A common thread in contemporary research in student learning refers to the ways in which students go about learning. A theory of learning is presented that accentuates the interaction between the person and the situation. Research evidence implies a form of meta-cognition called meta-learning, the awareness of students of their own learning processes and their increasing control over them. The concept of meta-learning leads to a model of student learning in which relationships among personal factors, the situational context, approaches to learning, and quality of outcome are mediated by the students' meta-learning capability. Instruments have been designed to measure the extent to which students endorse common approaches to learning tasks. These instruments--the Learning Process Questionnaire for secondary grades, and the Study Process Questionnaire for tertiary (postsecondary) use--are published separately. The research that resulted in the formulation of the theory of student learning is described, as are the sampling, instruments, and methods of the basic studies that determined the reliability and validity of the two instruments. Important implications of the model for teachers, counselors, and researchers are discussed. Fifty-three tables and 17 figures supplement the text and present data and relationships. (SLD)