Students’ Learning Strategies, Conceptions, and Orientations in Continuing Learning Pathways in Vocational Education

Author(s):

Harm Biemans(presenting / submitting)Hans Mariën Loek Nieuwenhuis

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

02. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)

Format:

Paper

Session Information

02 SES 04 C, VET Pathways and Partnerships

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-03

09:00-10:30

Room:

B025 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Vidmantas Tutlys

Contribution

Introduction and Theoretical Framework

The Vocational Education and Training (VET) system in The Netherlands consists of three levels: pre-vocational secondary education (vmbo), secondary vocational education (mbo), and higher vocational education (hbo). For VET students, the transition from one educational level to the next is often problematic with high drop-out rates as a result (Visser et al., 2010). Comparable transition problems between successive educational levels have been recognised internationally as well (Hoelscher et al., 2008) and require a curriculum design solution to enable students to develop their competencies in seamless pathways without artificial barriers between educational levels (Harris & Rainey, 2012; Kuijpers et al., 2010).

Therefore, the Dutch government has stimulated the design of new continuing pathways (Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, 2005). Continuing pathways can be defined as “sequential educational programmes combined into a new educational programme: continuing pathways are characterised by curriculum continuity in particular competence areas or subjects lasting several years, and encompassing more than one qualification level” (Biemans et al., 2013, p. 109). Prominent examples of continuing pathways are the ‘Green Lyceum’ (GL) variants in the agricultural (or ‘green’) domain, covering vmbo and mbo levels and specifically designed for students with predicted cognitive abilities to reach the hbo level combined with a preference for practical assignments (see Biemans et al., 2013).

Since these new educational programmes are designed for a specific target group of students who are selected for admission based on the above-mentioned criteria, this study aims to describe these students in terms of learner characteristics, or, to be more specific, their (information) processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations. These variables can be defined as follows (Slaats et al., 1999, p. 477):

processing strategies: “particular, often-used combinations of cognitive learning activities aimed at content”;
regulation strategies: “strategies concerning the coordination and control of the learning process”;
conceptions of learning: “general views and beliefs about the nature and progress of knowledge and learning”;
motivational orientations: “long-term general educational goals students set for themselves”.

Being able to describe students in terms of these variables, makes it possible to examine differences between students in different study years. This is interesting from a theoretical point of view because it sheds some light on the question to what extent these learner characteristics are consistent across study years (cf. Koopman et al., 2011). Moreover, in the longer term, it is possible to examine whether/how students’ processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations change over time as students proceed in their educational pathway (cf. Koopman et al., 2011; Endedijk & Vermunt, 2013). Another, related issue is student satisfaction, assumed to be a key factor for school success. Up until now, it is not clear how the above-mentioned student variables are related to student satisfaction in continuing VET pathways (cf. Vermunt & Vermetten, 2004).

Therefore, the following research questions were formulated for the present study:

How can GL students be described in terms of processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations?
To what extent do GL students’ processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations correlate with student satisfaction (motivation for school, school wellbeing, and school satisfaction)?
To what extent do students in different GL study years differ with respect to processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations?

Method

Methodology In total, 879 GL students (473 boys; 406 girls; age: 11-18) completed an online questionnaire covering the research variables. The students came from 6 different schools (all the Dutch schools offering a GL programme) and their study year ranged between the first and the sixth GL study year. To assess the students’ processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations, the 62 items of the Inventory of Learning Styles for Secondary Vocational Education (ILS-VE) (Slaats & Roosendaal, 1996) were used. This instrument consisted of 8 scales: surface (7 items; α=0.86) vs. deep processing (7 items; α=0.80); internal (9 items; α=0.82) vs. external regulation (9 items; α=0.69); learning as the intake of information (9 items; α=0.79) vs. learning as knowledge building (9 items; α=0.77); and intrinsic (6 items; α=0.89) vs. extrinsic motivation (6 items; α=0.87). For each processing or regulation item, students indicated to what extent they applied the corresponding strategy in their own learning (1=never; 5=always). For each conception or orientation item, students answered to what degree they agreed with the statement (1= fully disagree; 5=fully agree). For each scale, a mean score was calculated for each student (a high mean score corresponded to a high frequency of strategy use and a low mean score to a low frequency of strategy use, etc.). To assess student satisfaction, 3 different scales were used: motivation for school (2 items; α=0.78), school wellbeing (15 items; α=0.87), and school satisfaction (3 items; α=0.78) (see Biemans et al., 2013). For each item, students had to indicate their level of agreement with the particular statement on a 5-point Likert scale (1=definitely not true; 5=definitely true). Again, for each scale, a mean score was calculated for each student (a high mean score corresponded to a high degree of student satisfaction and a low mean score to a low degree of satisfaction). To answer the first research question, descriptive statistics were used. Research question 2 was answered by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients between the ILS-VE scale mean scores and the 3 student satisfaction scale mean scores. To answer the third research question, an ANOVA analysis was carried out for each ILS-VE scale mean score with the independent variable Study Year (levels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

Expected Outcomes

Results and Conclusions On average, the students’ mean scores for the scales surface (M=2.77) and deep processing (M=2.71) and for the scales internal (M=2.65) and external regulation (M=2.51) were somewhat below the middle of the scale. Regarding the learning conception learning as the intake of information, students took a middle position (M=3.33) as well. With respect to the learning conception learning as knowledge building (M=3.73) and the learning orientations intrinsic (M=3.77) and extrinsic motivation (M=4.13), however, students had relatively high mean scores. GL students’ processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations appeared to correlate significantly with student satisfaction (motivation for school, school wellbeing, and school satisfaction (correlations were found between 0.13 and 0.61); the only exception was the scale External regulation). In other words, the higher the mean score on the ILS-VE scales, the higher student satisfaction. For all ILS-VE scales, students in different GL study years appeared to differ with respect to their mean scores (all differences were significant at the .01 level): for all scales, the trend was that the students’ mean scores decreased as the students proceeded in their educational programme. Games Howell post hoc tests revealed that this trend was most evident for the scales surface processing, learning as the intake of information, and intrinsic motivation: for these scales, most significant differences in mean scores between various study years were found. The conclusion could be drawn that students’ processing strategies, regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and motivational orientations were not consistent across study years. In other words, these learner characteristics seemed to be subject to change (cf. Koopman et al., 2011; Endedijk & Vermunt, 2013). A follow-up study in which these variables will be assessed in several successive years should provide more insight in this issue.

References

References Biemans, H.J.A., De Bruijn, E., Den Boer, P.R., & Teurlings, C.C.J. (2013). Differences in design format and powerful learning environment characteristics of continuing pathways in vocational education as related to student performance and satisfaction. Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 65(1), 108-126. Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (2005) Vmbo: het betere werk [Pre-vocational secondary education (vmbo): work of higher quality] (Den Haag: Ministerie van OCW). Endedijk, M.D., & Vermunt, J.D. (2013). Relations between student teachers’ learning patterns and their concrete learning activities. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 39, 56-65. Harris, R. & Rainey, L. (2012). Learning pathways between and within vocational and higher education: towards a typology? Australian Educational Researcher, 39, 107-123. Hoelscher, M., Hayward, G., Ertl, H., & Dunbar-Goddet, H. (2008). The transition from vocational education and training to higher education: a successful pathway? Research Papers in Education, 23(2), 139-151. Koopman, M., Den Brok, P., Beijaard, D., & Teune, P. (2011). Learning processes of students in pre-vocational secondary education: Relations between goal orientations, information processing strategies and development of conceptual knowledge. Learning and Individual Differences, 21, 426-431. Kuijpers, M., Badon Ghijben, J., Van Eijden, M., & Sprinkhuizen, P. (2010) De ontwikkeling van een doorlopende leerlijn vmbo-mbo [The development of a continuing pathway pre-vocational secondary education (vmbo) - secondary vocational education (mbo)] (Driebergen: Het Platform Beroepsonderwijs). Slaats, A., Lodewijks, H.G.L.C., & Van der Sanden, J.M.M. (1999). Learning styles in secondary vocational education: Disciplinary differences. Learning and Instruction, 9(5), 475-492. Slaats, A., & Roosendaal, L.A. (1996). Manual of the Inventory of learning styles for secondary vocational education. Tilburg: Tilburg University. Vermunt, J.D., & Vermetten, Y.J. (2004). Pattern in student learning: Relationships between learning strategies, conceptions of learning, and learning orientations. Educational Psychology Review, 16(4), 359-384. Visser, K., Westerhuis, A., & Hövels, B. (2010). De positie van het middelbaar beroepsonderwijs in het buitenland [The position of secondary vocational education abroad]. ’s-Hertogenbosch: ECBO.

Author Information

Harm Biemans (presenting / submitting)

Wageningen University

Education and Competence Studies

Wageningen

Hans Mariën

Tilburg University, Netherlands, The

Loek Nieuwenhuis

HAN, university of applied science Arnhem & Nijmegen

Expertise centre Quality of Learning

Nijmegen

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