Do university students with better attitudes toward learning have better learning strategies compared to those students with poor attitudes? Do they also prefer deep learning approaches? These are the research questions that guide our work. We believe that this relationship does exist and that students with better attitudes will have better learning strategies and will prefer deep learning approaches. The objective of this work is to check whether such relationships exist within university students in the selected sample.

The results here enclosed are derived from a three-year research whose goals are obviously larger[1].

We start from a conception of the attitude as a tendency or learned predisposition, relatively durable, to evaluate in a certain way an object, person, group, event or situation, based on the available beliefs around the same. This tendency or predisposition leads to act favorably or unfavorably towards that object, person, group, event or situation, in a consistent manner with that evaluation. Therefore, attitudes are stable predispositions to value and act based on a relatively enduring organization of beliefs about reality that predisposes people to act in a certain way (Escámez, Garcia, Perez & Llopis, 2007; Escámez & Ortega, 1986; Garcia & Sales, 1997; Rokeach, 1979; Wander Zanden, 1989).

The relationship between attitudes and academic performance has been studied principally in primary and secondary students. In fact, there are works that reflect the relationship between attitudes and performance in such students. Akey (2006), Quiles (1993) and Ramirez (2005) works are some examples of what we say. There are also some studies that analyze the influence of attitudes on the performance of university students (Gargallo, Pérez, Serra, Sanchez & Ros, 200; Goolsby, 1988; House & Prion, 1998). However we don’t have found works that explain the keys of that relationship. In this sense, our work is trying to explain these keys, analyzing whether students with better attitudes also manage better learning strategies and use deep learning approaches. If this is checked, the relationship between attitudes, learning and performance may possibly be explained.

The Bologna process of convergence, in which many European countries are involved recommends a university pedagogy that is based on the model learning centered (student-centered learning, learning paradigm) (Attard, Di Ioio, Geven & Santa, 2010, Biggs, 2005; Kember, 2009; Monereo &  Pozo, 2003; Samuelowicz & Bain, 2001).

This model requires to teachers to undergo new teaching and evaluation methods and also demand greater student engagement, which is a key element of the process. Students must have an especially active role in this process to become more,  autonomous and self-regulated learners (Hannafin, 2012, Machemer & Crawford, 2007).

In our opinion, if attitudes to learning are critical in the process and influence the strategies and approaches to learning of students, as we think, we can offer to other Spanish and European universities relevant data and training proposals of interest. To check it we are collecting data from students of three universities in the city of Valencia (Spain).

[1] It is the "Learning-centered methodologies at the university. Design, implementation and assessment”, approved by the Spanish Economy and Competitiveness’ Ministry into the National Basic Research Program, 2001 (2013-2015) (Financing Plan E, PGE), directed by Professor Ph.D. Bernardo Gargallo (code EDU2012-32725).

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