learning-styles

Some learners use both types of strategy in
a ‘versatile’ approach.
The theoretical dichotomy between holist and
serialist strategies was not enough to identify the
styles empirically, leading Pask to invent two tests
that aimed to measure them: the Spy Ring History Test
and the Smuggler’s Test. Although Pask’s work has
been influential in this family of learning styles,
both in concepts and methodology, his two tests
have not gained credence as reliable or easily usable
instruments outside science disciplines (see Entwistle
1978b for a summary of the original tests and problems
with them). We have not therefore analysed the tests
in this report as a discrete model of learning styles.
Another crucial influence in this family is the work
of Marton and Säljö who identified (1976, 7–8) two
different levels of processing in terms of the learning
material on which students’ attention is focused:
in the case of surface-level processing, the student
directs his (sic) attention towards learning the test
itself (the sign), ie., he has a reproductive conception
of learning which means he is more or less forced to
keep to a rote-learning strategy. In the case of deep-level
processing, on the other hand, the student is directed
towards the intentional content of the learning
material (what is signified), ie. he is directed towards
comprehending what the author wants to say, for
instance, a certain scientific problem or principle.
It is important to distinguish between a logical
and an empirical association between approaches
and outcomes for students’ learning. Although it
is possible to present a clear theoretical case that
certain approaches affect learning outcomes,
unexpected or idiosyncratic contextual factors may
disrupt this theoretical association. According to
Ramsden (1983), empirical study of different contexts
of learning highlights the effects of individuals’
decisions and previous experiences on their
approaches and strategies. He argues that some
students reveal a capacity to adapt to or shape the
environment more effectively so that the capacity
is learnable. In terms of pedagogy, ‘students who
are aware of their own learning strategies and the
variety of strategies available to them, and who
are skilled at making the right choices, can be said
to be responding intelligently … or metacognitively
in that context’ (1983, 178).
7.1
Entwistle’s Approaches and Study Skills Inventory
for Students (ASSIST)
Introduction
Working largely within the field of educational
psychology, Noel Entwistle and his colleagues at
Lancaster University and the University of Edinburgh
have developed a conceptual model and a quantitative
and qualitative methodology. These aim to capture
students’ approaches to learning, their intellectual
development, a subject knowledge base and the
skills and attitudes needed for effective approaches
to learning. The purpose of this work is to produce:
A heuristic model of the teaching-learning process
[which can] guide departments and institutions wanting
to engage in a process of critical reflection on current
practice … [so that] the whole learning milieu within
a particular department or institution can be redesigned
to ensure improvement in the quality of student learning
(Entwistle 1990, 680)
During its evolution over 30 years, the model has
sought to encompass the complex ‘web of influence’
that connects motivation, study methods and academic
performance with the subtle effects of teaching,
course design, environment and assessment methods
on intentions and approaches to learning. The model
has also been influenced by parallel work in Australia,
the Netherlands and the US (see Entwistle and
McCune 2003 for a detailed account of these links
and their impact on the concepts and measures used
in Entwistle’s work). Five versions of an inventory have
evolved, aiming to measure undergraduate students’
approaches to learning and their perceptions about
the impact of course organisation and teaching:
the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) in 1981
the Course Perception Questionnaire (CPQ) in 1981
the Revised Approaches to Studying Inventory (RASI)
in 1995
the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students
(ASSIST) in 1997
the Approaches to Learning and Studying Inventory
(ALSI) (currently being developed).
There is a strong emphasis on development in
Entwistle’s work, both in relation to the underlying
concepts and the inventories used. The ASSIST
was derived from evaluations of other measures –
the ASI, CPQ and RASI (for an account of this evolution,
see Entwistle and McCune 2003; Entwistle and
Peterson 2003). More than 100 studies have addressed
the theoretical and empirical tasks of evaluating the
effectiveness of the inventories and their implications
for pedagogy in universities. The studies can
be categorised broadly as being concerned with: