learning outcomes. The ‘motive-strategy set’ comprises the learner’s motivation
towards the task and the strategies used to accomplish learning goals. Biggs observed
that students approach learning with specific expectations which serve as the motives
for engaging in the learning. Obtaining a qualification (extrinsic motive), learning
material because it is interesting (intrinsic motive), and achieving high grades
(achievement motive) are common motives for undertaking learning.
Motives tend to be associated with types of learning strategies (Biggs, 1987). Per-
sons who are motivated by the prospect of gaining qualifications employ strategies
which aim to reproduce essential information. Learners who take a course based on
interest tend to use strategies which help them understand the material, while those
who are motivated by high grades focus on optimising their study effort. ‘Approach
to learning’, then, refers to the learner’s motives towards, and conscious use of stra-
tegies in pursuit of, recognised learning goals. Three broad dimensions of learning
approaches are known as ‘surface’, ‘deep’, and ‘achieving’. The following descrip-
tions of these dimensions are based upon Biggs (1987) and Entwistle and Ramsden
(1983).
Learners who take a surface approach to learning are motivated to meet minimum
task requirements and generally put forth enough effort to avoid failing. The corres-
ponding strategy is one of reproduction based on the tendency of the learner to
memorise factual information without regard for what it might mean.
Individuals who take a deep approach to learning seek meaning and understand-
ing. They are intrinsically motivated towards learning the subject and interested in
achieving competence in the area. For deep learners, knowing more about the subject
under study is in itself rewarding. These learners will employ strategies such as
identifying underlying arguments, reading widely, and relating new information to
previous knowledge.
Students who take an achieving approach to learning are motivated by competition
and ‘self-enhancement’. They place priority on obtaining high grades irrespective of
how interesting the material is, or how well they understand it. Achieving learners
also wish to ‘look good’ in front of their teachers and peers. Learners motivated by
the achieving orientation will employ strategies that are concerned with organising
study time and ‘work space’.
Some researchers have also identified a fourth factor, termed ‘non-academic orien-
tation’ by Entwistle and Ramsden (1983). This represents both the fact that some
students are in school to socialise rather than to learn, and also the alienation that
some students feel for academic learning. The latter characteristic may be related to
surface learning, in that it represents an intention to avoid academic learning.
Students’ approaches to learning do not exist in a vacuum, but rather are influ-
enced by the environments in which the students are studying. Ramsden and
Entwistle (1981) devised the Course Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ), and found it
to comprise dimensions describing how considerate and supportive instructors are,
whether they respond to student interests and needs, whether students feel they have
freedom to choose what they learn and how they learn it, and how heavy the
required workload is. The surface approach has generally been associated with little
academic freedom (Ramsden and Entwistle, 1981), heavy workloads (Bertrand and
Knapper, 1991), attitudes of the instructor towards knowledge transmission versus
knowledge facilitation (Christensen
et al.
, 1995; Gow and Kember, 1993), and curric-
ula which facilitate the transmission of facts and details (Hattie
et al.
, 1996). Deeper
learning, by contrast, has been associated with lighter workloads (Bertrand and
Knapper, 1991; Entwistle and Ramsden, 1983), greater academic freedom (Ramsden
and Entwistle, 1981), and good teaching (Bertrand and Knapper, 1991; Ramsden and
Entwistle, 1981).
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