This article was downloaded by: [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora]

On: 06 March 2012, At: 04:04

Publisher: Routledge
Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered
office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Vocational Education &

Training
Publication details, including instructions for authors and
subscription information:
http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rjve20

The influence of learning environment

on student conceptions of learning
a

Peter J. Smith & Damian Blake

a

Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University, Australia

Available online: 21 Sep 2009

To cite this article: Peter J. Smith & Damian Blake (2009): The influence of learning environment
on student conceptions of learning, Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 61:3, 231-246
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13636820902996517

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-andconditions
This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any
substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden.
The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation
that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any
instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary
sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings,
demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or
indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

Vol. 61, No. 3, September 2009, 231246

The influence of learning environment on student conceptions

of learning
Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

Peter J. Smith* and Damian Blake

Faculty of Arts and Education Deakin University, Australia
(Received 7 April 2008; final version received 17 April 2009)
Taylor and Francis
RJVE_A_399823.sgm

Journal
10.1080/13636820902996517
0729-4360
Original
Taylor
302009
61
Dr
pjbs@deakin.edu.au
00000September
PeterSmith
&
ofArticle
Francis
Vocational
(print)/1469-8366
2009
Education
(online)
and Training

Responding to the increasing numbers of students who now study across more than
one of the traditional sectors of education and training, this research explored
quantitative differences in conceptions of learning between students who had
entered university study on the basis of a VET qualification, and those who had
entered on a basis of previous university studies. Using the Conceptions of Learning
Inventory the research also used gender as an independent variable. While some
differences were shown between the previously-VET and previously-university
students and some differences between genders these differences were characterised
by low to moderate effect sizes only. The authors conclude that the quantitative
differences are not particularly important, but that qualitative research may indicate
differences in kind between the conceptions of learning of the two groups.
Keywords: conceptions of learning; vocational education; technical and further
education (TAFE); gender

Introduction and context

Post-secondary education in Australia, along with much of the rest of the planet, is
undergoing significant change and re-alignment between the sectors. Over the past
couple of decades post-secondary education has been represented by three identifiable
formal education sectors: the adult and community education (ACE) sector; the vocational education and training (VET sector), strongly represented by the publicly
funded Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutions; and the university
sector. In this paper we will be focussing on two of these sectors VET and university.
The focus on these two sectors is the result of a considerable blurring of the boundaries between the sectors expressed in a number of different ways. While it was originally developed to provide sub-degree VET at Certificate and Diploma levels, a
number of the TAFE institutes are now offering vocational degrees at the Bachelor,
Graduate Certificate, and Graduate Diploma levels previously the province of the
higher education university sector. The vocational degrees in TAFE institutes do not
adopt a competency approach to assessment. A second form of blurring is occurring
with the movement of students between the sectors. Harris, Rainey and Sumner (2006)
have provided evidence that movement between the sectors has been a feature of
policy at legislative level for some years; they also provide evidence that the transfer
is frequently made between the sectors by individual students. That movement is both
ways. University graduates access the VET sector for further vocational related
*Corresponding author. Email: pjbs@deakin.edu.au
ISSN 1363-6820 print/ISSN 1747-5090 online
2009 The Vocational Aspect of Education Ltd
DOI: 10.1080/13636820902996517
http://www.informaworld.com

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

232

P.J. Smith and D. Blake

learning and certification, and VET students move into university courses with
varying amounts of credit towards their degrees.
A student moving from a VET to a university course may be motivated by any
number of factors in the Australian context. First, studying in the public TAFE institutes is usually considerably cheaper than in a university; students who can complete
part of their work in TAFE and then move to university with academic credits will
most likely save money. Second, a student who doesnt win a place on merit at university in the first instance can more easily obtain a place in TAFE and then move to
university on the basis of a successful TAFE outcome. A further reason in a vast country like Australia can be geographic, where students can enrol initially in a local VET
provider and then move towards a more distant university at a later stage, taking
academic credits with them. There is evidence to suggest that this VET to university
pathway is more important for rural and regional students in Australia (Teese, Clarke,
and Polesel 2007), who use this pathway at a higher rate than city-based students.
Finally, there are reasons associated with development, where a student initially sees
their desired career being the result of a VET course but subsequently changes interest
towards something that requires a university outcome. There are, of course, other
reasons for transfer that will be more individually held.
As a result of the interest in these VET to university transfers the development and
publication of formal pathways to facilitate the move has become commonplace. A
Google search of TAFE to university pathways will yield a large number of websites
detailing different Australian State arrangements, or detailing individual institutional
arrangements. Watson (2007, 14) reported that between 2001 and 2005 the number
of students admitted to university on the basis of a VET award increased by 46
percent and that 10 % of university students now have come from VET.
There are major differences between the university and the VET sectors in their
pedagogy and assessment, and it is the experience of students as they engage this
change that interests us in this paper. The VET sector is competency based in terms
of the organisation of pedagogy and assessment is competency based as well. Instruction is organised around training packages, which are developed in conjunction with
the relevant industry sector, and which specify the competencies to be achieved at
each qualification level in preparation for the given occupation. Students are assessed
as competent or as not yet competent, and learning in and from workplaces is an
important component of the training experience, and assessment in the workplace is
also common. Universities, on the other hand, generally provide a broader curriculum
that is developed in conjunction with relevant industry (and in some cases needs the
accreditation of the relevant professional body), but is not closely specified as a set of
competencies to be reached. Assessment is more likely to contain theoretical
components as well as practice components, and is typically graded rather than utilising the binary competent/not yet competent system of the VET sector. Assessment in
universities is also more typically normative than criterion referenced.
Conceptions of learning
With regard to learning intents and expected outcomes, Marton and Booth have argued
that if we wish to understand learning, we must put the learners experience of a
phenomenon into a context of, and in relation with experience of other phenomenon
(1996, 538). Lai and Chan put this nicely when they wrote Conceptions of learning
refer to the beliefs and understanding held by learners about learning (2005, 3).

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

233

There is evidence from qualitative case study-based research (Blake and Smith
2007) with VET students who are also still enrolled at secondary school level that they
encounter different conceptions of learning as they move between school and workplaces and TAFE institutes. In this present paper we extend that research to explore
differences that students bring with them as they move along a pathway from a TAFE
experience to a university one.
There is evidence that exposure to learning contexts impacts on the conceptions of
learning held by students (Eklund-Myrskog 1996, 1998). It is on that basis that we
have developed our hypothesis that the students from the TAFE backgrounds will
exhibit some different conceptions of learning than those who have come to their new
university course from a previous university course experience. Our current research
is designed to explore whether there are differences in the degrees to which students
hold their different conceptions of learning (a quantitative study), and whether there
are differences in the ways they talk about their experiences of different conceptions
of learning in TAFE and university contexts (a qualitative study).
The Blake and Smith (2007) research used a framework of conceptions of learning developed by Marton, DallAlba, and Beaty (1993). Those workers identified six
hierarchically related conceptions of learning: (1) Learning as increasing ones
knowledge the consumption of already existing information; (2) Learning as memorising and reproducing for a purpose such as a test; (3) Learning as applying, where
the learner applies what is learned as the need arises such as driving skills or
manual tasks; (4) Learning as understanding and the abstraction of meaning developing meaning from learning, developing a point of view; (5) Learning as seeing
something in a different way, an interpretative process aiming at understanding reality; (6) Learning is changing as a person. The research explored what students had
identified as the learning orientation they were asked to pursue in the school setting,
and in the workplace/TAFE setting. The results indicated that for each of the Marton,
DallAlba, and Beaty (1993) conceptions there were differences between the two
settings in how much each conception was valued. As a brief summary, students saw
that the workplace/TAFE learning settings were more self-directed and the learning
intents were more related to applications of knowledge rather than to conceptual
learning and abstraction.
Fuller (1999) suggested that learners do not hold only one conception of learning,
but that they hold multiple conceptions, perhaps in different relative strengths, and
that the relative strengths might change in response to different learning situations.
Consistent with that view, and identifying and measuring a number of conceptions of
learning, is the quantitatively-based Conceptions of Learning Inventory (COLI) questionnaire developed by Purdie and Hattie (2002). That questionnaire was developed
through their research with a number of different learner and ethnic groups in Australian high schools and has been subjected to a rigorous set of psychometric processes
to yield a final 32-item instrument with technical data support. The COLI measures
six identified conceptions of learning for each individual learner:

Learning as gaining information

Learning as remembering, using and understanding information
Learning as a duty
Learning as personal change
Learning as a process not bound by time or place
Learning as the development of social competence

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

234

P.J. Smith and D. Blake

In the present research we are interested in how students differ as a function of being
socialised to different conceptions of learning through their exposure to VET or to
university pedagogy and assessment. There is evidence that the conceptions of learning held by individual students are at least a partial result of the conceptions to which
they have been exposed. For example, Eklund-Myrskog (1996), using the Marton,
DallAlba, and Beaty (1993) conceptions of learning, showed that, among teacher
education students in Sweden, there was evidence that students had been socialised
into some common conceptions of learning but that, at the same time, students independently selected conceptions of learning that they believed suited the context and
their learning intent. The study by Eklund-Myrskog (1996) also indicated students can
adapt and develop their conceptions of learning to meet new contexts and new
demands. A study by Burnett, Pillay, and Dart (2003) showed that high school
students who adopted a deep approach liked learning new things and displayed a
conception of learning as personal development, and a conception of instruction as
experiential involving social interaction. Importantly, the authors suggest that teachers
can develop practices to assist students to move towards those conceptions and to
view learning as personal development. A later literature review by Eklund-Myrskog
(1998) also suggests that students conceptions of learning are influenced by learning
context, such that the relative strengths with which different conception are held can
vary within individuals at different times.
Lindberg (2003) has explored the notion of vocational knowing and vocational
education in schools, as a source of tension. Her findings suggest that vocational
knowing is situated judgement that consists of a language that is appropriate to the
vocation, and that tacit knowledge connects these. She contrasts this with knowing in
school that is described as developing the capacities to learn in different contexts.
Similarly, Harris et al. (1998) have pointed to different orientations towards learning
that occur between apprentices, their VET teachers, and their employers. Employers
tended to have a behaviourist conception that was largely interested in performance
on the job, teachers were more characterised by a humanistic orientation that was
interested in personal development for the apprentice as well as skills development,
while the apprentices tended towards a cognitive view that was interested in the
processes through which they learned. Dalton and Smith (2004) also noted the significant pedagogical and epistemological challenges to secondary school teachers who
have become involved in teaching VET subjects.
In their review of the introduction of competency based training to VET in the
Netherlands, Biemans et al. (2004) indirectly point to the challenge to some conceptions of learning that are framed around a focus understanding and reflective practice.
The challenge here can be, as they point out, particularly difficult in environments
where CBT is seen as the unquestioned acquisition of knowledge to be reproduced to
demonstrate competence, or to be applied in narrowly defined situations. In the
Australian VET context, Foley and Smith (2002) noted the same tension as teachers
moved from a curriculum approach to a training package approach.
The available literature was sufficient to suggest to us that it is reasonable to
expect there may be different conceptions of learning held by different cohorts of
students as a partial result of previous education or training experience. The pragmatic
value of this research lies in the increasing boundary blurring that we have discussed
above. As learners and their teachers are exposed to the different sectors there is a
need to develop cross-sectoral understanding of what learning can mean if we are to
avoid confusion in expected learning outcomes and learning experiences.

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

235

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

We also investigated gender as an independent variable since there is some

suggestion in the literature that male and female conceptions of learning may have
some differences. For example, Meit et al. (2007), in their longitudinal study of over
two thousand medical students, found that females were more dutiful and persevering
in their studies, more self-disciplined and more likely to be self-doubting. Smith and
Miller (2005) also provided evidence that female students accept their learning and its
tasks more as a form of duty than do their male counterparts.
Method
The present paper reports on a quantitative study using Purdie and Hatties (2002)
Conceptions of Learning Inventory (COLI) questionnaire. The COLI is a welldeveloped instrument using Likert scale responses. Responses to individual questions
are summed to provide a score on each of the six scales. Our research also generated
qualitative data derived from semi-structured interviews with 20 students who had
previously studied TAFE courses and six of their lecturers in the two university
courses. Because all of our previously-VET participants actually came from TAFE
institutes, from here on we will refer to them as previously-TAFE.
A total of one hundred and thirty seven students participated in the quantitative
aspect of the study, with 20 of the previously-TAFE students being invited to participate in interviews. The students were drawn from two courses of study at an Australian
university. The first was a graduate course in teacher education where there was entry
available on the basis of previous university undergraduate course completion or on a
basis of previous VET course completion. The second course was a bachelors degree
in early childhood education where students entered the course on the basis of a
successful completion of a childrens services course in the VET sector. In all cases
the VET qualifications previously completed were at sub-degree level, with learning
framed around competency statements and assessment also competency based.
For the quantitative component of the research the students were tested with the
COLI in the first year of their enrolment in their university course in order to reduce
the convergent effect in their conceptions of learning that might be expected as they
shared a common learning context over time. Because we needed to negotiate access
to these students at different times we were not able to control how far into that year
they were at the time of testing. Accordingly, some were tested in their first semester
while others were not tested until the beginning of their second semester.
The semi-structured interviews were conducted after the students had completed
the COLI. During the interviews students were asked to discuss:

differences between their TAFE and university experiences in the way learning
is conceived;
which ways of thinking about learning are most valued in the TAFE and
university settings;
differences in approaches to assessment they have experienced between TAFE
and university and any challenges brought about by these differences;
any development as a learner experienced in the transition from TAFE to
university;
any advice they would offer for other students making the same transition.

In the interviews with the course lecturers they were asked to discuss these aspects of
their previously-TAFE students transition from TAFE to university.

236

P.J. Smith and D. Blake

Table 1. Distribution of COLI respondents by gender and previous TAFE or university

experience.

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

Previously-TAFE
Previously university
Total

Male

Female

Total

9
27
36

44
57
101

53
84
137

The interviews were audio-recorded and the data transcribed to text to assist analysis. The researchers looked for patterns and themes emerging across the participants responses to each of the discussion areas, with particular attention being given
to the ways students and lecturers were talking about different conceptions of learning.
The mean age of respondents to the COLI was 30.67 years with a standard deviation of 9.39 years and a range from 20 years to 55. The distribution of gender and
entry basis either through previous TAFE or university experience is shown in
Table 1.
Ethics clearance for the study was provided by Deakin University Research Ethics
Committee. For the quantitative component of the study, students were approached in
regular classes and invited to fill out the COLI on a voluntary basis and return the
completed questionnaire to an anonymous box. In that way any sense of coercion to
participate was removed since the researchers did not know who had responded to the
questionnaire and who had not.
Results
Quantitative Results
The data from the COLI provided a measure for each participant on each of the
conceptions. These scores were compared using a two-way between groups analysis
of variance applied to each of the six COLI scales as the dependent variable in each
case, and with gender and TAFE or university prior experience as the two independent
variables.
The COLI poses participants 32 questions they respond to through a six point
Likert scale of Very strongly disagree to Very strongly agree. Scores on each of
the COLI scales are calculated by summing the Likert scores on each of the items
assigned to the scale.
In the tables below we have used the same abbreviations for each of the COLI
scales as were developed by Purdie and Hattie (2002):

Learning as gaining information abbreviated as INFO. This scale contains 5

questions, giving a minimum score of 5 and a maximum of 30. The questions
asked in this scale are about the learning of new factual information.
Learning as remembering, using and understanding information abbreviated
as RUU. This scale contains 9 questions, giving a minimum score of 9 and a
maximum of 54. The questions asked in this scale are about remembering
information and recalling it to apply it when needed.
Learning as a duty abbreviated as DUTY. This scale contains 3 questions,
giving a minimum score of 3 and a maximum of 18. This scale asks questions

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

237

to do with the need to keep on with learning and studying irrespective of the
difficulties encountered.
Learning as personal change abbreviated as PERS. This scale contains 8 questions, giving a minimum score of 8 and a maximum of 48. The questions here
are about learning contributing to seeing things in life in new or better ways, and
contributing to self-development.
Learning as a process not bound by time or place abbreviated as PROC. This
scale contains 3 questions, giving a minimum score of 3 and a maximum of 18.
These questions are focussed on issues of learning through daily experience and
learning as part of life.
Learning as the development of social competence abbreviated as SOC. This
scale contains 4 questions, giving a minimum score of 4 and a maximum of 24.
These questions are about understanding others, developing good relationships
and contributing to common sense.

The ANOVA results for each COLI scale are shown in Tables 2 to 7 below.
The non-significant results for main effects and for the interaction, shown in Table
2, indicate that the conception of learning as gaining information was not influenced
by gender, by whether there was previous TAFE or university experience, and neither
was there interaction between those two independent variables.
Results at Table 3 indicate that the conception of learning as remembering, using
and understanding information was not influenced by gender, by previous TAFE or
university experience, and neither was there interaction between those two independent variables.
Table 4 results indicate that females held a stronger conception of learning as a duty
than did males. The mean score for females was 12.39 as opposed to 11.86 for males.
The gender difference is only weakly significant at p<.10, and the effect size is small
(Pallant 2007). The interaction indicated that the difference between the genders was
entirely among the students who had previously studied in TAFE, and that among
previously university students there was no difference. This difference was that previously-TAFE females had a significantly higher score than previously-TAFE males, but
Table 2.

ANOVA results for the learning as gaining information scale.

INFO
Gender (G)
TAFE/Univ (TU)
GxTU

df

sig

effect size

1,133
1,133
1,133

1.24
1.01
1.48

ns
ns
ns

.009
.008
.011

Table 3. ANOVA results for the learning as remembering, using and understanding
information scale.
RUU
Gender (G)
TAFE/Univ (TU)
GxTU

df

sig

effect size

1,133
1,133
1,133

1.47
1.41
0.28

ns
ns
ns

.011
.010
.002

df degrees of freedom
F F ratio
sig. level of statistical significance

238

P.J. Smith and D. Blake

Table 4.

ANOVA results for the learning as a duty scale.

DUTY

df

sig

effect size

1,133
1,133
1,133

3.07
0.20
3.10

<.10
ns
<.10

.023
.000
.023

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

Gender (G)
TAFE/Univ (TU)
GxTU

for previously university students there was no such gender difference. Because of the
weak level of significance and small effect size we have not shown the interaction in
graphical form in this paper.
Table 5 indicates that students from the previously-TAFE cohort held a significantly higher level of learning as personal change (mean 39.15) than did the previously-university cohort (mean 37.23). While the result is statistically significant, again
the effect size is quite small.
Table 6 indicates that females held a weakly significant higher level (mean 15.69)
of a conception of learning as a process not bound by time or place than did males
(mean 14.83), with a weak effect size. Previously-TAFE students also had a higher
level of that conception of learning (mean 16.08) than did previously-university
students (mean 15.08), with a small effect size.
Table 7 indicates females had a higher level of the learning as the development of
social competence conception (mean 17.63) than did males (mean 16.36), with a
relatively small effect size.
Table 5.

ANOVA results for the learning as personal change scale.

PERS
Gender (G)
TAFE/Univ (TU)
GxTU
Table 6.

df

sig

effect size

1,133
1,133
1,133

0.001
4.27
0.69

ns
<.05
ns

.000
.031
.005

ANOVA results for the learning as a process not bound by time or place scale.

PROC
Gender (G)
TAFE/Univ (TU)
GxTU

Table 7.

df

sig

effect size

1,133
1,133
1,133

2.81
5.16
0.14

<.10
<.05
ns

.021
.037
.000

ANOVA results for the learning as the development of social competence scale.

SOC
Gender (G)
TAFE/Univ (TU)
GxTU

df

sig

effect size

1,133
1,133
1,133

6.13
0.98
2.43

<.05
ns
ns

.044
.007
.018

df degrees of freedom
F F ratio
sig. level of statistical significance

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

239

Qualitative Results
Analysis of the semi-structured interviews with students and lecturers yielded conceptions of learning that were more commensurate with those proposed by Marton,
DallAlba and Beaty (1993) than they were to the conceptions identified by the COLI.
That analysis of the interview data revealed several qualitative differences in the way
participants discussed conceptions of learning experienced at TAFE and university.
These have been summarised in Table 8 below.
The researchers noted several other themes emerging from the semi-structured
interviews with students and lecturers. In the first instance, the lecturers considered
that previously-TAFE students required more assistance in writing for university
assessment tasks than other students. It was observed that their first essays often
reflected good work-related literacy skills that would support reporting facts in a brief
summary style; however the lecturers noted that few previously-TAFE had
commenced the course with the ability to write a well-structured and well-argued
essay. This is a task that also required the students to read more extensively than they
had been used to. Several students also made this observation in their interviews,
noting that one of the biggest challenges was to develop skills in writing academic
essays and referencing ideas appropriately.
The need for the previously-TAFE students to become more independent as learners also emerged in the interviews. Some lecturers noted that they would refer the
students to the Study Skills support staff at the university and understood that this was
a very important support mechanism for previously-TAFE students to develop their
independences as learners. Several students reported that they were aware of the need
to develop these skills and were constantly seeking feedback from lecturers in this
regard. Although there were differences in the amount of additional study support
university lecturers were willing to provide for the students, all considered it essential
that the students develop an independent approach to their learning and viewed their
previous attendance at TAFE as not adequately valuing this aspect of learning.
Previously-TAFE students frequently discussed a high degree of anxiousness they
experienced at the very start of their university course because they were unsure if
they could bridge the gap they had been told by family, friends and lecturers to
expect between university and TAFE contexts. It appears the gap is not insurmountable, however, and the students often referred to expressions such as raising the bar
and other terms consistent with learning as personal development. The following
response from a student captures several of the themes expressed by the previouslyTAFE students:
I was very nervous before starting the uni course because I always believed it would be
so much more demanding than TAFE I had always been told that the gap between uni
and TAFE was enormous. What we learned in TAFE was much more black and white
and often we would just take notes from a teacher it was usually pretty easy to
comprehend. At uni we learn stuff that is often greynot simply right or wrong. I was
afraid of struggling in class and of all the extra reading, writing and the referencing
for uni. At uni you have to raise the bar it challenges you to think about what you are
saying and what you have learnt maybe its not always about the correct answer But
I have been pleasantly surprised as there is much more support than even at TAFE and
the teachers are much more approachable than I thought they would be I find the
online discussion really helpful when we are off campus and I use them a lot. I think Ive
been able to make the adjustment and I know I have more confidence.
[Previously-TAFE male, 25 years old]

Students:
both TAFE and university expected learning to involve a process of increasing ones knowledge;
the concept of knowledge was conceived to be more problematic (gray) in the university setting compared to their previous
experience in a TAFE setting, where students thought it was conceived to be more black and white.
University Lecturers:
significant emphasis placed on the need for previously-TAFE students to develop specific study skills that allowed them to
increase their knowledge in the context of a university setting.
Students:
TAFE expected much more learning as memorising and reproducing for specific situations;
this conception of learning was less valued in a university context, but remained an important part of the process.
University Lecturers:
memorising and reproducing not valued as much as higher order learning associated with critical reflection
were concerned that previously-TAFE students would need to extend their conception of learning beyond remembering facts.
Students:
did not expect a university course to value this conception of learning very highly compared to previous experiences in TAFE
settings;
were disappointed when their own prior experiences were not included as valuable insights into university learning experiences;
reported being surprised when they experienced learning as applying in their university course.
University Lecturers:
learning through applying expected to be an important part of university courses;
emphasis placed on work-based learning during practicum placements, but noted the importance placed on changing or reforming
practice while also learning from it;
expected students would develop the ability to move between theory and practice as an important part of their learning in a
university setting.
Students:
significantly more emphasis and value placed on this conception of learning in the university context;
students often spoke critically of their experiences in TAFE settings by referring to a lack theory at the expense of developing
competencies.
University Lecturers:
expected that the previously-TAFE students would need to develop their skills in relation to this conception of learning as they
were concerned they had limited experience of it in a TAFE setting.

Increasing ones
knowledge

Understanding
and
abstraction of
meaning

Applying

Memorising and
reproducing

Differences between TAFE and university as expressed in previously-TAFE students and lecturers semi-structured
interviews

Qualitative differences in the way students and lecturers discussed learning.

Learning as

Table 8.

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

240
P.J. Smith and D. Blake

Students:
a very significant part of the learning experience in university contexts;
reported seeing their workplace/practice differently as a consequence of learning.
University Lecturers:
seen as an important and valuable conception of learning to develop from their university experience;
noted some previously-TAFE students had changed their views around practice as a result of their learning at university.
Students
several students noted their experience as a university student involved changing as a person as a consequence of their learning
and changes to the way they understood their practice;
changing as a person involved gaining a higher degree of self-confidence from experiencing successful learning in a university
context.
University Lecturers:
a high degree of variability for this type of learning to occur as it was dependent on the individual students personalities and
situations.

Seeing
something in a
different way

Changing as a
person

Differences between TAFE and university as expressed in previously-TAFE students and lecturers semi-structured
interviews

(Continued).

Learning as

Table 8.

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

241

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

242

P.J. Smith and D. Blake

Discussion
Looking across all the results from this study would indicate that students coming into
university on the basis of their previous VET experience do not hold particularly
different conceptions of learning from those whose previous experience has been at
university. That is consistent with earlier finding by Smith (2001) who showed that
there were few differences between TAFE and university students in their learning
preferences, even though their pedagogical experiences had been quite different. It is
also an encouraging finding for practice, since the potential difficulties we envisaged
for students who are crossing boundaries appear to be less insurmountable that might
have otherwise been expected.
We just need to be a little careful with that finding insofar as our study here has
been limited in number, to one measurement instrument, and two groups of students
who have both eventually joined together in university. It is possible that TAFE
students who do cross the boundary into a degree program at university are a group
who consider the move achievable, and who feel capable in tackling the different
learning environment. We would prefer to do some further research comparing some
other groups who are subjected to boundary crossing before we become too convinced
that the result from this study is representative of most boundary crossing.
One major difference between the students in this study and many who are in
multiple learning environments is that our participants on this occasion have all made
the crossing voluntarily they were all enrolled in their university course because they
had chosen to pursue further study in that environment. There are other students, most
particularly VET in Schools students, for whom participation in the different environments is a compulsory part of the experience. The earlier Blake and Smith (2007)
research, which did note some differences between the conceptions of learning typically noted by students in different learning environments was focussed on VET in
Schools students for whom school, TAFE and workplace learning were each a
compulsory part of their program. However, the Blake and Smith study also identified
that students noted these differences, but did not examine the conceptions of learning
held by the students themselves.
A further need to be cautious with our results is that we tested half of our students
in their first semester of enrolment in their university course, and half in their second
semester. In his 1998 study Eklund-Myrskog found that exposure to learning context
influenced student conceptions of learning. In the same way as our study was designed
to test the influence of previous learning context on conception of learning, it can be
expected that the current learning context also had an influence, with that influence
being greater for those we tested in their second semester.
The current research has shown some results that are worth noting and discussing
briefly here, even though they are not claimed as strong and robust. However, in a
paper that is starting to explore a relatively new set of issues relating to the blurring
of boundaries, it is worth giving them some attention.
Focussing first on differences between previously-TAFE and previously university
students, we have shown:

For learning as a duty previously-TAFE females had a significantly higher score

than previously-TAFE males, but for previously university students there was
no such gender difference;
For learning as personal change the previously-TAFE cohort scored higher than
the previously university cohort;

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

243

For the learning as a process not bound by time or space scale the previouslyTAFE students scored higher than the other group.

The findings on these last two scales are particularly interesting in that they indicate
that the previously-TAFE students have a broad view of learning that includes its
impact on them as people and a notion that learning is a part of ongoing life. Coming
off a learning experience in TAFE that is understood to be more focussed on the
development of vocational competencies to be applied to the workplace, these are
interesting findings indeed. The findings on these two scales also have a consistency
and coherence with each other. One partial explanation for these findings is that the
connectedness of TAFE studies to the workplace provides a stronger integration of
work, learning and life than studies largely undertaken within the walls of academia.
A second explanation may be associated with the students themselves, in that people
who have those broader conceptions of learning are more likely to be those who
migrate from one educational sector to another to further their education and training
in a new environment.
The finding that females from TAFE backgrounds have a stronger conception of
learning as a duty we suggest may be similar to findings by Meit et al. (2007). In their
longitudinal study of over two thousand medical students they found that females
were more dutiful and persevering in their studies, more self-disciplined and more
likely to be self-doubting. Smith and Miller (2005) also provided evidence that female
students accept their learning and its tasks more as a form of duty than do their male
counterparts. It is not uncommon in the literature for research to show female students
to be more characterised by fear of failure than males (e.g. Richardson, Morgan, and
Woodley 1999). We are not able to provide any ready explanation of why our finding
was associated only with the females from TAFE backgrounds, but it is possible that
the high representation of females from the childrens services area may have had
some impact on the result for the duty scale.
The findings related to gender can be summarised as:

The higher TAFE female scores on the learning as a duty scale have been
discussed above in the context of previous TAFE or university experience;
Females scored higher than males on the learning as a process not bound by time
or space scale;
Females scored higher than males on the learning as the development of social
competence scale.

The latter two findings, taken together, indicate that females in our study have developed conceptions of learning that are more strongly (than the males) integrated into
their lives such that learning occurs in a wide range of circumstances, and has impacts
on their development as people. There is some evidence for this from EklundMyrskogs 1998 study with car mechanic and nursing students. Additionally, while in
this study we have not tested studying approaches, Meyer, Dunne, and Richardson
(1994) have shown that where females do use a deep approach they are more likely to
look for personal meaning and connections in their learning, while other research by
Severiens and Ten Dam (1994) indicates that males have a greater affinity for learning
that is impersonal and external to themselves.
From the qualitative data it is apparent that both students and lecturers exhibit a
hierarchy of values placed on the different conceptions of learning commonly

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

244

P.J. Smith and D. Blake

experienced in the TAFE and university settings. In the university setting this hierarchy places memorising and simple knowledge acquisition at the lower end of the
scale, while learning conceived as understanding, abstraction and deep personal
growth are valued most of all. Students from previously-TAFE settings are presented
with the sociological challenges that arise from their prior attendance at a TAFE institution, where the most valued conceptions of learning may not coincide with those in
their university context. Drawing on Fullers (1999) suggestion that learners hold
multiple conceptions of learning in different strengths, and the quantitative results of
this present study, this means that previously-TAFE students are required to adjust the
way they value different conceptions of learning to suite their university context. The
students who participated in this study demonstrated that this re-adjustment is possible
with adequate support, however as noted above it would be dangerous to conclude that
this is the case for all previously-TAFE students without interviewing a broader range
of students from other courses of study.
Finally, the study has showed that both the set of learning conceptions proposed
by Purdie and Hattie (2002) in the COLI, and those proposed by Marton, DallAlba
and Beaty (1993) have value in this sort of investigation. We suggest that there is
room in further research to test the effectiveness of both these sets of proposed
conceptions, but also to be mindful of new and different conceptions that may be
shown to be present in new learning contexts and contextual shifts.
Conclusions
Using the COLI and a set of quantitative measures, the current study has shown some
differences in the conceptions of learning as they are held by students who have
entered university on a basis of previous TAFE experiences or previous university
experiences. While those differences provide some support for our hypothesis that
there are differences important enough to be taken account of as students work more
often today between different educational contexts, the results at a quantitative level
are not, in our view, important enough to warrant any major focus of attention from a
policy or a pedagogical viewpoint. In terms of the quantitative differences between the
students in our sample our contention is that they are sufficiently small that students
will largely be able to bridge the differences without great difficulty if adequate
support is provided.
The qualitative component of the research, however, has shown some interesting
and subtle differences between the conceptions of learning held by participants in the
study; and has also indicated that it is useful to use more than one conceptions of
learning framework in this form of quite exploratory research. The qualitative data
indicates some subtleties in the way some conceptions of learning are held, and these
subtleties are worthy of further exploration with a wider set of participants.
A limitation of the results from our study is their basis in one particular set of
participants in limited contexts, and using only one measurement tool. We suggest that
there is value in repeating our research with other groups and instruments before there
can be confidence about the conclusions we have reached. Other researchers (e.g.
Eklund-Myrskog 1996, 1998) have shown differences due to context, but these have
been revealed through qualitative research methods. Consistently with that, while our
research has not shown any strong quantitative differences in conceptions of learning
as a function of exposure to different learning environment, it is apparent through the
qualitative data (and, to a lesser degree, the quantitative too) that students are required

Journal of Vocational Education and Training

245

to adjust the value placed on different conceptions of learning as they move from a
TAFE setting to a university.

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

References
Biemans, H., L. Nieuwenhuis, R. Poell, M. Mulder, and R. Wesselink. 2004. Competencebased VET in the Netherlands: Background and pitfalls. Journal of Vocational Education
and Training 56, no. 4: 52338.
Blake, D.M., and P.J. Smith. 2007. Examining the significance of different conceptions of
learning. Paper presented at the AARE Conference, 57 December, University of Notre
Dame, Fremantle, Australia.
Burnett, P.C., H. Pillay, and B.C. Dart. 2003. The influences of conceptions of learning and
learner self-concept on high school students approaches to learning. School Psychology
International 24, no. 1: 5466.
Dalton, J., and P.J. Smith. 2004. Vocational education and training in secondary schools:
Challenging teachers work and identity. Journal of Vocational Education and Training
56, no. 4: 50722.
Eklund-Myrskog, G. 1996. Students choice of different conceptions of learning in theoretical
studies and practice within teacher education. In Different Approaches: Theory and
Practice in Higher Education. Proceedings of the HERDSA Conference, 812 July, Perth,
Western Australia.
Eklund-Myrskog, G. 1998. Students conceptions of learning in different educational
contexts. Higher Education 35, no. 3: 299316.
Foley, A., and P.J. Smith. 2002. Implementing training packages in a TAFE institute: Perceptions and concerns of staff. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Vocational Education
Research 10, no. 1: 122.
Fuller, R. 1999. Do university students conceptions of learning really influence their learning?
In Cornerstones: What do we value in higher education? Proceedings, July 1215.
Melbourne, Australia: Higher Education Research and development Society of Australasia.
Harris, R., L. Rainey, and R. Sumner. 2006. Crazy paving or stepping stones? Learning pathways within and between vocational education and training and higher education.
Adelaide, Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
Harris, R., P. Willis, M. Simons, and F. Underwood. 1998. Learning the job. Adelaide,
Australia: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.
Lai, P-Y., and K.-W. Chan. 2005. A structural model of conceptions of learning, achievement
motivation and learning strategies of Hong Kong teacher education students. Paper presented
at the AARE Conference, 28 Nov2 Dec, University of Western Sydney, Australia.
Lindberg, V. 2003. Vocational knowing and the content in vocational education. International
Journal of Training Research 1, no. 1: 4061.
Marton, F., and S. Booth. 1996. The learners experience of learning. In The handbook of
education and human development: New models of learning, teaching and schooling, ed.
D. Olsen and N. Torrance, 53463. Cambridge, Mass: Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Marton, F., G. DallAlba, and E. Beaty. 1993. Conceptions of learning. International Journal
of Educational Research 19, no. 3: 277300.
Meit, S.S., N.J. Borges, B. Cubic, and H.R. Seibel. 2007. Personality differences in incoming
male and female medical students, Med Educ Online 12, no.7. http://www.med-ed-online.org
Meyer, J.H.F., T.T. Dunne, and J.T.E. Richardson. 1994. A gender comparison of contextualised study behaviour in higher education. Higher Education 27, no. 4: 46985.
Pallant, J. 2007. SPSS Survival Manual. Crows Nest, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Purdie, N., and J. Hattie. 2002. Assessing students conceptions of learning. Australian
Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology 2, no. 1: 1732.
Richardson, J.T.E., A. Morgan, and A. Woodley. 1999. Approaches to study in distance
education. Higher Education 37, no. 1: 2355.
Severiens, S.E., and G.T.M. Ten Dam. 1994. Gender differences in learning styles: A
narrative review and quantitative meta-analysis. Higher Education 27, no. 4: 487501.
Smith, P.J. 2001. Learning preferences of TAFE and university students. Australian and New
Zealand Journal of Vocational Education Research 9, no. 2: 87109.

246

P.J. Smith and D. Blake

Downloaded by [b-on: Biblioteca do conhecimento online UEvora] at 04:04 06 March 2012

Smith, S.N., and R, Miller. 2005. Learning approaches: Examination type, discipline of study,
and gender. Educational Psychology 25, no. 1: 43-54.
Teese, R., K. Clarke, and J. Polesel. 2007. The On Track survey 2007 statewide report: The
destinations of school leavers in Victoria. Melbourne, Australia: Department of Education
and Early Childhood Development.
Watson, L. 2007, 11 17 September. A different route. Campus Review, 14.