Approaches to studying and course perceptions using the Lancaster inventory—A comparative study

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to explore the association between perceived contextual factors and students's approaches to studying using the two instruments developed for this purpose by Noel Entwistle & Paul Ramsden: the Approaches to Studying Inventory (ASI) and the Course Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ). These were administered to 1194 English-speaking students at the Cape Technikon. Alpha factor analysis of the 24 summated subscales of the two inventories was conducted for the population sample. Two main study orientations evidenced in the Lancaster programme, meaning orientation and reproducing orientation, were present in slightly modified forms, but the presence of a third, strategic orientation was not supported by the factor analysis. This finding is consistent with other studies. With the exception of an association between the workload subscale of the CPQ and the reproducing orientation of the ASI, there were no further associations between these two orientations and the contextual variables measured by the subscales of the CPQ. Further factor analyses of the items comprising the two instruments confirmed the integrity of the majority of the subscales of the ASI and the CPQ as far as the nature of the analyses would allow. This comparative study concludes that the ASI appears to be a useful instrument which produces conceptually meaningful results with respect to the two main study orientations. The CPQ, however, fails, at an individual level, to demonstrate that it provides an adequate instrument for exploring the relationships between learning context and approaches to studying. Areas which warrant investigation for the refinement of the ASI are identified and alternative methodologies to explore perceived contextual factors in conjunction with the ASI are suggested.