Cultural Specificity of Approaches to Studying in Higher Education: A Comparative Investigation Using the Approaches to Studying Inventory

An investigation was carried out on approaches to learning among students at a university in the United States using a short form of the Approaches to Studying Inventory. The factor structure of their responses was qualitatively different from that obtained in a previous investigation of students in the United Kingdom. Although the broad distinction between a meaning orientation to studying and a reproducing orientation to studying was replicated, the factor composition of these orientations was radically different from the subscale structure of the inventory. These findings indicate that these basic study orientations are interpreted in a manner that is distinctive to each particular cultural context.