ERIC Number: EJ695674
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Jun
Pages: 19
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0007-0998
EISSN: N/A
Examining the Multidimensionality of Approaches to Learning through the Development of a Revised Version of the Learning Process Questionnaire
Kember, D.; Biggs, J.; Leung, D. Y. P.
British Journal of Educational Psychology, v74 n2 p261-279 Jun 2004
Aim: This study aimed to produce a revised two-factor version of the Learning Process Questionnaire (R-LPQ-2F) with deep and surface approach scales, measured by a reasonably small number of items, suitable for use by teachers in secondary schools to evaluate the learning approaches of their students. Method: A set of 41 items was derived, with modification, from the original version of the LPQ and from items used to develop the revised version of the SPQ. These items were tested using reliability procedures and confirmatory factor analysis and items were deleted until scales were of a suitable length and confirmatory factor analysis indicated a good fit to the intended two-factor structure. Sample: The sample consisted of 841 students from 20 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Results: The final two-factor version of the questionnaire had good Cronbach alpha values and reasonable goodness-of-fit values for the confirmatory analysis. There was a much better fit, though, to a hierarchical structure with motive and strategy subscales for each approach, each of which, in turn, had two subcomponents. Conclusion: Approaches to learning have a hierarchical dimensionality with motive and strategy elements. Each motive and strategy element is itself multidimensional. The results are used to question the conventional approach to the testing and acceptance of instruments, which place sole reliance upon reliability tests. The use of confirmatory factor analysis is recommended as a routine procedure in the development and testing of instruments.
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Foreign Countries, Questionnaires, Testing, Secondary Schools, Factor Analysis, Factor Structure
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A