Testing two path models to explore relationships between students’ experiences of the teaching–learning environment, approaches to learning and academic achievement

Abstract

The study explores the relationships between students’ experiences of the teaching–learning environment and their approaches to learning, and the effects of these variables on academic achievement. Two three-stage models were tested with structural equation modelling techniques. The Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) and the Experiences of Teaching and Learning Questionnaire (ETLQ) were used to assess approaches to learning and student’s experiences of the teaching–learning environment, respectively. These two constructs were then used as either first- or second-stage variables within the path analysis. The model using approaches to learning as a mediating variable showed the best fit with our data; variations in our students’ experiences of the teaching–learning environment appear to give rise to their approaches to studying, which subsequently affect their achievement. The deep approach shows no detectable influence on academic achievement in this sample, neither there are any direct effects of experiences of the teaching–learning environment on it. The indirect effects of these experiences on achievement, acting through the strategic and the surface approaches, are related to two aspects of the teaching–learning environment only, namely congruence and coherence in course organisation, and integrative learning and critical thinking. The finding of a reciprocal relation between approaches to learning and experiences of the teaching–learning environment supports previous conclusions about the association between these constructs. The indirect effect of experiences of the teaching–learning environment on achievement, acting through approaches to learning, shows those approaches as a dynamic construct that varies in line with experiences of the teaching-learning environment, and so influences achievement.

Keywords:

• experiences of the teaching–learning environment
• ETLQ
• approaches to learning
• ASSIST
• academic achievement
• university students
• structural equation modelling

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the advice given by Prof Noel Entwistle relating to the description of the research instruments and other aspects of the study. The authors also express their sincere thanks to the editor and four anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.

Notes

1. Note that in our version, questions on course-work and feedback were excluded as irrelevant to the current academic context and questions on staff enthusiasm and support loaded on teaching for understanding and encouraging learning, according to relevant theoretical suggestions (e.g. Entwistle & Karagiannopoulou, in press; Ramsden, 2003).