Learners

Approaches to Learning

In the following scenario, how would you describe Sammy's, David's, Alex's view in relation to studying?

Setting: Three Form 3 students in a school playground talking about their summer holiday with each of them adopt different approaches to learning.

Sammy: My friends! It is great that we have eventually finished all the examinations. Then… what shall we do for our summer holidays? Ah… I have an idea…Let us go to China or Taiwan or Thailand…just somewhere. We will have lots of fun there, guys.

David: I am too busy! I plan to borrow many reference books to read in the summer. There are many interesting books I would like to read. I think I can understand my subjects more and in deeper ways. I have already bought many books and if you are interested in them, I can lend some to you.

Alex: Oh! No! We won’t have enough time! The HKDSE is coming. I will spend my holidays finishing the exam papers of the past 10 years. If possible, I will even do these questions twice.

Sammy: Stop, stop…. We will have much fun going to China. Join with me!

David: Knowledge is important to us. Think about our world! If we don’t have knowledge, we won’t have the advancement of society.

Alex: Everybody knows past papers are very important. I must finish doing them. Examination results are most important to me.

Sammy: You two are crazy! We have just finished the examination. How can you be in the mood to talk about studying now? You two are so clever! You can just study before the examination and you can still get good marks. I am going to play basketball. Bye for now!

Adapted from the Educational Studies: Classroom Learning and Student Development course guide, Faculty of Education, HKU.

Q: What is an approach to learning? Is it the preferred strategies used by students?

The phrase “Approach to learning” describes students’ motive to study and preference regarding how they go about completing academic tasks. For instance, Alex chooses to memorize facts to meet requirements and get a good grade, while David chooses to try his best to comprehend and make sense of what is taught in order to become knowledgeable.

Q: What are the key theories in the field?

Marton and Saljo (1976) used the phenomenographic approach, which involves in-depth interviews, to understand students’ perspective on a situation of text comprehension. They found two contrasting perspectives on the same text comprehension task — surface and deep approaches to learning.
Entwistle and Ramsdan (1983) further developed Marton and Saljo’s findings with an especially designed inventory, the Approaches to Study Inventory (ASI).
Biggs (1993) independently developed another instrument, the Study Processes Questionnaire (SPQ), to classify students’ approach to study.

All theorists found the two contrasting characterization of approach to study, deep and surface approach to learning, as identified by Marton and Saljo. The major characteristics of the two approaches to learning are shown in the following summary table:

Comparison of deep approach and surface approach (Entwistle, 2004)

Surface Approach	Deep Approach
Treating the course seen as unrelated bits of knowledge	Relating ideas to previous knowledge and experience
Routinely memorizing facts and carrying out procedures	Looking for patterns and underlying principles
Focusing narrowing on the minimum syllabus demands	Checking evidence and relating it to conclusion
Seeing little value or meaning in the course or set tasks	Examining logic and argument cautiously and critically
Studying without reflecting on either purpose or strategy	Monitoring understanding as learning progress

Q: What factors influence students’ approaches to learning?

In the face of different assessments and learning requirements, the same student can have drastically different interpretations of an educational event and its objective, and therefore the means for handling the tasks at stake.

In a nutshell, when assessment tasks can be completed by rote learning memorization, students will resort to surface approach to learning. When assessment tasks demand understanding, application and transfer to novel situations, or integration of information, then students will be likely to employ deep approach to study.

Furthermore, research has shown that the mobilization of deep approach is associated with better and higher quality of learning outcomes.

Q: I realize that most of the discussion of approach to learning stems from studies done in Western contexts, how do these findings apply to us, in a Chinese context?

Approach to learning among Chinese learners:

Chinese learners were initially thought to rely on the surface approach to learning, as they relied heavily on rote learning and memorization. However, Chinese learners’ achievement in many international assessments consistently is top among many countries. This is known as the ‘paradox of the Chinese learner’.
Researchers later found that rote learning and memorization carry different meaning for Chinese learners. Memorization is considered a means to achieve deep understanding and abstraction.
Furthermore, it has been found that the mobilization of deep and surface strategies are not exclusive among Chinese learners, they are capable of using both surface and deep approaches simultaneously to strive for academic excellence. It is thought to be influenced by Confucius’ teaching, which emphasized attaining achieving through effort.

Learners_Approaches to Learning

Approaches to Learning

Q: What is an approach to learning? Is it the preferred strategies used by students?

Q: What are the key theories in the field?

Q: What factors influence students’ approaches to learning?

Q: I realize that most of the discussion of approach to learning stems from studies done in Western contexts, how do these findings apply to us, in a Chinese context?

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Further Reading