Australian and Filipino Investigations of the Internal Structure of Biggs' New Study Process Questionnaire

139

Abstract. Students in higher education exhibit different approaches to learning, but there is evidence that these vary systematically from one culture to another. The broad distinction between an orientation towards comprehending the meaning of learning materials and an orientation towards merely reproducing those materials seems to be a universal feature of all systems of higher education. The former is both consistent and coherent, apparently reflecting the relatively high degree of agreement that exists across different cultures with regard to the goals and purposes of higher education. The latter reflects students' attempts to cope with academic practices that are inappropriate to those goals and purposes; it is more fragmented and more likely to be constructed in a way that is distinctive to each particular cultural context.

Section: Research Outside Australiamentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Research In Australiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural specificity of approaches to studying in higher education: A literature survey

Richardson

1994

139

“…The factor structure of the Study Process Questionnaire has been investigated in a number of cultures. Studies in Australian (Hattie and Watkins 1981;Biggs 1987), the United Kingdom (O'Neill and Child 1984), and Hong Kong (Biggs and Watkins 1990) have generally supported the factorial validity of the SPQ. However, a Filipino study found a rather different factor structure (Hattie and Watkins 1981).…”

Section: The Cross-cultural Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies in Australian (Hattie and Watkins 1981;Biggs 1987), the United Kingdom (O'Neill and Child 1984), and Hong Kong (Biggs and Watkins 1990) have generally supported the factorial validity of the SPQ. However, a Filipino study found a rather different factor structure (Hattie and Watkins 1981). That this may be more a problem with the English wording of the SPQ for Filipinos is suggested from the finding that two other learning process questionnaires, based on similar concepts to the SPQ, were found to be factorially valid for Filipinos (Hattie and Watkins 1981;Watkins Hattie, andAstiUa 1986).A previous study (Watkins and Regmi 1990) has also found a meaningful factor structure in Nepalese student responses to one of these questionnaires, the Approaches to Studying Inventory (Entwistle and Ramsden 1983).…”

Section: The Cross-cultural Perspectivementioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation of the approach to learning of Nepalese tertiary students

Watkins

Regmi

1990

This investigation with 342 Nepalese tertiary students indicates that current conceptions of approaches to learning are relevant to these students. Factor analysis of the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) also suggests that the structure of learning processes is similar for Nepalese, Australian, and Filipino students. Internal locus of control also seems to be a factor in the adoption of deep and achieving approaches to learning in each of these cultures. Evidence of differences in secondary and tertiary student approaches to learning within Nepal and comparisons between Nepalese and Australian tertiary students' approaches to learning are also presented.

“…Biggs (1987) reports Cronbach alpha reliability coefficients for the subscales ranging from 0.61 to 0.77 and the approaches ranging from 0.73 to 0.81. Studies indicating construct validity of the SPQ are reviewed in Biggs (1987Biggs ( , 1988a while the Hattie and Watkins' (1981) investigation independently '...supported the validity of Biggs' subscales' (p. 234).…”

Section: Information Collectedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Helping students become better learners: a case study in teacher education

Dart

Clarke

1991

The aim of this project is to increase teacher education students' understanding of the learning process by focussing on their own learning experiences. 67 preservice teacher education students in 4 classes completed measures of academic locus of control and study processes before and after a semester course in a specially designed programme in Educational Psychology. The programme focuses on students taking greater responsibility for their own learning by exposing them to a variety of learning experiences. These experiences include negotiation of the curriculum, peer discussion and teaching, learning contracts, self, peer and collaborative assessment and critical reflection on these and other learning experiences by means of an ongoing learning log.Results indicate an increase in academic locus of control for one class, and an increase in deep motive, achieving strategy, deep approach and deep achieving approach to learning for the whole group. These outcomes are discussed in terms of the congruence between these changes and the particular learning experiences to which the students were exposed. Approaches to learning and their modificationThis study reports on attempts to modify the learning environments of tertiary students with the aim of improving the way they go about learning. Of the variety of conceptualizations of approaches to learning in the literature, the one which suggests the three approaches of surface, deep and achieving, not only has a sound theoretical basis supported by a substantial body of international research (e.g., Biggs 1987;Entwistle and Ramsden 1983;Watkins, 1983), but also, because it specifies the particular processes students use, is amenable to research which focuses on the modification of those processes. The deep approach is indicated by an intention to understand the material to be learnt, together with strategies such as reading widely, using a variety of resources, discussion, relating the unfamiliar to the familiar, reflection, etc. An intention to reproduce the material to be learnt and avoid failure through focusing on specific details and using rote learning strategies characterizes the surface approach. The achieving approach is exemplified by an intention to excel by using highly organized learning processes. The surface and deep approaches relate to the content of the material, while the achieving approach relates to the particular learning context. Consequently, it is possible to have composite approaches of surface achieving and deep achieving. With the former, learners intend to achieve a passing grade by the use of rote learning or rehearsal strategies applied in an organized way. With the latter, the learner intends to understand the material and achieve this meaningful understanding by developing links with prior knowledge and using a variety of resources in a systematic way so as to enhance the 318 probability of a high grade. This study utilizes this model and assumes that any approach to learning depends on both contextual factors and personal characteristics ...