EXAMINING VARIED CONCEPTIONS OF LEARNING AMONG MIXED ABILITY STUDENTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Keywords:
Learning conception, mixed ability students, remembering, gaining information
Abstract
The study intended to examine the learning conceptions among average, below average and above average students from ten public schools in Lahore. The total sample (n=300) participating in the study comprised of 135 boys and 165 girls. In order to explore secondary school students’ conceptions of learning, data were collected using the ‘Conceptions of Learning Inventory’ developed by Purdie and Hattie (2002). Results indicated that the high achieving students tend to hold more conceptions of learning in terms of gaining, using and understanding information and personal change. High achieving male students held significantly more conceptions of learning as compared to female counterparts. This study presents implications for policy makers and education authorities to reform the school education system by introducing effective ways of learning to students according to their academic needs.
References
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Campbell, W. E., & Smith, K. A. (Eds.). (1997). New paradigms for college teaching. Interaction Book Company.
Candy, P. C. (1990). How people learn to learn. In R. M. Smith et al., Learning to learn across the life span (pp. 30–63). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cano, F., & Cardelle-Elawar, M. (2004). An integrated analysis of secondary school students’ conceptions and beliefs about learning. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 19, 167-187. doi:10.1007/BF03173230
Chin‐Chung., Tsai. (2004) Conceptions of learning science among high school students in Taiwan: A phenomenographic analysis, International Journal of Science Education, 26(14), 1733- 1750. doi: 10.1080/0950069042000230776
Dart, B. C., Burnett, P. C., Purdie, N., Boulton-Lewis, G., Campbell, J., & Smith, D. (2000). Students’ conceptions of learning, the classroom environment, and approaches to learning. Journal of Educational Research, 93, 262-270. doi:10.1080/00220670009598715
Dart, B., Pillay, H. and Burnett, P.C. (2000) ‘Australian and Filipino Students’ Approaches to Learning, Conceptions of Learning, and Learner Self-Concepts: A Cross Cultural Comparison’, Educational Research Journal, 15,143– 66.
Drew, P. Y., & Watkins, D. (1998). Affective variables, learning approaches and academic achievement: A causal modelling investigation with Hong Kong tertiary students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68(2), 173-188.
doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1998.tb01282.x
Eklund-Myrskog, G. (1998) ‘Students Conceptions of Learning in Different Educational Contexts’, Higher Education, 35(3): 299–316. doi.org/10.1023/A:1003145613005
Ellis, R. A., Goodyear, P., Calvo, R. A., & Prosser, M. (2008). Engineering students’conceptions of and approaches to learning through discussions in face-to-face and online contexts. Learning and Instruction, 18, 267-282. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.06.001
Entwistle, N. J., & Peterson, E. R. (2004). Conceptions of learning and knowledge in higher education: Relationships with study behaviour and influences of learning environments. International Journal of Educational Research, 41(6), 407-428. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2005.08.009
Guo-Li Chiou , Jyh-Chong Liang & Chin-Chung Tsai (2012) Undergraduate Students’ Conceptions of and Approaches to Learning in Biology: A study of their structural models and gender differences, International Journal of Science Education, 34(2), 167- 195. doi: 10.1080/09500693.2011.558131
Hemati Alamdarloo, G., & Moradi, S. (2013). The relationship between students’ conceptions of learning and their academic achievement. Psychology, 4(1), 44-49. doi: 10.4236/psych.2013.41006
Hoffman, B. (2015). The 5 most powerful self-beliefs that ignite human behavior.
Hussain, A., & Awan, A. G. Comparison of the achievements of public and private secondary schools in district Khanewal Pakistan. Global Journal of Management, Social Sciences and Humanities, 4(3), 574-605.
Imran, M. (2008). A comparative study of quality of education in public and private secondary schools of Punjab (Doctoral dissertation, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi Pakistan). ISSN 2520-7113 (Print), ISSN 2520-7121 (Online)
LAI, P. Y. M., & CHAN, K. W. (2005). A structural model of conceptions of learning, achievement motivation and learning strategies of Hong Kong teacher education students. Paper presented at the Australian Association of Research in Education Parramatta Conference, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Lee, Y. (1998). Assessing and fostering senior secondary school students’ conceptions and understanding of learning through authentic assessment. Master’s Thesis, Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong. docid=U0029-1812201200001451
Lin, M., & Tsai, C. (2008). Conceptions of learning management among undergraduate students in Taiwan. Management Learning, 39, 561-578. doi:10.1177/1350507608096041
Lin, T. J., & Tsai, C. C. (2013). An investigation of Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy in relation to their conceptions of learning science. Research in Science & Technological Education, 31(3), 308-323. doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2013.841673
Malik. K.S., Zaheer, I. (2012). An Analysis of Pakistan Studies Question Papers at Secondary Level. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4 (5), 340-366.
Marshall, D., Summer, M., & Woolnough, B. (1999). Students' conceptions of learning in an engineering context. Higher Education, 38(3), 291-309. doi.org/10.1023/A:1003866607873
Marton, F. and Saljo, R. (1976a) ‘On Qualitative Differences in Learning. I: Outcome and Process’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 4–11. doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1976.tb02980.x
Marton, F. and Saljo, R. (1976b) ‘On Qualitative Differences in Learning II: Outcome as a Function of the Learner’s Conception of the Task’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 115–27. doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1976.tb02980.x
Marton, F. M., Watkins, D., & Tang, C. (1997). Discontinuities and continuities in the experience of learning: An interview study of high-school students in Hong Kong. Learning and Instruction, 7, 21–48.
Marton, F., Dall’Alba, G., & Beaty, E. (1993). Conceptions of learning. International Journal of Educational Research, 19, 227-300.
McLean, M. (2001). Can we relate conceptions of learning to student academic achievement? Teaching in Higher Education, 6, 399-413. doi:10.1080/13562510120061241
Morris, J. (2001). The conceptions of the nature of learning of first-year physiotherapy students and their relationship to students' learning outcomes. Medical Teacher, 23(5), 503-507. doi.org/10.1080/01421590120057067a
Peterson, E. R., Brown, G. T., & Irving, S. E. (2010). Secondary school students' conceptions of learning and their relationship to achievement. Learning and individual differences, 20(3), 167-176. doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.12.004
Pinto, G., Bigozzi, L., Vettori, G., & Vezzani, C. (2018). The relationship between conceptions of learning and academic outcomes in middle school students according to gender differences. Learning, culture and social interaction, 16, 45-54. doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.11.001
Prosser, M. and Trigwell, K. (1999) Understanding Teaching and Learning: The Experience in Higher Education. Buckingham: Open University Press
Rahman, T. (2004). Denizens of alien worlds: A survey of students and teachers at Pakistanʼs urdu and English language-medium schools, and madrassas. Contemporary South Asia, 13(3), 307. doi.org/10.1080/0958493042000272212
Saljo, R. (1979) Learning from the Learner’s Perspective. I: Some Common Sense Conceptions (Rep. No. 76). Goteborg, Sweden: University of Goteborg, Institute of Education.
Samuelsson, M., & Samuelsson, J. (2016). Gender differences in boys’ and girls’ perception of teaching and learning mathematics. Open Review of Educational Research, 3(1), 18-34. doi.org/10.1080/23265507.2015.1127770
Sheikh, M. S., & Loan, F. A. (2010). Reading habits among college students of Kashmir across genders. Trends in Information Management, 2(2), 92-103.
Steketee, C. N. (1997). Conceptions of learning held by students in the lower, middle and upper grades of primary school. In Proceedings of Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Forum.
Trigwell, K. and Prosser, M. (1991). ‘Improving the Quality of Student Learning: The Influence of Learning Context and Student Approaches to Learning on Learning Outcomes’, Higher Education, 22, 251–66. doi.org/10.1007/BF00132290
Van Rossum, E. and Schenk, S. (1984) ‘The Relationship between Learning Concepts, Study Strategy and Learning Outcome’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 73–83.
doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1984.tb00846.x
Vedenpää, I., & Lonka, K. (2014). Teachers’ and teacher students’ conceptions of learning and creativity. Creative Education, 5(20), 1821. Doi.10.4236/ce.2014.520203
Vezzani, C., Vettori, G., & Pinto, G. (2018). University students’ conceptions of learning across multiple domains. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 33(4), 665-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-017-0349-6
Zeegers, P. (2014). Student learning in higher education. The path analysis of academic achievement in science education. Higher Edu, 23, 35-56.
Allan, B. (2003). Approaches to learning and academic achievement of Filipino students. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 164, 101-114. doi:10.1080/00221320309597506
Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., Pietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. John Wiley & Sons.
Biggs, J. and Moore, P. (1993) The Process of Learning, 3rd edn. New York: Prentice Hall.
Boulton-Lewis, G. M., Marton, F., Lewis, D. C., & Wilss, L. A. (2000). Learning in formal and informal contexts: Conceptions and strategies of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander university students. Learning and Instruction, 10(5), 393-414. doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4752(00)00005-0
Boulton-Lewis, G.M., Lewis, D. & Wilss, L. (2001). Changes in conceptions of learning fo Indigenous Australian university students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 327-341. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709901158550
Burnett, P. C., Pillay, H., & Dart, B. C. (2003). The influences of conceptions of learning and learner self-concept on high school students' approaches to learning. School Psychology International, 24(1), 54-66. doi.org/10.1177/0143034303024001621
Campbell, W. E., & Smith, K. A. (Eds.). (1997). New paradigms for college teaching. Interaction Book Company.
Candy, P. C. (1990). How people learn to learn. In R. M. Smith et al., Learning to learn across the life span (pp. 30–63). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Cano, F., & Cardelle-Elawar, M. (2004). An integrated analysis of secondary school students’ conceptions and beliefs about learning. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 19, 167-187. doi:10.1007/BF03173230
Chin‐Chung., Tsai. (2004) Conceptions of learning science among high school students in Taiwan: A phenomenographic analysis, International Journal of Science Education, 26(14), 1733- 1750. doi: 10.1080/0950069042000230776
Dart, B. C., Burnett, P. C., Purdie, N., Boulton-Lewis, G., Campbell, J., & Smith, D. (2000). Students’ conceptions of learning, the classroom environment, and approaches to learning. Journal of Educational Research, 93, 262-270. doi:10.1080/00220670009598715
Dart, B., Pillay, H. and Burnett, P.C. (2000) ‘Australian and Filipino Students’ Approaches to Learning, Conceptions of Learning, and Learner Self-Concepts: A Cross Cultural Comparison’, Educational Research Journal, 15,143– 66.
Drew, P. Y., & Watkins, D. (1998). Affective variables, learning approaches and academic achievement: A causal modelling investigation with Hong Kong tertiary students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 68(2), 173-188.
doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1998.tb01282.x
Eklund-Myrskog, G. (1998) ‘Students Conceptions of Learning in Different Educational Contexts’, Higher Education, 35(3): 299–316. doi.org/10.1023/A:1003145613005
Ellis, R. A., Goodyear, P., Calvo, R. A., & Prosser, M. (2008). Engineering students’conceptions of and approaches to learning through discussions in face-to-face and online contexts. Learning and Instruction, 18, 267-282. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2007.06.001
Entwistle, N. J., & Peterson, E. R. (2004). Conceptions of learning and knowledge in higher education: Relationships with study behaviour and influences of learning environments. International Journal of Educational Research, 41(6), 407-428. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2005.08.009
Guo-Li Chiou , Jyh-Chong Liang & Chin-Chung Tsai (2012) Undergraduate Students’ Conceptions of and Approaches to Learning in Biology: A study of their structural models and gender differences, International Journal of Science Education, 34(2), 167- 195. doi: 10.1080/09500693.2011.558131
Hemati Alamdarloo, G., & Moradi, S. (2013). The relationship between students’ conceptions of learning and their academic achievement. Psychology, 4(1), 44-49. doi: 10.4236/psych.2013.41006
Hoffman, B. (2015). The 5 most powerful self-beliefs that ignite human behavior.
Hussain, A., & Awan, A. G. Comparison of the achievements of public and private secondary schools in district Khanewal Pakistan. Global Journal of Management, Social Sciences and Humanities, 4(3), 574-605.
Imran, M. (2008). A comparative study of quality of education in public and private secondary schools of Punjab (Doctoral dissertation, Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi Pakistan). ISSN 2520-7113 (Print), ISSN 2520-7121 (Online)
LAI, P. Y. M., & CHAN, K. W. (2005). A structural model of conceptions of learning, achievement motivation and learning strategies of Hong Kong teacher education students. Paper presented at the Australian Association of Research in Education Parramatta Conference, University of Western Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Lee, Y. (1998). Assessing and fostering senior secondary school students’ conceptions and understanding of learning through authentic assessment. Master’s Thesis, Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong. docid=U0029-1812201200001451
Lin, M., & Tsai, C. (2008). Conceptions of learning management among undergraduate students in Taiwan. Management Learning, 39, 561-578. doi:10.1177/1350507608096041
Lin, T. J., & Tsai, C. C. (2013). An investigation of Taiwanese high school students’ science learning self-efficacy in relation to their conceptions of learning science. Research in Science & Technological Education, 31(3), 308-323. doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2013.841673
Malik. K.S., Zaheer, I. (2012). An Analysis of Pakistan Studies Question Papers at Secondary Level. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4 (5), 340-366.
Marshall, D., Summer, M., & Woolnough, B. (1999). Students' conceptions of learning in an engineering context. Higher Education, 38(3), 291-309. doi.org/10.1023/A:1003866607873
Marton, F. and Saljo, R. (1976a) ‘On Qualitative Differences in Learning. I: Outcome and Process’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 4–11. doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1976.tb02980.x
Marton, F. and Saljo, R. (1976b) ‘On Qualitative Differences in Learning II: Outcome as a Function of the Learner’s Conception of the Task’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 115–27. doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1976.tb02980.x
Marton, F. M., Watkins, D., & Tang, C. (1997). Discontinuities and continuities in the experience of learning: An interview study of high-school students in Hong Kong. Learning and Instruction, 7, 21–48.
Marton, F., Dall’Alba, G., & Beaty, E. (1993). Conceptions of learning. International Journal of Educational Research, 19, 227-300.
McLean, M. (2001). Can we relate conceptions of learning to student academic achievement? Teaching in Higher Education, 6, 399-413. doi:10.1080/13562510120061241
Morris, J. (2001). The conceptions of the nature of learning of first-year physiotherapy students and their relationship to students' learning outcomes. Medical Teacher, 23(5), 503-507. doi.org/10.1080/01421590120057067a
Peterson, E. R., Brown, G. T., & Irving, S. E. (2010). Secondary school students' conceptions of learning and their relationship to achievement. Learning and individual differences, 20(3), 167-176. doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2009.12.004
Pinto, G., Bigozzi, L., Vettori, G., & Vezzani, C. (2018). The relationship between conceptions of learning and academic outcomes in middle school students according to gender differences. Learning, culture and social interaction, 16, 45-54. doi.org/10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.11.001
Prosser, M. and Trigwell, K. (1999) Understanding Teaching and Learning: The Experience in Higher Education. Buckingham: Open University Press
Rahman, T. (2004). Denizens of alien worlds: A survey of students and teachers at Pakistanʼs urdu and English language-medium schools, and madrassas. Contemporary South Asia, 13(3), 307. doi.org/10.1080/0958493042000272212
Saljo, R. (1979) Learning from the Learner’s Perspective. I: Some Common Sense Conceptions (Rep. No. 76). Goteborg, Sweden: University of Goteborg, Institute of Education.
Samuelsson, M., & Samuelsson, J. (2016). Gender differences in boys’ and girls’ perception of teaching and learning mathematics. Open Review of Educational Research, 3(1), 18-34. doi.org/10.1080/23265507.2015.1127770
Sheikh, M. S., & Loan, F. A. (2010). Reading habits among college students of Kashmir across genders. Trends in Information Management, 2(2), 92-103.
Steketee, C. N. (1997). Conceptions of learning held by students in the lower, middle and upper grades of primary school. In Proceedings of Western Australian Institute for Educational Research Forum.
Trigwell, K. and Prosser, M. (1991). ‘Improving the Quality of Student Learning: The Influence of Learning Context and Student Approaches to Learning on Learning Outcomes’, Higher Education, 22, 251–66. doi.org/10.1007/BF00132290
Van Rossum, E. and Schenk, S. (1984) ‘The Relationship between Learning Concepts, Study Strategy and Learning Outcome’, British Journal of Educational Psychology, 54, 73–83.
doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.1984.tb00846.x
Vedenpää, I., & Lonka, K. (2014). Teachers’ and teacher students’ conceptions of learning and creativity. Creative Education, 5(20), 1821. Doi.10.4236/ce.2014.520203
Vezzani, C., Vettori, G., & Pinto, G. (2018). University students’ conceptions of learning across multiple domains. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 33(4), 665-684. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-017-0349-6
Zeegers, P. (2014). Student learning in higher education. The path analysis of academic achievement in science education. Higher Edu, 23, 35-56.
Published
2020-03-31
How to Cite
Kiran Shehzadi, Tahira Afridi,Um-e Farwa. (2020). EXAMINING VARIED CONCEPTIONS OF LEARNING AMONG MIXED ABILITY STUDENTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Epistemology, 7(3), 125-135. Retrieved from https://journal.epistemology.pk/index.php/epistemology/article/view/129
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Articles
