individual differences in study processes

8/3/2019 Individual Differences in Study Processes

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Higher Education 8 (1979) 381 -394O Elsevier Scientific Publishing Com pany, Amsterdam - Printed in the N etherlands

I N D I V I D U A L D I F F E R E N C E S I N S T U D Y P R O C E S S E SA N D T H E Q U A L I T Y O F L E A R N I N G O U T C O M E S

J O H N B I G G SFaculO' of Education,

University o f Newcastle, Ne w South Wales, 2308, Australia

A B S T R A C T

T h i s p a p e r is c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n s t u d e n t s ' s t u d y p r o c e s se s a n dt h e s t r u c t u r a l c o m p l e x i t y o f th e i r le a rn i n g. S t u d y p r o c e s se s ar e c o n c e i v e d i n t e r m s o f t h r e eind epe nd en t d ime ns ions - u t i li s ing , in te rna l is ing and ach iev ing - each o f which has acogn i t ive ( s t ra teg ic ) and an a f fec t ive (m ot iva t io na l ) co m po ne n t ; these a re as sessed by theS t u d y P r o c e s s Q u e s t i o n n a i r e ( S P Q ) . L e a r n i n g q u a l i ty i s e x p r e s s e d i n t e rm s o f t h e c o m -p l e x i t y o f t h e S t r u c t u r e o f t h e O b s e r v e d L e a r n in g O u t c o m e b y a p p l y i n g th e S O L O T a x o n -o m y d e s c r i b e d b e l o w . A p r e l im i n a r y s t u d y i n v o lv i n g 6 0 u n d e r g r a d u a t e s ' r e s p o n s es t oedu ca t io n re sea rch abs t rac t s i s desc r ibed , in which SOI7 ,O leve ls an d shor t and Ionw te rmr e t e n t i o n o f f a c t u a l m a t e r i a l a re r e l a t e d t o t h e i r s t u d y p r o c es s es .

I n t r o d u c t i o nS t u d e n t l e a r n i n g m a y b e c o n c e i v e d i ll t e r m s o f ti le t h r e e s t ag e s o f i n-

p u t , p r o c e s s a n d o u t p u t . I n p u t v a ri a b l e s w o u l d i n c l u d e c u r r i c u l u m c o n t e n ta n d o t h e r f e a t u r e s in t h e t e a c h i n g c o n t e x t : p r o c e s s v a r ia b l e s t h e w a y s a p a r t ic -u l a r s t u d e n t h a s o f g o in g a b o u t s e l e c t i n g a n d le a r n i n g f r o m t h e in p u t ; a n do u t p u t v a r ia b le s t h e q u a l i t y a n d q u a n t i t y o f s u b s e q u e n t p e r f o r m a n c e .

W h i le a ll t h e se v a r ia b l e s a re d e e p l y i n t e r c o n n e c t e d , r e s e a r c h e r s ha v et y p i c a l ly f o u n d i t c o n v e n i e n t t o c o n c e n t r a t e u p o n o n e o r o t h e r s p e c if i ca re a . T h e p r e s e n t w r i t e r h a s b e e n i n t e r e s t e d i n t w o o r ig i n a l ly i n d e p e n d e n ta r ea s : s t u d y p r o c e s s e s ( B ig g s, 1 9 7 8 a ) a n d a t a x o n o m y o f l e a r n in g q u a l i t y( B ig gs , 1 9 7 8 b ) . T h e p r e s e n t p a p e r re p r e s e n t s an a t t e m p t t o i n t e r - r e l a te th e s ea r e a s, f o l l o w i n g t i l e w o r k o f M a r t o n ( 1 9 7 6 ; M a r t o n a n d S /ilia5 , 1 9 7 6 ) .

I n g e n e r a l , i t is p o s t u l a t e d t h a t t h e s t u d y p r o c e s s e s u s e d b y a s t u d e n td u r i n g l e a rn i n g w il l b e r e l a te d t o b o t h t h e a m o u n t l e a r n e d , an d t h e q u a l i t yo f h is l e a r n in g . A l t h o u g h s u c h a re l a t i o n s h i p s e e m s o b v i o u s , t h e r e h av e b e e nr e m a k a b l y f e w a t t e m p t s t o s u b s t a n t i a t e i t , a n d m o r e s p e c i f i c a l l y , t o d e s c r ib et h e n a t u r e o f ti le r e l a t i o n s h i p .


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382Students ' Study Processes

Research into students' study processes may be classified into two mainkinds: (1) relatively large scale studies in which students are grouped accord-ing to general characteristics, frequently assessed by self-report inventories(e.g. Entwistle and Wilson, 1977): and (2) more intensive experimental orobservational studies of students learning in s i tu (e.g. Marton and S/ilj/5,1976). The two kinds of study are complement ary ; the present work belongsin the first category, but with some conceptual debts owing to the second.

It is assumed, in the first or nomothetic tradition, that by tertiary level,students have developed fairly stable motives for learning and strategies ofgoing about learning. It is usually assumed, further, that these motives andstrategies arise both out of a variety of personal characteristics, and out ofexposure to particular situational requirements, such as course contents,methods of teaching and examining, career opportunities, etc. (Biggs, 1978a).These assumptions underlie the use of self report questionnaires for assessingstudy-related parameters, including the writer's Study Process Questionnaire.

In the most recent version of the SPQ, three dimensions of study processare distinguished, and each dimension has an affective (motivational) and acognitive (strategy) component, with the strategy involving the behaviouralrealisation of the motive. The coincidences of motive and strategy are ob-tained from several second-order facto r analyses (Biggs, 1978a), and are asfollows:

1. Uti l is ing. Affectively, there are two inter-related motives: pragmaticreasons for being at university (such as to obtain a paper qualification andhence a better job), with a more immediate negative motive of avoidingfailure, seen in relatively high levels of test anxiety. In the absence of anymore positive reasons for studying, study strategies are centred around avoid-ing failure, but doing as little work as possible. Hence the student becomessyllabus-bound: he studies only what he has to, and then with a view to fairlyaccurate reproduction, rather than to transformation and internalisation ofthe original.

2 . In t e r n a l i s i n g . The affective component is intrinsic: the student haschosen to go to university as his way of self-actualising, and he is interestedin the subject matter of study for its own sake. He therefore reads widely,beyond set texts (indeed he may not even read the set text): he is syllabus-free. He at tempts to inter-relate material)tha t he reads, placing it in an overallconceptual framework that is meaningful to him. Although this is the "aca-demic" approach to study, it is likely to be successful only if there is reason-able overlap between the student's self-set learnings and those prescribed bythe lecturer.

3 . A c h i e v i n g . The motivational component revolves around winning,in a competitive con text, and in general achieving the hallmarks of exellence.


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383Cognitive strategies are therefore directed toward obtaining high grades fortheir own sake, and include high organization, scheduling of study periods,ensuring assignments are completed on time, and in general a cool systematicapproach to study.These dimensions take into account the three motives most commonlyascribed to students - extrinsic, intrinsic and achievement - and on' thecognitive side, to the most commonly observed ways that students go aboutstudying. Matron (1976) for instance distinguishes surface level from deeplevel processing of material. In surface level processing the student is con-cerned with reproducing the s i g n s of learning - i.e. the words used in theoriginal text - rather than mastering w h a t i s s i g n i f i e d - i.e. the meaning ofthe word strings. Surface level learning is clearly similar to the cognitive com-ponent of utilising: and indeed, to complete the picture, Fransson (1977)found that test anxious students are prone to adopt surface processing.There are also clear parallels between deep level processing and internalising;and again Fransson notes the coincidence between deep level processing andexpressed interest. Achieving as a dimension of study relates to quite adifferent line of research. The cognitive aspect relates to research into studyskills (e.g. Brown and Holzman, 1955: Robinson, 1961): and the affectivecomponent finds its roots in need achievement theory (Atkinson, 1966).The coincidence here of motive and s trategy has fewer precedents in previousresearch but it is empirically demonst rable as well as psychologically plausible.

Another interesting correspondence is with the model of Das et al.(1975), who propose three dimensions of information processing on the ba-sis of Luria's model of cerebral functioning, viz. successive processing, si-multaneous processing and planning. It is tempting to argue that these latterdimensions form the genotypes of those phenotypically revealed in studyingas utilising, internalising and achieving, respectively.

In the current version of the SPQ, then, individual scores may be con-tained both on the three main utilising, internalising and achieving scales, andif required, on each of the six motivational and strategic components. Thus,while the SPQ dimensions may not exhaustively map the study process do-main, they do seem to offer a parsimonious and theoretically coherentmodel for conceptualising the more important ways in which students mayfeel about, and behave towards, their study. Further, since the modelconsists of three orthogonal dimensions, it allows for the fact that studentsmay, depending on their score profile, have mixed motives and multiplestrategies: some students may, for instance, be motivated intrinsically, aswell as by the ego-enhancement of high grades.


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3 8 4T h e E v a l u a t i o n o f S t u d e n t L e a rn i n g

T h e s e c o n d f o c u s o f th i s re s e a r c h is o n t h e e v a l u a t i o n o f le a rn i n g .L e a r n i n g m a y b e e v a l u a t e d in t e r m s b o t h o f q u a n t i O ' ( e . g . t h e n u m b e r o fc o r r e c t p o i n t s m a d e , t h e a m o u n t o f m a t e r ia l r e m e m b e r e d , n o r m - r e f e re n c -i n g , e t c . ) a n d o f q u a l i t y ( w h e t h e r t h e p o i n t s m a d e i n t e r - r e l a t e , a r e o r i g i n a l ," e l e g a n c e " o f s o l u t io n , e t c . ) . H o w e v e r , a s M a r t o n ( 1 9 7 6 ) p o i n t s o u t , m o s tr e s e a rc h a n d p r a c t i c e h a s c o n c e n t r a t e d o n t h e q u a n t i t a t i v e a s p e c t s o f l ea rn -in g, w i t h a n eg l e c t o f a t t e m p t s t o a s s es s l e ar n in g q u a l i t y .

I n d e e d , p r a c t i c a ll y s p e a k i n g , t h e a s s e s s m e n t o f q u a l i t y h a s b e e n h ig h l ys u b j e c t i v e . E v a l u a t i o n s a re u s u a l l y d e r i v e d a n d a p p l i e d a c c o r d i n g t o a p u r e l yp r i v a t e c a l c u l u s , t h e w o r k i n g s o f w h i c h m i g h t b e c l e ar t o t h e i n d i v i d u a lm a r k e r , b u t a re s o m e t i m e s d i ff i c u lt t o c o m m u n i c a t e , p a r t ic u l a r l y t o t h es t u d e n t c o n c e r n e d , a n d e x p r e s se d in l o o s e ly s t r u c t u r e d c o m m e n t s . T h eB l o o m T a x o n o m y ( B l o o m e t a l. , 1 9 5 6 ) is p r o b a b l y t h e b e s t - k n o w n s y s t e m a t -ic a t t e m p t t o p r o v i d e a s t r u c t u r e f o r a ss e s si n g l e v el s o f l e a r n i n g q u a l i t y , b u tt h i s r e m a i n s a t b e s t a n a p r i o r i m o d e l t h a t d o e s n o t n e c e s s a r i ly r e f l e c t th ep s y c h o g e n e s i s o f g o o d l ea rn i n g. T h e B l o o m T a x o n o m y is, in a n y c a se , u s e dm o r e f o r s t r u c t u r i n g q u e s t i o n s o r m u l t i p l e - c h o i c e a n s w e r s , t h a n e v a l u a t i n go p e n - e n d e d q u e s t i o n s .

M a r t o n ( 1 9 7 6 ; M a r t o n a n d S ~lj~ 5, 1 9 7 6 ) d i s t i n g u i s h e s q u a l i t a t i v e l e ve l so f l e a rn i n g in t e r m s o f w h a t t h e s t u d e n t h i m s e l f c o n s t r u e s o f t h e s t r u c t u r e o ft h e p a r t i c u l a r m a t e r i a l t o b e l e a r n e d , s o t h a t t h e l ev e l s a r e u n i q u e "to e a c hl e ar n in g e v e n t . T h e l o w e s t l ev e ls c o m p r i s e a r e s t a t e m e n t o f t h e q u e s t i o n , o rd e n i a l o f t h e p o i n t : t h e h i g h e s t le v e ls a f a i t h f u l r e p h r a s i n g a n d e l a b o r a t i o n o fa k e y r e l a t i n g c o n c e p t i n t h e p a s s a g e t o b e l e a r n e d .

M a r t o n ' s a p p r o a c h h a s i ts r o o t s in e x i s t e n t i a l p s y c h o l o g y a n d f o c u s e su p o n t h e h e r e - a n d - n o w o f th e p a r t i c u l a r l e a rn i n g s i t u a t i o n . T h e r e is, h o w e v e r ,a n i n t e re s t i n g c o i n c i d e n c e b e t w e e n h is n o t i o n o f le v el s a n d t h e p r e s e n tw r i t e r ' s w o r k in q u i t e a d i f f e r e n t c o n t e x t . T h i s w o r k c o n c e r n e d t h e a p p l ic a -t i o n o f P i a g e t i a n p s y c h o l o g y t o t h e c l a s s r o o m ( C o l li s a n d B ig g s, 1 9 7 6 ) .F o l l o w i n g t h e w o r k o f P e e l a n d h is s t u d e n t s ( P ee l, 1 9 7 1 ) , w e w e r e i n i ti a ll yi n t e r e s t e d in g a t h e r i n g e x a m p l e s o f p r e - o p e r a t i o n a l , c o n c r e t e a n d f o r m a lt h i n k i n g in d i f f e r e n t s c h o o l s s u b j e c t s , w i t h t h e m a i n p u r p o s e o f p r o v i d i n gt e a c h e r s w i t h e x a m p l e s o f s u c h t h o u g h t in th e i r d i f f e r e n t s u b j e c t a re a s.

O u t o f t h is w o r k a t a x o n o m y e v o lv e d w h i c h s e e m e d t o c o i n c i d e w i th )a g e n e r al is e d v e r s io n o f M a r t o n ' s n o t m n o f le v el s a n d s e e m e d t o p r o v i d e a

m e a n s o f m e a s u r in g l e ar n in g q u a l i t y . W e c a ll ed t h is t h e S O L O T a x o n o m yb e c a u s e it r e fe r s t o t h e S t r u c t u r e o f t h e O b s e r v e d L e a r n in g O u t c o m e (B i gg s ,1 9 7 8 b ) . T h e T a x o n o m y c o n s i s t s o f f iv e l ev e ls o f r e s p o n s e a n d is m o s t e a s il ya p p l i e d t o l e a r n in g t h e m e a n i n g o f a f in i te d i s p l ay o f i n f o r m a t i o n a n dm a k i n g j u d g m e n t s a b o u t t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n - a p i ec e o f p r o s e, a m a p , a m o r a ld i l e m m a , a p o e m , a m a t h e m a t i c a l p r o b l e m , e tc . - ( se e B ig gs , 1 9 7 8 b , a n d


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3 8 5C o l l i s a n d B i g g s, in p r e p a r a t i o n , f o r a f u l l e r d e s c r i p t i o n ) . T h e f i v e l e v e l s a r e:

1 . Pre - s tn l c tura l . T h e r e s p o n s e h a s n o lo g i ca l r e l a t i o n s h i p t o t h e d i s p l a y ,b e i n g b a se d o n i n a b il i t y t o c o m p r e h e n d , t a u t o l o g y o r i d i o s y n c r a t icr e l e v a n c e .2 . Un i - s t ruc tura l . T h e r e s p o n s e c o n t a i n s o n e r e l e v a n t i t e m fr o m t h ed i s p l a y , b u t m i ss e s o t h e r s t h a t m i g h t m o d i f y o r c o n t r a d i c t t h e re -s p o n s e . T h e r e is a r a p i d c l o s u r e t h a t o v e r s i m p l i f i e s t h e i s st ie .

3 . M u l t i - s t r u c t u r a l . T h e r e s p o n s e c o n t a i n s s e v e ra l r e l e v a n t i t e m s , - b u to n l y t h o s e t h a t a r e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h t h e c h o s e n c o n c h l s i o n a r e s t a t e d .C l o s u r e is s e l e c t iv e a n d p r e m a t u r e .

4 . Re la t i o , za l . M o s t o r a ll o f t h e r e l e v a n t d a t a a re u s e d , a n d c o n f l i c t sr e s o l v e d b y t h e u s e o f a r e l a ti n g c o n c e p t t h a t a p p l i e s t o t h e g i v enc o n t e x t o f t h e d is p l a y , w h i c h l e a d s t o a f ir m c o n c l u s i o n .

5 . E x t e n d e d a b s tr a c t. T h e c o n t e x t is s e e n o n l y a s o n e i n s t a n c e o f ag e n er al c as e. Q u e s t i o n i n g o f b a si c a s s u m p t i o n s , c o u n t e r e x a m p l e s a n dn e w d a t a a r e o f t e n g i v e n t h a t d i d n o t f o r m p a r t o f t h e o r ig i n a l d is -p l a y. C o n s e q u e n t l y a f ir m c l o s u r e is o f t e n s e e n t o b e in a p p r o p r i a t e .

In a d d i t i o n , t r a n s it i o n a l r e s p o n s e s m a y b e fo u n d i n w h i c h e l e m e n t s o ft h e n e x t l e ve l m a y a p p e a r , f o r i n s t a n c e a 2 A r e s p o n s e ( t r a n s i ti o n a l b e t w e e nu n i- a n d m u l t i -s t r u c t u ra l ) w o u l d c o n t a in t w o c o n t r a d i c t o r y i t e m s w i t h ac o n s e q u e n t w e a k o r co n f u s e d c o n c l u s io n .T h e s e f iv e l ev e ls s e e m t o f o r m a h i e r a r c h y o f l e ar n in g t h a t c o r r e s p o n d st o t h e d e v e l o p m e n t a l h i e r a r c h y d e s c r i b e d b y P i a g et , b u t is l o g ic a ll y d i s t i n c tf r o m t h e l a tt e r. W e a r e c o n c e r n e d h e re o n l y w i th d e s c r i b i n g th e s tr u c t u r a lc o m p l e x i t y o f a t 2ar t i c u lar r e sponse t o a l e a r n i n g s i t u a t i o n .

T h e S O L O T a x o n o m y is f u n c ti o n a l l y c lo s er t o th e B l o o m T a x o n o m y ,a n d e s p e c i a l l y t o M a r t o n ' s c a t e g o r i s a t i o n o f p a r t i c u l a r l e a r n in g s (s e e p a r t i c u -l a rl y t h o s e o u t l i n e d in M a r t o n a n d S ~ ilj 6, 1 9 7 6 ) t han " t o d e v e l o p m e n t a l s t a g e s ;a n d i n d e e d i t w a s d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h M a r t 0 n a n d h i s c o l l e a g u e s t h a t l ed t h ew r i t e r to m a k e t h is m i n o r , b u t n e v e r t h e l e s s i m p o r t a n t , p a r a d i g m s h i ft a w a yf r o m t h e P i a g e t ia n f r a m e w o r k . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e S O L O l e v el s h a v e aw i d e r g e n e r a l i t y t h a n M a r t o n ' s t a s k - s p e c i f i c c l a s s i fi c a t i o n s .

T h e S O L O T a x o n o m y h a s b e en a p p li e d t o se v er al s c h o o l s u b j e c t a re as ,i n c h i d in g m a t h e m a t i c s , E n g l is h , h i s t o r y , g e o g r a p h y , r e a d i n g sk il ls a n dm o d e r n l a n g u a g e s , a n d a t th e t e r t i a r y l ev e l t o l i t e r a t u r e a n d e d u c a t i o n a lp s y c h o l o g y . T h e l as t a r e a is t h a t u s e d i n t h e f o l l o w i n g s t u d y , a n d t o i l lu s t r a t et h e T a x o n o m y s o m e ( e d i t e d ) e x a m p l e s w i ll b e d i s cu s s ed b e l o w .

I n o n e t a s k , an a b s t r a c t o f a n e x p e r i m e n t o n t h e i n d u c t i o n o f N a z i s m i na h ig h s c h o o l c l a s s r o o m w a s g iv e n to a c la ss o f u n d e r g r a d u a t e E d u c a t i o ns t u d e n t s . T h e a b s t r a c t d e s c r i b e d h o w t h e t e a c h e r, M r J o n e s , a p p l i e d p r o c e -d u r e s o v e r a f iv e d a y p e r i o d t h a t p r o d u c e d h i gh c o n f o r m i t y t o a r b i t r a ryr e g u la t io n s , w i t h s p o n t a n e o u s r ep o r t in g o f n o n - c o n f o r m i n g s t u d e n t s , c h a n ti n go f s lo g a n s , m a s s r al li es , a n d t h e e m e r g e n c e o f t h e " T h i r d W a v e M o v e m e n t " .


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3 8 6A t t h i s p o i n t t h e e x p e r i m e n t w a s t e r m i n a t e d a n d t h e " p r o b l e m " o f t h ee m e r g e n c e o f N a z i s m in G e r m a n y w a s d i sc u s se d . T h e q u e s t i o n a s k e d th ep r e s e n t s u b j e c t s w a s : " E x p l a i n h o w t h i s e x p e r i m e n t t h r o w s l ig h t o n t h ep h e n o m e n o n o f N a z i G e r m a n y " .I n th e g r o u p t e s t e d , t h e r e w e r e n o r e s p o n s e s b e l o w L e v e l 3 ( m u l t i -s t r u c t u r a l ) . T h e e x a m p l e s g i v e n b e l o w f o r L e v e ls 1 a n d 2 w e r e o b t a i n e d f o ri l l u s tr a t i v e p u r p o s e s f r o m a f e w l es s s o p h i s t i c a t e d s u b j e c t s :Le vel 1 (Pre- s t ruc tura l)

I t d o e s n ' t t o m e . I d o n ' t s ee w h a t M r J o n e s a n d H i t le r h av e in c o m m o n .

I d o n ' t t h i n k i t d o e s . I t ' s n o t a s if M r J o n e s p i c k e d o n J e w s p a r t i c u la r l y .T h e f i r s t r e s p o n s e is a s i m p l e d e n i a l ; t h e s e c o n d is b a s e d o n a n i r re l e-

v a n c y ( " p i c k i n g o n " s o m e o n e , l e t a l o n e a n y o n e in p a r t ic u l a r , w a s n o t t h ep o i n t ) .Lev el 2 ( Uni - s t ruc tura l )

I t s h o w s h o w M r J o n e s w a s a b l e t o g e t h i s s t u d e n t s t o b e e x t r a - o b e d i e n t i n j u s t t h es a m e w a y a s H i t l e r d i d t o t h e G e r m a n p e o p l e .In t h is r e s p o n s e , t h e o n e c o n c e p t o f o b e d i e n c e is t a k e n a s t h e l i n k

b e t w e e n t h e t w o s i t u a t i o n s . W h i le th i s is t r u e , m a n y o t h e r p o i n t s a re m i s s ed .Level 3 (Mul t i - s t ruc tura l )

T h i s e x p e r i m e n t s h o w s t h e w a y t h a t t h e c it iz e n s o f G e r m a n y c o u l d b e m a n i p u l a t e dby o ne l eade r . I t shows t he way t ha t i t began by f i r s t l y s t a r t i ng ou t in a sma l l waya n d le d t o o n e o f t h e m o s t p o w e r f u l m o v e m e n t s e v e r e x p e r i e n c e d i n t h e w o r l d . I ta ls o in d i c a t e s t h e b l i n d n e s s o f th e c i t iz e n s o f G e r m a n y - n o t k n o w i n g w h a t t h e yw e r e h e a d i n g i n t o . I t a ls o d e m o n s t r a t e s t h e p o w e r f u l e f f e c t s t h a t s l o g a n s a n d s i g n al sh a d u p o n t h e c i ti z e n s .o f G e r m a n y .

T h i s r e s p o n s e i s b a s i c a l l y a c a t a l o g u e o f c o n c l u s i o n s " i t s h o w s . . .i t a l s o . . . i t a l s o " t h a t a r e n ' t r e a l l y t ie d t o g e t h e r . A n o t h e r , m o r e l e n g t h y ,t y p e o f L e v e l 3 r e s p o n s e w a s t h e m e d l e y : t h e s t u d e n t s i m p l y p l a y e d b a c ka p p r o p r i a t e s e l e c t io n s f r o m t h e o r i g i n a l T h e l a t t e r k in d o f r e s p o n s e s h o w s a na b i l i t y t o u n d e r s t a n d w h a t i s r e l e v a n t o r n o t , b u t d o e s n o t d e m o n s t r a t e a na b i l i t y t o i n t e g r a t e o r r e f o r m u l a t e t h e p o i n t s m a d e , o r c o n c e i v e t h e m a s p a r to f a l a rg e r s t r u c t u r e .


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387Level 4 (Relational)

After the Nazis were defeated, most Germans claimed ... they knew nothing ...This experiment showed that in a sense the people really didn't know what washappening. The Nazi leaders . . . told them they were the best people in the world. . . that they must all work together to make Germany the world leader. Massrallies.., people were encouraged to report their friends.The experiment helps people to see how easily a group of people can be made tobelieve in and do things... Jones had the children saluting.., or were reported...also for noncompliance . . . The tactics Jones used were the same as the Nazileaders. . .This response takes an integrat ing con cep t "h ow peopl e can claim they

didn ' t kno w what was happen ing" to expla in Nazi Germany , and l is ting themechanisms by which this was achieved, f i rs t in Germany, and second byJones in the experiment. Unlike many Level 3 responses, discussion here isdevo ted more to Germany, and the mechani sms applying there , whereasLevel 3 responses of ten concent ra te more on the experiment. When theexperiment is discussed in a Level 4 response it is to relate a particular pointto the si tuat ion in Ger man y. Thus the relat ional response is con cep tua llyintegrated within i ts given co nte xt ; it does not , however, range be yo nd thegiven context , e .g. querying the basic premises of the experiment.Level 5 (Extended abstract)

It shows how people can be manipulated, especially in groups, to conform to anassociation . . . and as the people become more involved in this movement theybelieve in its ideals more and more. Even at school level this process grew rapidly.The experiment displays the frightening ease at which people can conform, even tosuch an aggressive movement and shows that it's a phenomenon which could occurwith race or culture, and not one which is perhaps peculiar to the Germans at thatperiod.It makes one wonder whether the people involved and subsequently punished fortheir actions should have been so treated. Would not you or I have done the samething? Were they just doing their job?This extended abstract response implies the detai l but is not preoccupied

by it. The general poi nt is mad e: we are not talking abo ut a clas sroo m simu-la t ion of G erm an y but abo ut a proba bly universa l character i s t ic of mankind.If so, several quest io ns fol low, relat ing to our own proba ble beha viou r and tothe justice of puni shin g war criminals. Non e of these issues is given in theoriginal display and they arise because the respo nde nt has con stru ed thepassage in term s o f abstrac t principles such as responsi bility. Essenti ally,then, the relat ional response sticks close to its data and con tex t; the ext end edabst rac t response r i ses above cont extua l in tegra t ing conc epts and embracesprinciple.


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3 8 8I t is i n t e r e s ti n g t o c o n s i d e r w h a t p l a c e S O L O l e v e ls h a v e in t h e e c o l o g y

o f h ig h e r e d u c a t i o n . A n i n it ia l r e a c t i o n m i g h t b e t h a t e x t e n d e d a b s t r a c t re -s p o n s e s - a s t h e i s o m o r p h o f f o r m a l o p e r a t i o n a l t h o u g h t - w o u l d b e t h ei de al , if n o t th e n o r m . A m o m e n t ' s t h o u g h t w il l s h o w h o w e v e r t h a t t hi s is n o ts o. Q u e s t i o n s t h a t as k " W h a t a re t h e m a i n f e a tu r e s o f . . . " , " L i s t . . . " ,a d d r e ss m u l t i- s t ru c t u r a l r e s p o n d i n g ( t h e i s o m o r p h o f m i d d l e c o n c r e t eo p e r a t i o n s ) . I n d e e d , i f a s t u d e n t s p e c u l a t e d f r o m f ir st p ri n c ip l e s , a d d u c e dc o u n t e r - e v i d e n c e , o r g a v e q u a l if i e d a n s w e r s h e m a y b e j u d g e d a s i r re l e v a n t a tb e s t , a n d i n c o r r e c t a t w o r s t . T h i s i s n o t t o s a y t h a t it is a b a d t h i n g t o r e q u i r em u l t i - s tr u c t u r a l r e s p o n d i n g in c e r ta i n c o n t e x t s in h i g h e r e d u c a t i o n , b u t s im p l yt h a t t e a c h e r , a n d s t u d e n t , n e e d t o b e a w a r e o f w h a t t h e r e q u i r e m e n t s a re .

" C o m p a r e a n d c o n t r a s t " q u e s t i o n s o p t i m a l l y r e qu i re a r e la t io n a l r e s p o n s e ,a l t h o u g h e v e n h e re a s i m p l e l is ti n g o f p o i n t s c o u l d b e e n o u g h t o g e t b y .O f t e n a t e a c h e r m i g h t i n t e n d t o a d d r e s s e x t e n d e d a b s t r a c t l ev e ls in t h es e t t in g o f a q u e s t i o n , b u t i n t h e m a r k i n g o f p a p e r s , p a r t i c u l a r l y i f t h e r e a re al ar ge n u m b e r o f p a p e r s t o b e m a r k e d in a s h o r t p e r i o d o f t i m e , h e c an t o oe a s il y a d o p t a m u l t i - s t ru c t u r a l m a r k i n g s t r a t e g y : a m a r k e a c h t i m e a r e l e v a n tp o i n t is m e n t i o n e d , p l u s a s m a ll lo a d i n g f o r " q u a l i t y " a t th e e n d . T h is e f f e c tis o f c o u r s e e x a c e r b a t e d w h e n s e v er a l t u t o r s , e a c h s u p p l i e d w i t h a " m o d e la n s w e r " s h e e t , a re c a l le d u p o n t o m a r k a s s i g n m e n t s i n l ar ge u n d e r g r a d u a t ec la s se s .

Relat ing Stu dy Processes and Learning Qu alityO u r c o n c e r n h e r e i s w i t h t h e re l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n S O L O l e v el s a n d

s t u d e n t ' s l e ar n in g p r o c e s s e s . H o w m i g h t t h e t h r e e d i m e n s i o n s , u t i li s in g , i n t er -n a l i s i n g a n d a c h i e v i n g , r e l a t e t o S O L O l e v e l s ?

I n t h e u t i l i s in g p r o c e s s d i m e n s i o n , t h e t a r g e t f o r l e a rn i n g i s d e l i b e r a t e l yr e s t r ic t e d t o th e g iv e n c o n t e x t , w h i c h w o u l d s e e m t o p r e c l u d e a s et c o n -d u c i v e t o e x t e n d e d a b s t r a c t r e s p o n d i n g . F u r t h e r , t h e s t r a t e g y o f r o t el e a rn i n g d e t a i l s w o u l d p l a c e d a t a i n se ri al o r d e r , w i t h a l is t in g t y p e o f o u t p u t .H e n c e it w o u l d b e e x p e c t e d t h a t t h e m o r e s t u d e n t s u s e a , u t il i s in g s t r a t e g y ,t h e m o r e l ik e ly t h e y w i ll p r o d u c e S O L O L e v e l 3 ( m u l t i - s t r u c t u r a l ) r a t h e rt h a n L e v e l 4 o r 5 r e s p o n s e s , b u t a t t h e s a m e t i m e , t h e m o r e li k e l y t h e y w i l lb e ab l e to r e m e m b e r f a c t s a n d d e t a i ls .

I n t e r n a l is i n g s t r a te g i e s , o n t h e c~ th er h a n d , w o u l d b e e x p e c t e d t op r o d u c e L e v e l 4 o r 5 S O L O s . T h e s e s t r at e g i e s i n d i c a t e w i d e r e a di n g , p l u s th ea t t e m p t a t i n t e g r a t io n . T h u s , i f t h is s t r a t e g y w o r k s , i t w o u l d p r o d u c e a t le a str e l a t i o n a l a n d a t b e s t e x t e n d e d a b s t r a c t r e s p o n d i n g . I t is a l s o m o r e li k e l yt h a t w i d e re a d in g w o u l d e n c o u r a g e t h e s t u d e n t t o p u r su e r el e v an t e x a m p l e sb u t n o t o n e s g iv e n in th e p a r t i c u l a r d i s p l a y , an d t h is d e p a r t u r e f r o m t h eg iv e n is c h a r a c t e r i s ti c o f t h e e x t e n d e d a b s t r a c t r e s p o n s e .


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389The achieving dimension is not so clearly relevant to qualitative out-

comes in any direct sense. Perhaps there is a more specific relationship herethat is context-dependent, based on how the student sees what is required ofhim. In oth er words, if he perceives the best strate gy for gaining maximalmarks is to produce high levels SOLOs, he will do that; but if he sees it asmore appropriat e that he produce unrelated lists of facts, he will do thattoo.

These predictions, with the exception of the last, are similar to thosemade by Mart on and Iris co-workers. The major di fference lies in the assump-tion made here th~ t stu dy processes are stable, and will be reliably empl oyedin a given study situation. Scores along these SPQ dimensions might be re-garded as tendencies, which are more likely to be actualised as the situationspecifically demands . Thus, one might more con fide ntl y assume that theperson scoring high on utilising will adopt utilising strategies when he isspecifically instru cted to rot e learn facts and details: similarly, the personhigh on internalising to score high when instructed to learn meaningfully:while the high achiever would be expected to respond with either, as required.

The remainder of this paper discusses a preliminary study which in-vestigated these relationships.

MethodThe SPQ was administered to a class of 60 undergraduate Education

students, together with a booklet containing the tasks. The first was a 750-word abstract, taken from Psychology Today, (July , 1976, p. 14 .) of an ex-per iment enti tled "The Third Wave: Nazism in a High Sch ool "; and thesecond a 600-word abstract, likewise from Psychblogy Today, (May, 1976,p. 36), entitled "Day Care is as Good as Home Care". Half the group were in-structed to read the first abstract by concentrating "on the purpose of theexpe rim ent, and the evidence used to draw the concl usio n" and the secondabstract by concentrating "on the facts and details of the experiment."These ins tructio ns were reversed for the second half of the group. Thus, eachstu dent was instructed to read one abstract meaningfu lly and the other fordetail: while each abstract had been read for both meaning and detail.

Following each abstract, an instruction was given to elicit a responsefor SOLO classification, and students had a page in which to constrtict theirresponse. No expectations of length were given. The instructions were: "Ex-plain how this expe rim ent throws light on the ph eno men on of Nazi Germa-ny" and "Examine the case that children in day-care do not differ fromhome-raised children".

Finally, following the SOLO response, a list of highly factual questionswere asked a bout each exp erime nt - the name of the experimen ter, number


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3 9 0o f s u b j e c t s , e x a c t d e s c r i p t i o n s o f p r o c e d u r e s u s e d , e t c . - a n d t h e s e w e r es c o r ed s t r i n g e n tl y ( a p p r o x i m a t i o n s a n d p a r a p h r a s es w e r e n o t a c c e p t a b l e ) .T h e t i m e e a ch s t u d e n t t o o k t o c o m p l e t e t h e t a sk s w a s n o t e d . T h e f ac t u a lq u e s t i o n s w e r e p r e s e n t e d a ga in a w e e k l a te r in o r d e r t o o b t a i n s o m e d a ta o ni m m e d i a t e v e r su s lo n g t e rm r e t e n t i o n o f de t ai l.

f f o r e a c h t a s k , t h e n , t h e f o l l o w i n g d a t a w e r e a v a i la b l e: c o n d i t i o n f o rl ea rn i ng ( m e a n i n g f u l / f a c t u a l ) , s t u d e n t s ' s c o r es o n t h re e S P Q d i m e n s i o n s ,S O L O l ev el , n u m b e r o f fa c t u a l d et a il s re c al le d ( i m m e d i a t e a n d d e l a y e d ) . I nl ig h t o f th e p r e c e d i n g d i s c u s s i o n , S O L O l ev e l w a s t a k e n a s i n d e x o f qualityo f l e a r n i n g , r e c al l o f d e t a i l t h a t o f quantiO' o f l e ar n in g . C o n d i t i o n s ( m e a n -i n g f u l / f a c t u a l ) a n d S P Q d i m e n s i o n s ( s p l it a t t h e m e d i a n ) w e r e d e f i n e d a si n d e p e n d e n t , a n d t h e r e m a i n d e r a s d e p e n d e n t , v a r i a b l e s in a s e ri e s o f a n a l y s e so f v a ri a nc e . W i th t h e f a c tu a l i t e m s , o c c a s i o n s ( i m m e d i a t e / d e l a y e d ) f o r m e da n e x t r a i n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e in a r e p e a t e d m e a s u r e s d e si g n .

Re su l t s

LEARNING QUALITY

T h e r e w e r e t h r e e m a i n e f f e c t s o n S O L O l e ve l: h i g h e r S O L O l ev e ls w e r ea s s o c ia t e d w i t h th e m e a n i n g c o n d i t i o n ( i n s t ru c t i o n s t o r e ad f o r " p u r p o s e " o ft h e D a y C a r e e x p e r i m e n t ) ( p < 0 . 0 5 ) a n d m a r g i n a l ly w i t h h i gh in t e rn a l -i si ng ( p < 0 . 1 0 ) , w h i l e l o w e r S O L O s w e r e a s s o c i a t e d w i t h h ig h a c h i e v i n g( p < 0 . 0 5 ) .

F o r t h e T h i r d W a v e l e ar n in g t a s k , c o n d i t i o n s i n t e r a c t e d s i g n i f ic a n t l yw i t h u t i l i s i n g ( p < 0 . 0 5 ) , a s i l l u s t r a t e d i n F i g 1 .

o

4 5 0

4 . 00

/o//

//

L .O U t l l . ///

9

M e a n i n g F a c tFig. 1. Utilising X Con dition s on SO LO level (Third W ave)


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3 9 1U n l i k e t h e D a y C a r e t a s k , w h e r e t h e r e w a s a c o n d i t i o n s m a i n e f f e c t , i n

t h e T h i r d W a v e t a s k t h e r e is a s t r o n g d i s o r d i n a l i n t e r a c t i o n : i n s t r u c t i o n s t oa t t e n d t o f a c t u a l d e t a il , t o t h o s e a l r e a d y p r o n e t o s t u d y d e t a i ls , re s u l t inl o w e r . S O L O s , b u t s u c h i n s t r u c ti o n s t o th o s e n o t p r e d i s p o s e d t o s t u d y d e ta i lr e s u l t in h i g h l e v e l S O L O s . P e r h a p s t h e f i rs t g r o u p a r e u n a b l e t o s e e t h ew o o d f o r t h e t r e e s; w h i le t h e s e c o n d a r e a l e r te d t o m a k e u s e o f d e ta i l in t h e iro v e r al l c o n c e p t u a l i s a t i o n , r e s u l ti n g i n m o r e a d e q u a t e l y s t r u c t u r e d r e s p o n s e s .LEAR N I NG QUANTI TY

T h e r e w e r e s e v er a l e f f e c t s o n r e t e n t i o n o f f a c t u a l d e t ai l . T h e r e w a s as t ro n g d e c r e m e n t f r o m i m m e d i a t e r ec al l to r e ca ll o f o n e w e e k (p < 0 . 0 1 )a s w o u l d b e e x p e c t e d . U t i li s in g e x e r t e d a m a i n e f f e c t o n r ec a ll (p < 0 . 0 5 )a n d a l so o n i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h c o n d i t i o n s ( p < 0 . 0 5 ) ( D a y C a r e t a s k ) , w h i c h isi l l u s t r a t e d in F i g 2 . A c h i e v i n g a l so i n t e r a c t e d w i t h o c c a s i o n s ( p < 0 . 0 5 ) asin F ig 3 .

L e a r n i n g q u a h t y

10.00

ZOO

4.00

o - - L~2t ,A _ ~ _

M e a n i n g F a c t

( a ) I m m e d i a t e

( b ) D e l a y e d

Fig. 2. U tilising X Co nd itions on Fac tual Recall (Da y Care; a. Imm ediate, b. De layed )

T h e c o n d i t i o n s e x e r t a n e f f e c t o n l y o n t h o s e h i g h o n u ti li si n g : f a c t u a li n s t r u c t i o n s t o t h o s e f a c t u a l l y o r i e n t e d i n t h e i r s t u d y p r o d u c e h i g h r e c a l lo f f a c t u a l d e t a i l b o t h i m m e d i a t e l y a n d d e l a y e d . I t w il l b e re c a l le d th a t itw a s p r e c i s e ly th i s g r o u p ( h ig h u t i li s e rs u n d e r f a c t u a l c o n d i t i o n s ) w h o o b t a i n e dl o w S O L O s : it s e e m s t h a t t h e y h a v e b o u g h t q u a n t i t y o f l e ar n in g at t h e p r ic eo f q u a l i t y .

F i g u r e 3 s h o w s t h a t h i g h a c h i e v e r s r ec a l l m o r e f a c t s a n d d e t a i l s o n i m -m e d i a t e t e s ti n g , b u t t h i s e f f e c t v ir t u a l ly d i s a p p e a r s a f t e r o n e w e e k .


12/14

3 9 2

b.

10.00

5.00L o a c h \ \ ' ~ x

Immediate Delayed

Fig. 3. Achieving X Occasions on Factual Recall (Day Care)

Di s c u s s i on

T h e g e n e r al p a t t e r n o f r e s u lt s o b t a i n e d w a s ill a c c o r d w i t h e x p e c t a -t i o n s i n o n e o r o t h e r o f t h e t a sk s , a l t h o u g h i t w a s d i s a p p o i n t i n g t h a t t h e s a m ee f f e c t s d i d n o t r e p l ic a t e a c r o s s t a sk s . P e r h a p s t il e o b s e r v e d e f f e c t s i n t e r a c t e dw i t h t h e p a s sa g e s: t h e r e w a s a g r e a t e r r a n g e o f S O L O s in r e s p o n s e t o T h i r dW a v e t h a n t o D a y C a r e , d u e t o t h e d i f f e r e n t s t r u c t u r e s o f t h e p as s a g es t h e m -s e lv e s . H o w e v e r , w e m i g h t r e v i e w t h e r e s u l t s i n so f a r a s t h e y a p p l y t o a tl e as t o n e o f t h e t a s k s : t h e f o l l o w i n g g e n e r a l i s a t i o n s c a n b e m a d e .

1. I n s t r u c t i o n s t o c o n c e n t r a t e u p o n e i t h e r f a c t s a n d d e t a il s , o r u p o np u r p o s e o f e x p e r i m e n t a n d e v i d e n ce f o r c o n c l u s io n s , a f f e c t t h e q u a l i t y o fl ea r n in g . I n o n e t a sk , a m e a n i n g o r i e n t a t i o n p r o d u c e d h i gh S O L O s u n e q u i v -o c a l l y , b u t i n a n o t h e r t a s k , t h e e f f e c t w a s d i f f e r e n t f o r d i f f e r e n t s t u d e n t s .S t u d e n t s a l r e a d y p r o n e t o r o t e l e a rn i n g o f fa c t s ( s c o r e s o n t h e u t il is i n g d i-m e n s i o n ) w i ll d o s o e f f i c i e n t l y an d r e ta i n t h e m l o n g e r w h e n i n s t r u c t e d t o d os o . T h i s is , h o w e v e r , a t t h e e x p e n s e o f q u a l i t y o f l e ar n i n g , s i n c e w h i l e t h e i rf a c t u a l r e ca ll - is h i g h e r , t h e i r S O L O l e v el s o f r e s p o n s e a r e l o w e r , t h a n t h o s e o fs t u d e n t s s c o r in g l o w i n t h e u t il is in g d i m e n s i o n . I n d e e d , t h e l a t t e r s c o r e p a r-t i c u la r l y h i g h S O L O s w l~ en i n s t r u c t e d t o c o n c e n t r a t e o n f ac t s: t h e y p o s s i b l yu s e th e f a c ts c o m p o n e n t s in a s t r u c t u r e r a t h e r t h a n a s i s o l a te d e l e m e n t s .

2 . A n a c h ie v in g o r i e n t a t i o n t o s t u d y p r o d u c e s lo w re s p o n s e c o m p l e x i t ya s as s es s ed b y S O L O l ev e l, b u t h i gh i m m e d i a t e r ec a ll o f f a ct s . T h e s u p e r i o ri -t y o f f a c tu a l r e c al l d o e s n o t h o w e v e r re , p a in a f t e r a w e e k .

3 . A n i n t e r n a l i s i n g o r i e n t a t i o n m a y l e a d t o h i g h e r l e v el S O L O s , i n d e -p e n d e n t l y o f c o n d i t i o n s o f l ea r ni n g , b u t t h is w a s a r e la t i v el y w e a k e f f e c t .T h e g e n e ra l d i r e c t i o n o f t h e s e r e su l t s is m o s t l y i n l in e w i t h t h a t p r e d i c t -e d . T h e u t i l is i n g o r i e n t a t i o n t o s t u d y w o r k s f o r t h e r e t e n t i o n o f f a c t a n dd e t a i l a n d a g a i n st c o m p l e x i t y o f r e s p o n s e . T h e in t e rn a l is i n g o r i e n t a t i o n r e-l a te s t o h i g h c o m p l e x i t y , a l t h o u g h t h is fi n d i n g w a s n o t s t ro n g . T h e a c h i e v i n go r i e n t a t i o n o n t h e o t h e r h a n d d i d n o t le ad t o g o o d l ea rn in g c o m p l e x i t y ,


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393under conditions encouraging complexity, but was associated with low com-plexity and high factual recall under all conditions.

These data are encouraging, and cor rob ora te, by a quite differ entmet ho do log y, the work of Marton and his colleagues. Nevertheless, morewidespread and ecologically valid wo rk is necessary to substant iate thegeneral mode l. P erhap s the ef fec ts would have 1Seen str ong er had th e learn-ing been conducted under more "natural" condit ions ( the students knewthey were taking part in an exper ime nt) . Fo r examp le, it is likely thatstudents ' expe ctati ons o f what is required for examin ation purposes wouldinteract with study processes more effectively than simple instructions tolearn the facts and details or to assess evidence for conclusions in ratherarbitrary experimental abstracts. If a student believes he will be given creditfor good factual recall, he is likely to adjust his studying accordingly; like-wise, adjustment is likely if he believes his final grade depends on SOLO levelrather than number of correct points made. In addition, however, these af-fects are modifie d by his existing predilec tions for study and mo tives forbeing at univers ity, and in the interests of fairness the tertiar y ed uc at orneeds to take these issues into account.

R e f e r e n c e s

Atkinson, J. W. (1966). "Learning and the Educational Process," in Krumbolz, J. D., ed.,Mainspring of A chievement Oriented Activity. Chicago: Rand McNally.Biggs, J. B. (1976). "Dimensions of study behaviour: Another look at ATI," BritishJournal of Educational Psychology, 46: 68-80.Biggs, J. B. (1978a). "Individual and group differences in study processes," BritishJournal of Educational Psychology, 48: 00-00.Biggs, J. B. (1978b). "The Relationship Between Developmental Level and the Quality ofSchool Learning," in Modgil, S. and C., eds., Toward a Theory of Psychological Devel-opment Within the t~'agetian Framework. Slough, Bucks: National Foundation forEducational Research.

Bloom, B. S., Engelhart, M. D., Furst, E. J., Hill, W. H. and Krathwohl, D. (1956). Taxon-omy of Educational Ob/ectives: The Cognitive Domain. New York: McKay.Brown, W. F. and Holzman, W. H. (1955). "A study-attitudes questionnaire for predictingacademic success," Journal o f Educational Psychology, 46: 75-84.Collis, K. F. and Biggs, J. B. (1976). "Classroom Examples of Cognitive DevelopmentPhenomena." Paper presented to the Annual Conference, Australian Association forResearch in Education, Brisbane.

Collis, K. F. and Biggs, J. B. (in preparation). Classroom Examples of Cognitive Devel-opment Phenomena. The SOLO Taxonomy. Final Report, Educational Research andDevelopment Committee, Woden, A.C.T.Das, J. P., Kirby, J. and Jarman, R. F. (1975). "Simultaneous and successive synthesis:An alternative model for cognitive abilities," Psychological Bulletin, 82: 87-103.Entwistle, N. and Wilson, J. (1977). Degrees of Excellence: The Academic Achieveme ntGame. London: Hodder and Stoughton.


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3 9 4

F r a n s s o n , A . ( 1 9 7 7 ) . " O n q u a l i t a t i v e d i f f e r e n c e s in l e a rn i n g , IV - E f f e c t s o f i n t r i n s icm o t i v a t i o n a n d e x t r i n s ic t es t a n x i e t y o n p r o c es s a n d o u t c o m e , " Br i t i sh Journa l o fE d u c a t i o n a l P s y c h o l o g y , 4 7 : 2 4 4 - 2 5 7 .

M a r t o n , F . ( 1 9 7 6 ) . " W h a t D o e s It T a k e t o L e a r n ? S o m e I m p l i c a t i o n s o f a n A l t e r n a t i v eV i e w t o L e a r n i n g , " i n E n t w i s t l e , N . J . , e d . , S t ra t eg i es f o r R e s e a rc h a n d D e v e l o p m e n tin H igher Educa t ion . A m s t e r d a m : S w e t s a n d Z e i tl i n g e r.

M a r t o n , K . a n d S / i lj 6 , R . ( 1 9 7 6 ) . " O n q u a l i t a t i v e d i f f e r e n c e s i n l e a r n i n g : I - O u t c o m ea n d p r o c e s s , " B r it is h J o u r n a l o f E d u c a t i o n a l P s y c h o l o g y , 4 6 : 4 - 1 1 .

Pee l , E . A . ( 1971 ). T h e N a t u r e o f A d o l e s c e n t J u d g m e n t . L o n d o n : S t a p l e s P re ss .R o b i n s o n , F . P . ( 1 9 6 1 ) . E f f e c t i v e S t u d y . N e w Y o r k : H a r p e r a n d R o w . ( R e v i s e d e d i t i o n ) .S v e n n s o n , L . ( 1 9 7 6 ) . S t u d y S k i l l a n d L e a r n i n g . G 6 t e b o r g : U n i v e rs i ty o f G 6 t e b o r g ,

S t u d i e s in E d u c a t i o n a l S c i e n c e , 1 9 .

individual differences in study processes

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