Åge Diseth

Personality and approaches to learning as predictors of academic achievement

The relationship between personality, approaches to learning, and academic achievement was investigated. Two different undergraduate student samples, totalling 310 students, participated in the study. Results showed the expected significant correlations between the personality factors of openness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness, on the one hand, and deep, surface, and strategic approaches to learning, on the other. A significant negative correlation between surface approach and achievement was observed in sample 1. In sample 2, achievement was positively correlated with neuroticism, openness, and deep approach, and negatively correlated with agreeableness. Path analysis showed that each approach to learning was predicted by multiple personality traits, and that academic achievement was predicted by approaches to learning. A separate analysis showed that the relationship between openness and achievement was mediated by a deep approach to learning. Copyright

Approaches to Learning, Cognitive Style, and Motives as Predictors of Academic Achievement

The purpose of the present study was to analyse the relationship between approaches to learning (deep, strategic, and surface), cognitive style, motives, and academic achievement. A sample of 192 undergraduate psychology students with a mean age of 21.7 years participated. Motives and styles were related to the three approaches to learning in theoretically meaningful ways. Moreover, approaches to learning were found to predict academic achievement, while styles and motives only had indirect effects on achievement. Among the approaches to learning, the deep approach unexpectedly did not predict achievement, while the surface and strategic approaches as expected significantly predicted achievement.

Approaches to learning, course experience and examination grade among undergraduate psychology students: testing of mediator effects and construct validity

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between course experience, students’ approaches to learning, effort, ability and examination grade, and to examine aspects of construct validity in the present versions of the Course Experience Questionnaire and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students in a sample of 206 undergraduate psychology students. The results showed that course experience, students’ approaches to learning and ability were significantly correlated with examination grade, whereas effort was not. Structural equation modelling showed that a surface approach mediated the relationship between course experience and academic achievement, whereas ability remained an independent predictor of achievement. These findings indicate that both ability and approaches to learning have considerable independent effects on academic achievement, and that the students’ perceptions of the learning environment are important sources of approaches to learning.

A mediation analysis of achievement motives, goals, learning strategies, and academic achievement

BACKGROUND Previous research is inconclusive regarding antecedents and consequences of achievement goals, and there is a need for more research in order to examine the joint effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement. AIMS To investigate the relationship between achievement motives, achievement goals, learning strategies (deep, surface, and strategic), and academic achievement in a hierarchical model. SAMPLE Participants were 229 undergraduate students (mean age: 21.2 years) of psychology and economics at the University of Bergen, Norway. METHODS Variables were measured by means of items from the Achievement Motives Scale (AMS), the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students, and an achievement goal scale. RESULTS Correlation analysis showed that academic achievement (examination grade) was positively correlated with performance-approach goal, mastery goal, and strategic learning strategies, and negatively correlated with performance-avoidance goal and surface learning strategy. A path analysis (structural equation model) showed that achievement goals were mediators between achievement motives and learning strategies, and that strategic learning strategies mediated the relationship between achievement goals and academic achievement. CONCLUSIONS This study integrated previous findings from several studies and provided new evidence on the direct and indirect effects of different types of motives and learning strategies as predictors of academic achievement.

A path analysis of basic need support, self-efficacy, achievement goals, life satisfaction and academic achievement level among secondary school students

Teachers’ support of basic psychological needs, self-efficacy, achievement goals, life satisfaction and academic achievement level was measured in a sample of 240 secondary school students (8th and 10th grades). Correlation analysis showed significant positive relations between all of the variables, except for the relation between need support of competence and performance goals. A subsequent path analysis showed that these variables could be accounted for by a structural model that described basic need support as predictors of self-efficacy and achievement goals, which in turn predicted academic achievement level and perceived life satisfaction. Analysis of intra-class correlation and design effect showed that need support of relatedness also was accounted for by class level responses. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed in terms of the importance of basic need support as a predictor of personal motives in educational settings as well as the students adjustment to school and life.

The Relationship between Intelligence, Approaches to Learning and Academic Achievement.

Three different tests of intelligence and the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students were administered to 89 Norwegian undergraduate psychology students. The purpose was to investigate the relationship between intelligence, approaches to learning and academic achievement. Factor analysis supported a one-factor solution of the three intelligence tests as an expression of general intelligence. No relationship between general intelligence and approaches to learning was observed. The WAIS vocabulary test of intelligence and the surface approach to learning were negatively correlated. The WAIS vocabulary test of intelligence and the surface approach to learning predicted academic achievement. A curvilinear relationship between surface approach and academic achievement was observed. Multiple regression analysis showed interaction effects between deep-strategic and surface-strategic approaches to learning as predictors of academic achievement. The findings support the construct validity of approaches to learning due to its independence of intelligence.

Positive symptoms and duration of illness predict functional laterality and attention modulation in schizophrenia.

Objective:  Dichotic listening (DL) performance in schizophrenia, reflecting hemispheric asymmetry and the functional integrity of the left temporal lobe, can vary with clinical characteristics. Previous studies have not taken the co‐linearity of clinical variables into account. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the roles of positive symptoms and duration of illness in DL through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), thus allowing for complex relationships between the variables.

Quality of life model: predictors of quality of life among sick older adults.

The aim of this study was to explore how depressive symptoms, physical function, health satisfaction, age, and environmental conditions predict quality of life (QoL) in a conceptual model based on the Wilson and Cleary’s Model (WCM). A stratified sample by age, gender, and living area was drawn from the Norwegian population of older adults receiving community health care (mean age of 78.6 years, 94.4% living at home, 5.6% living in nursing homes). The study is part of a larger international study. Face-to-face interviews were conducted using the WHOQoL-Old, the WHOQoL-Bref Environment domain, the Geriatric Depression Scale, the Short Form SF-12, and sociodemographic and health questions. A path analysis (structural equation modeling) showed that the overall model provided empirical evidence for linkages in the WCM. QoL was manifested by significant direct effects of environmental conditions and health satisfaction. In addition, environmental conditions had indirect effects on QoL, in particular via depressive symptoms and health satisfaction. This model may help nurses in community health care to collect and assess information, to suggest suitable interventions, and to guide decision making.

Reliability and validity of the Norwegian WHOQOL-OLD module

The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the Norwegian WHOQOL-OLD six-facet, 24-item module designed for assessing generic quality of life cross-culturally among the elderly. Using quota-stratified sampling defined on the basis of sex, age and geographical representation, 401 respondents were drawn from Statistics Norway and completed postal surveys. An additional 89 elderly completed personal interviews. Correlation and multivariate analyses partly confirmed the relevance of individual items and facets in both groups. All items correlated significantly higher with their original facets, although almost half of these items correlated with other facets in both groups. Multiple regression analysis of the module and two overall questions (dependent variables) showed that three facets made significant contributions to overall health, with Social Participation (B = 0.09) contributing most strongly in the postal-group. In the interview-group, only Social Participation (B = 0.20) was found to make a significant contribution, and this was in relation to overall health satisfaction. When the WHOQOL-BREF total score was considered as the dependent variable, different facets contributed significantly in both groups. Exploratory factor analysis of the WHOQOL-OLD in the combined group of both postal and interview samples, resulted in a five-factor solution (eigenvalues >1) explaining 65% of the cumulative variance in five of the six originally operationalized facets. The most conceptually clear facets were Death and Dying and Sensory Abilities. Further, confirmatory factor analyses in the combined group demonstrated a model with good fit, but with high covariance between the factors. Acceptable internal consistency was shown except for the Past, Present and Future Activities in both groups. Since construct validity was only partially confirmed, exploration of the scales conceptual validity needs further testing in Norwegian and international samples.

Education of Prison Inmates: Course Experience, Motivation, and Learning Strategies as Indicators of Evaluation.

Course experience, motivational beliefs, and self-regulated learning strategies may be considered to be important indicators of education quality. Inmates taking education in prison may also experience particular problems related to the learning environment and to their own learning difficulties. The present study investigated the level of these variables and the relationship between them among 534 inmates under education in Norwegian prisons. The results showed that the prison inmates are generally quite satisfied with the education quality, that they are highly motivated, and use appropriate learning strategies. However, many of them experience that problems such as lack of access to computer equipment and the security routines in prison interfere with their education. A structural equation modelling (SEM) analysis showed that motivational beliefs were mediators between course experience and self-regulated learning strategies. These findings were discussed with respect to improvement of the education quality in prisons and to theoretical issues with relevance beyond the prison context.