Exploring the association between approaches to studying and course perceptions using the Lancaster inventory : a replicative study at the Cape Technikon

• Main Author: Parsons, Phillip
• Other Authors: Meyer, JHF
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: University of Cape Town 2016
• Subjects: Study skills; College students - Attitudes
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17133

Includes bibliography. === The aim of this thesis research was to replicate the important work conducted by Noel Entwistle and Paul Ramsden, published in 1983, which sought to establish the relationship between perceived contextual factors and students' approaches to studying. The two instruments that they developed for this purpose, the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) and the Course Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ), were administered to 1194 English-speaking and 590 Afrikaans-speaking students in 12 disciplinary areas at the Cape Technikon. Alpha factor analysis of the 24 summated sub-scales of the two inventories was conducted separately for the two samples. When these were compared with the factor structure obtained in the Lancaster research programme certain differences were evident. Although the two main study orientation, meaning orientation and reproducing orientation, were present in slightly modified forms, there were no empirical associations between these two orientations and the contextual factors as measured by the sub-scales of the CPQ. In order to explore the differences between the factor structures of the Lancaster programme and the two Technikon samples, the conceptual assumptions regarding the first order factor structure of the two instruments were relaxed. Firstly the 103 items of both instruments together were subjected to alpha factor analysis and subsequently the 63 variables of the ASI and the 40 variables of the CPQ were subjected to separate alpha factor analysis. These analyses confirmed the integrity of the majority of the sub-scales of the ASI while calling into question the composition and indeed the conceptual validity of the sub- scale surface approach. The factor analysis of the CPQ variables confirmed the sub-scale groupings, but the analysis of the 103 variables failed to demonstrate any empirical association between the two instruments. The replicative study concludes that the CPQ is of no value in terms of explaining students' approaches to studying. The ASI, however, appears to be a useful instrument which produces conceptually meaningful results for different population samples with respect to the two main study orientations. Areas which warrant investigation for the refinement of the ASI were identified and alternative methodologies to explore perceived contextual factors in conjunction with the ASI are suggested.