Learning styles and approaches to learning: distinguishing between concepts and instruments

Learning styles and approaches to learning represent two different perspectives on student learning processes that may influence academic achievement. The Productivity Environmental Preference Survey (PEPS) is used to measure 20 elements of learning style, and the Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) to measure students' surface, deep and achieving approaches to learning and studying. Factor analysis of PEPS and SPQ data obtained from 400 Australian university students indicates that these two instruments measure two quite distinct conceptualisations of how students learn and that it is therefore appropriate to differentiate between the way students learn in terms of either style‐based or approach‐based constructs. Test‐retest reliability of the PEPS and SPQ produced from correlational analysis of data collected from two administrations of these instruments, a year apart, shows that approach to learning is relatively stable over time but that learning style, as measured by the PEPS, is not as stable a construct as its authors claim. Researchers and practitioners should take care to select instruments according to their intended use and to take into consideration the strengths and limitations of each instrument.