the entry phase into higher education and the transition phase from higher education to work or transitions during professional life as an adult. Several chapters in this part also aim to increase our understanding of the flexibility and/or adaptability of learning patterns in educational contexts in and beyond higher education.

In Chapter 7, Richardson and Remedios administered two questionnaires, the Achievement Goal Questionnaire (AGQ) and the AGQ-Revised, in two separate studies to adult learners taking courses by distance education. The results showed that the achievement-goal framework is appropriate for understanding influences on attainment in adult learners. The chapter argues that the notion of ‘learning patterns’ might usefully be extended to include students’ achievement goals and other indicators of motivation.

In Chapter 8, de Clercq, Galand and Frenay investigate the impact of motivational and cognitive processes on students’ achievement. The results highlighted that final examination scores are essentially modulated by motivational factors, whereas the performance on the test is related to cognitive factors. The chapter discusses the results in the light of the relation between learning processes and academic achievement.

Chapter 9 by Cano and Berbén further explores the interplay between achievement goals and students’ approaches to learning by detecting, using clustering procedures of acknowledged validity, patterns of motivation and learning constituted by the core variables of each of these research perspectives. The chapter argues that students’ approaches to learning and achievement goals are intertwined with aspects of students’ experience of learning at university and should both be included in comprehensive models of how students learn.

In Chapter 10, Evans uses a phenomenological approach to explore the relationship between individual-difference and contextual variables in order to better understand the factors affecting a student's adoption of a deep approach. Evans argues that in the context of learning to teach it is important to consider approaches to learning in more complex and broader ways that acknowledge the relational dimensions of a deep approach.

In Chapter 11, Donche, Coertjens, van Daal, De Maeyer and Van Petegem present a study that explored the explanatory value of an integrated research perspective to understand differences in student learning and academic achievement in first year higher education. Two cohorts of first-year students from eight different professional bachelor programmes of a university college participated. Structural equation modelling reveals that, after control for students’ socio-economic and linguistic ethnic background, having more academic self-confidence as well as being more autonomously motivated seems to be an important lever for more academic performance in te...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• New Perspectives on Learning and Instruction
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of figures
• List of tables
• List of contributors
• 1 Students' learning patterns in higher education and beyond: Moving forward
• Part I Dimensions of learning patterns
• Part II Measuring learning patterns and development
• Index