Abstract
In this article, dissonance in students’ way of learning is explored from a regulation of learning perspective. First, consonant patterns of interrelations among learning elements are sketched. These patterns were identified in studies with university students by means of a diagnostic instrument, the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS), that assesses four learning components: cognitive processing strategies, metacognitive regulation strategies, mental models of learning, and learning orientations. Consonant patterns of linkages among these components result in four qualitatively different ways of learning or learning styles: undirected, reproduction-directed, meaning-directed and application-directed learning. Next, several studies that used the ILS as a research instrument were examined for indications of dissonant patterns of interrelations among these learning components. The students in these studies ranged from early secondary school to adult university students. Five phenomena of dissonance could be identified: lack of differentiation within learning components, lack of integration between learning components, incompatibility of learning strategies, models and orientations, missing learning style elements, and a lack of distinct application-directed learning. These phenomena are described and documented. Finally, the results are discussed in relation to other recent studies on dissonant study orchestrations and in terms of their practical meaning. A developmental explanation for the occurrence of some manifestations of dissonance is offered.
Résumé
Dans cet article, la dissonance dans la façon d’apprendre chez des étudiants est abordée dans une perspective de régulation de l’apprentissage. Dans un premier temps des patterns concordants de relations entre différents aspects de l’apprentissage furent repérés. Ces patterns ont été identifiés auprès d’étudiants à l’aide de l’Inventory of learning styles (ILS), un instrument qui évalue 4 composantes de l’apprentissage: stratégies de traitement cognitif, stratégies de régulation métacognitive, modèles mentaux de l’apprentissage, et orientations de l’apprentissage. Les patterns d’association entre ces composantes permettent de distinguer quatre types de stratégies d’apprentissage qualitativement différents: Apprentissage sans orientation, orientá vers la reproduction, orienté vers la compréhension et orienté vers l’application. Après quoi, plusieurs études utilisant le ILS comme instrument d’investigation sont passées en revue, à la recherche de patterns dissonant de relations entre ces quatre composantes. Les étudiants ayant servi de sujets dans ces recherches vont du début de l’enseignement secondaire jusqu’à l’enseignement supérieur. Cinq phénomènes de discordance ont pu être identifiés: manque de différenciation entre composantes, manque d’intégration entre composantes, incompatibilité entre stratégies d’apprentissage, modèles et orientations, style d’apprentissage lacunaire, absence d’une composante apprentissage dirigé vers l’application. Ces phénomènes sont décrits et illustrés. Enfin, les résultats sont discutés en relation avec d’autres études récentes sur l’orchestration des dissonances d’étude et du point de vue de leur signification pratique. Les auteurs proposent une explication développementale à certaines manifestations de la dissonance.
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Vermunt, J.D., Verloop, N. Dissonance in students’ regulation of learning processes. Eur J Psychol Educ 15, 75–89 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173168
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173168