The revised learning process questionnaire: A validation of a Western model of students' study approaches to the South Pacific context using confirmatory factor analysis

Abstract

Background. Research evidence seems to suggest that the social and cultural environments influence students' approaches to their study. This social and cultural contention has led to the rethinking and reconceptualization of theories (e.g. Biggs, 1987; Marton & Säljö, 1976) pertaining to student approaches to learning (SAL) in academic settings. Aims. The present research discusses two separate empirical studies on student learning approaches situated in the South Pacific region with two respective cohorts of secondary students. Study I involved the examination of secondary Pacific Islands students in their learning approaches using a modified version of Biggs' (1987) original Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ). Study II involved the administration of a revised version of the LPQ (R-LPQ-2F; Kember, Biggs, & Leung, 2004) to another cohort of secondary Pacific Islands students. Sample. The first sample included 2,150 (1,285 girls, 865 boys) students and the second sample included 2,295 (1,363 girls, 932 boys) students. Methods. The factor structures of approaches to learning were examined by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using the LISREL program. Different a priori models were hypothesized and tested. Results. Results of Study I indicated a two-factor structure solution to Biggs' LPQ, supporting Richardson's (1994) theoretical model of learning and emphasized the factors of 'Reproducing and Meaning'. Study II indicated a hierarchical organization of two main study approaches - deep and surface - that are structured as higher-order factors and a defined by four first-order factors. Conclusion. The results from the two studies accentuate the important argument for the rethinking and reconceptualization of learning approaches, as well as for the redevelopment and modification of learning inventories such as the LPQ. They also suggest the importance of situating the theoretical paradigm of learning approaches in a social and cultural environment.