TITLE:
The Relationship between Students’ Approach to Learning and Lifelong Learning
AUTHORS:
Rita Barros, Angélica Monteiro, Fouad Nejmedinne, José António Moreira
KEYWORDS:
Higher Education; Learning Styles; Lifelong Learning
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.4 No.11,
November
13,
2013
ABSTRACT:
The current
investigation proposes to analyse the relationship between learning, from the
appropriation students’ make of the different ways of learning and studying,
and their willingness to be involved in lifelong learning (LL) activities. The
theoretical rationale is inscribed in the Biggs’ Theory (1987), concerning the
student’s approach to learning, and under the guiding principle of LL. The
concept of LL has been understood and formalised in a distinct way, translated
into different educational policies, the practices of which must be empirically
supported. We present a correlational study, with a sample of 163 Higher
Education students. The approaches to learning were supported by the revised
two-factor study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F).
To evaluate the involvement of students in LL activities, the contents of some
items of the Lifelong Learning Questionnaire (Kirby, Knapper, Lamon, &
Egnatoff, 2010) were used. The results obtained in the correlational analysis
allow us to associate the deep approach to some characteristics of learners
throughout their life, especially concerning the establishing of goals and the
self-direction of learning, whereas the superficial approach is mainly
associated with the adaptation of learning strategies. The practical
implications of these results are discussed below.