Business and Economics Students’ Conceptions of and Approaches to Learning

How college students perceive and approach learning is important for quality education. This study was then aimed to explore sophomore students’ conceptions of and, approaches to learning and the association between students’ conceptions of and approaches to learning at Arba Minch University in the College of Business and Economics. A cross-sectional descriptive survey design was adopted to describe the phenomenon. Using the systematic random sampling technique of every 7th, 140 students were selected. To collect data on the conceptions of and approaches to learning, the Approaches and Study Skills Inventory for Students (ASSIST) was used. To decide whether there was a difference between transforming and reproducing learning conceptions, an independent sample t-test was applied. To examine and compare the learning approaches, one-way ANOVA and post hoc were applied while Pearson product-moment correlation was employed to scrutinize the association between the students’ conceptions of and approaches to learning. The results revealed that the students had both the transforming/qualitative and the reproducing/quantitative conceptions of learning although they had exceedingly the transforming conception over the reproducing conception. Besides, the students adopted dual learning approaches of the deep and the strategic equally although they practically used to employ the strategic approach. Teachers have been recommended to assist their students to develop the transforming conception, and approach to learning that enhances meaning-making and understanding through inquiry-based experimentation, and problem-solving. As well, on-job seminars should be prepared for the College instructors on the needs and use of the approaches to learning. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.