Relationship between Students’ Conceptions and Approaches to Study and Learning: A Structural Equation Modeling Analysis

The present research article aimed to investigate the relationship between components of students’ conceptions and approaches to study and learning. The research method was descriptive-correlational. Statistical population included all the undergraduate and graduate students of Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman and the sample was comprised of 352 students in 2016-17 academic year who were selected through stratified random sampling. Research instrument included Conceptions of Learning Inventory (COLI) questionnaire (adopted from Purdie and Hattie, 2002) and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) questionnaire (adopted form Tait et.al, 1998). Validity of the instrument was confirmed through confirmatory factor analysis. Data were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling (SEM) in Lisrel software, version 8.8. The results showed that the proposed model fitted the data and could explain the relationship between the variables in a good manner. Accordingly, the direct effect of the variable “remembering, using and understanding information” on surface and deep approaches to learning, and also the direct effect of “learning as development of social competence” on adopting the deep approach to learning were positive and meaningful. The results suggest that adopting a deep approach to learning provides a better basis for students to adopt a strategic approach. Adopting this approach not only has impacts on students’ learning outcomes, but also can provide the context and conditions for adopting a strategic approach, which is one of the most important learning approaches among learners.