Relationships between the learning strategies, mental models of learning and learning orientations of post-secondary students in Hong Kong

Abstract

The present study is based on analyses of data resulting from an administration of a Chinese translation of the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS) to a large sample of post-secondary students in Hong Kong. The ILS is a research instrument developed by Vermunt to capture variation in contrasting forms of learning strategies, mental models of learning, and learning orientations. In what are believed to be the first analyses of ILS data obtained in a Chinese response-context, empirical support is found for the theoretical model that underpins the ILS. Findings also confirm the posited central explanatory role of regulation strategies. In particular, students' processing strategies are found to be most directly influenced by their regulation strategies, while the influence of students' mental models of learning and students' learning orientations on their processing strategies is mostly indirect, via students' regulation strategies. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.