Approaches to Learning

The two most important factors, in my opinion, that affect a student's success is their motivation and their approach to learning. The two are linked, as I will highlight later. 

The two main types of motivation are intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation. Students classed as intrinsically motivated have been described by Newstead and Hoskins (2008) as those who are curious and want to master their subject, and in contrast describe extrinsically motivated students as those who are concerned with the grades they get and whether they will gain approval from others (Harter, 1981). These two types of motivation have, in the past, been linked to two different approaches to learning, described by Entwistle and Ramsden (1983) as deep and surface approaches. It is this link that can contribute to the understanding of why some students are more successful than others. 

In a nutshell, a student with a deep approach would be intent on understanding the material they were learning and would try to incorporate this into their existing knowledge, making links between the two. In contrast, a student with a surface approach would focus on rote learning of the material, their goal being to reproduce it in an examination. The literature has specifically linked intrinsic motivation to a deep approach and extrinsic motivation to a surface approach.

One possible explanation for student failure is the adoption of an inappropriate approach to learning. Drawing upon the link between approach to learning and motivation, one would expect an intrinsically motivated student to have a better academic performance than an extrinsically motivated individual, since the former would be most likely to take a deep approach to learning. However, as Clarke (1986) suggests in his work, there is unlikely to be a correlation between deep approach and academic success. This is not to say that students who take a deep approach are more likely to fail than to succeed; one can suggest that this failure can be attributed to an inappropriate choice of approach according to the circumstances. It is at this point that we introduce the concept of a strategic approach.

University students who take a strategic approach are ultimately concerned with obtaining good marks and in order to achieve this, they will vary their approach to learning depending on the circumstances. Evidence shows that students who do this are less likely to fail than students taking alternative approaches (Ferguson et al, 2002). 

I teach my students both how and when to use these various approaches to learning, with the aim of setting them up for success.