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Learning Approaches: Cross-Cultural Differences (Spain–Argentina) and Academic Achievement in College Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 June 2023

Agustín Freiberg-Hoffmann Open the ORCID record for Agustín Freiberg-Hoffmann [Opens in a new window] ,
Agustín Romero-Medina Open the ORCID record for Agustín Romero-Medina [Opens in a new window] ,
Beatriz López-Fernández Open the ORCID record for Beatriz López-Fernández [Opens in a new window]  and
Mercedes Fernández-Liporace Open the ORCID record for Mercedes Fernández-Liporace [Opens in a new window]
Agustín Freiberg-Hoffmann
Affiliation:
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Argentina) Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Agustín Romero-Medina*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
Beatriz López-Fernández
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
Mercedes Fernández-Liporace
Affiliation:
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (Argentina) Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Agustín Romero-Medina. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Psicología Básica y Metodología. Campus de Espinardo, Facultad de Psicología. 30100 Murcia (Spain). E-mail: agustinr@um.es
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Abstract

Learning approaches describe the students’ degree of cognitive commitment to learning in diverse types of academic tasks and educational environments. Even though from a micro-level perspective different profiles of approaches have been identified in high-achievement undergraduates attending several majors, such profiles have not been examined from a macro-level approach in terms of distinct educational cultures. Therefore, the research involved two studies conducted on undergraduates from Argentina and Spain: The first one was aimed at analyzing the psychometric features of the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) whereas the second was focused on examining the learning approaches profiles of high and low achievers attending the same major (Psychology) in two different educational cultures (Spain and Argentina). The scale’s original internal structure, examined on a sample of 400 participants (50% Spanish), was verified except for one item, which was fatherly eliminated. The resulting structure was tested and proven verified in a new sample (N = 1,334; 58.3% Spanish) by confirmatory factor analysis, factorial invariance, and internal consistency studies. External validity evidence was examined as well. Additionally, norms to be used in the professional field were calculated.

Profiles of learning approaches by academic achievement from each country were examined by latent class analysis. In both cases, high achievers reported higher and more frequent use of the Deep and Strategic approaches and lower and less frequent usage of the Surface one. Further studies should replicate these analyses in undergraduates attending other majors in order to test the hypothesis sustaining these findings’ generalization.

Keywords

academic achievementASSISTcross-culturallearning approacheslearning profiles

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 26 , 2023 , e16
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de la Psicología de Madrid

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Footnotes

Funding Statement: This study was developed with the support of a funding grant from the Agencia Nacional de Promoción de la Investigación, el Desarrollo Tecnológico y la Innovación (PICT–2020–SERIEA–00087) as well as another funding grant (PIP #11220200100352CO) and an external postdoctoral fellowship from the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET).

Conflicts of Interest: None.

Data Sharing: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Authorship credit: Conceptualization by Freiberg-Hoffmann, Romero-Medina, López-Fernández and Fernández-Liporace; methodology by Freiberg-Hoffmann; data collection by Freiberg-Hoffmann and Romero-Medina; visualization by Freiberg-Hoffmann; writing-original draft by Freiberg-Hoffmann, Romero-Medina, López-Fernández and Fernández-Liporace; writing-rewriting and editing by Freiberg-Hoffmann, Romero-Medina and Fernández-Liporace.

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