Learning strategies of academic students and effects of goal orientations

This study clarifies the properties of learning strategies of academic students, and examines the relationship between learning strategies and goal orientations (approaching gains/avoiding losses). To create a questionnaire for the learning strategies, two original questionnaires (regarding lectures and regarding tasks) about such strategies used by academic students regularly comprised a preliminary survey, which was administered to 65 female students. In the present study, 182 students completed the questionnaires. A factor analysis was conducted to clarify the traits of the two learning strategies and a correlation analysis as well as a path analysis was conducted to determine the relationship between learning strategies, learning goals, and goal orientations, among others. The results show that the learning strategies for lectures included two factors, while those for tasks consisted of three factors. This distinction suggests that the gain-approach tendency is connected with mastery goals and the majority of the factors in the learning strategies, whereas the loss-avoidance tendency is related to performance goals and minimal factors in the learning strategies