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The shortened Study Process Questionnaire: an investigation of its structure and longitudinal stability using
R A Fox1, I C McManus, B C Winder
1Royal Free & University College Medical School, London, UK.
The British Journal of Educational Psychology
|January 23, 2002
Summary
The shortened Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) maintains its structure and predicts learning approaches over time. Student learning strategies show some stability and modifiability during medical school.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Medical Education Research
Background:
- The Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) is a key tool for assessing learning approaches.
- It was originally proposed to encompass surface, deep, and achieving orientations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate a shortened 18-item version of the SPQ.
- To examine its factor structure and longitudinal stability in medical students.
Main Methods:
- Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to data from 1349 medical students.
- The shortened SPQ was administered at application and in the final year of medical school.
Main Results:
- The 18-item SPQ demonstrated a similar factor structure to the full version, with three second-order factors (surface, deep, achieving).
- Longitudinal analysis indicated that initial learning approaches predict later approaches, with significant variance explained.
Conclusions:
- The shortened SPQ is a psychometrically sound measure of learning approaches.
- Learning approaches are partly stable yet modifiable within the medical school environment.
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