INFORMATION-PROCESSING AND THE LEARNING CONTEXT - AN ANALYSIS FROM RECENT PERSPECTIVES IN COGNITIVE-PSYCHOLOGY

Biggs (1993) asked, 'What framework has more to offer researchers, teachers, and staff developers: that derived from IP, or from SAL?' His response was to argue that the Student Approaches to Learning perspective best accounts for the context specific motive and strategy components in students' approaches to learning, and their relationship to students' intentions, the teaching/learning context, and the quality of the learning outcome. In contrast, we believe that cross-fertilisation between the Information Processing and SAL perspectives can make a valuable contribution to the understanding of student learning. To illustrate this point, we examine how two more recent IP theories, namely Transfer Appropriate Processing theory and the item and relational information distinction, can inform our understanding of student learning. The major implications of these theories for the conceptualisation of student approaches to learning are: (a) student learning strategies are better classified according to whether they are 'task-appropriate' or 'task-inappropriate', rather than by the terms 'deep' or 'surface' strategies; and (b) students will achieve the maximum benefit from a combination of approaches to learning.