Who Is the Good Student? Untangling Measurement Issues Related to Approaches to Learning

• In Event: Measurement and Early Childhood Education: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Approaches to Learning (AtL) is an umbrella construct describing children's attitudes, habits, and learning styles as they engage in the learning process. First introduced by the National Education Goals Panel as an indicator of school readiness, AtL has been studied in various ways, leading to inconsistencies in terms, operationalizations, and measurements. This paper examines the issues surrounding the inconsistencies in previous research. For example, one area of inconsistency occurred when researchers used different terms to describe similar constructs, resulting in a jangle fallacy. Adjustment, behavioral engagement, and classroom participation were reported as separate constructs in the literature yet were measured using AtL measurements. The paper concludes by offering ways to reduce the conceptual clutter surrounding AtL.

Author

• Amber H. Beisly, University of Oklahoma
  Presenting Author