Higher education students’ conceptions of learning gain

Abstract

Learning gain in higher education, specifically the development of subject-adjacent skills, abilities and competencies, is of key scholarly and policy relevance. However, little research focuses on students’ broad understandings of learning gain. This paper takes a phenomenographic approach to explore students’ conceptions of learning gain, and how these may differ by subject and stage of study. Drawing on thirty-three qualitative interviews with a diverse group of undergraduate and postgraduate students across four subjects in three UK universities, this paper derives three distinct categories of understanding in relation to learning gain, increasing in complexity. The first category, naïve understandings, is characterised by short-term learning goals, the prioritisation of surface approaches to learning including memorisation, with subject knowledge more important than skills. Motivations to learn are broadly extrinsic and related to assessments. The second category, emergent understandings, features greater awareness of approaches to learning, including structured planning of learning activities in response to a range of goals, and pragmatic responses to desirable learning outcomes. There is growing recognition of links between subject-specific and generic skills, and adaptation features strongly. The most sophisticated category, comprehensive understandings, is characterised by flexible learning goals, the acknowledgment of the independent nature of higher education learning and strong self-regulation, with deep approaches to learning consciously prioritised. Dynamic views of knowledge prevail, which distinguish this category from the other two. These categories of understanding grow in complexity with study stage, and also vary by subject of study, with interactions present in relation to prioritised aspects of learning gain, views of change and how explicit aspects of learning gain are made within the subject of study. Any attempt to capture learning gain for its improvement would therefore need to encompass a variety of aspects of learning gain, contextualised for subject and stage and include a student perspective.

Introduction

Higher education students’ learning is a topic of substantial current scholarly attention. New evidence has been developed around pedagogical approaches supportive of learning in higher education, including student-centred approaches (Trinidad, 2020), and technology-enabled learning (Shen & Ho, 2020) among others, with very recent work identifying the challenges to learning brought about by the global pandemic (e.g. Mou, 2023) and shifts in students’ (Money et al., 2017), teachers’ (Wong & Chiu, 2020) and employers’ expectations (Jackson, 2021; McGunagle & Zizka, 2020) around that learning.

Recent research has also explored the value-added of higher education institutions for students’ learning and for other related outcomes, including economic outcomes (e.g. Britton et al., 2022; Chen, 2024). Similarly, research has tackled questions of what learning may focus on for specific subjects and disciplines, and the skills developed by students in higher education (e.g. Flom et al., 2023), and has illuminated which different approaches to learning are associated with better academic outcomes (Gijbels et al., 2013) for students.

Much of this latter body of work has engaged substantially with the notion of learning gain (Evans et al., 2018), defined broadly as the change in students’ knowledge, ability, skills and competencies during higher education.

Far less research, however, has been dedicated to students’ voices, and to their perspectives on critical questions such as what is valued, important and useful in their higher education learning; and how learning opportunities in students’ educational contexts are experienced as commensurate with their expectations.

This gap is precisely what this paper addresses. It emerges from a much larger study (LEGACY, see Hughes & Tight, 2021), aimed at conceptualising, defining and operationalising the concept of subject-adjacent learning gain in higher education. The present paper therefore focuses on students’ conceptions of their learning and learning gain, specifically on the development of subject-adjacent skills, competencies and abilities. The research reported here prompted students to offer their own understanding of the set of skills, competencies and abilities which sit alongside their subject-specific learning during their university careers. This draws on qualitative research undertaken at the very beginning of the aforementioned larger study, exploring students’ different conceptions of learning gain and taking a phenomenographic approach (Marton, 1986) to develop from semi-structured interviews a set of categories of description that characterise students’ contextualised conceptions of their learning.

Evidence background

Higher education learning research underpinning this study stretches back over four decades, starting with the approaches to learning literature that characterises students’ learning behaviours and approaches, and arriving at contemporary perspectives on learning gain that emphasise the range of skills, abilities and knowledge gained by individuals in higher education.

The early studies on approaches to learning (N. J. Entwistle, 1991) initially described student approaches to learning from a cognitive psychology and educational perspective, introducing enduring categorisations of learning approaches. Recent research continues to study how different approaches to learning are associated with better academic outcomes. Specifically, research has captured how surface approaches to learning (characterised broadly by an information reproduction focus) and deep approaches to learning in particular (characterised broadly by an understanding focus) evolve over students’ higher education careers, are associated with externally-assessed attainment outcomes (e.g. Piumatti et al., 2021), and can be fostered as precursors to good university outcomes (Xu et al., 2023) and for their own sake (Gijbels, 2005).

Learning patterns research (Gijbels et al., 2013) expanded this earlier work testing theories of self-regulated learning (Pintrich, 1995) and has since focused on the cognitive and metacognitive aspects of information processing and motivational and affective strategy usage by higher education students. This has led to insights into the variability in approaches attributable to context, both local and national (e.g. Yu et al., 2021).

Building on the above body of work, more recent evidence has focused on learning gain, defined broadly as the change in students’ knowledge, ability, skills and competencies during higher education.

Predominantly US based, this research around learning gain has identified what constitutes desirable graduate attributes (e.g. Barrie, 2006), and core and generic skills being developed (Bennett et al., 1999). This field has also explored the gain in specific cognitive domain aspects of learning (e.g. critical thinking, Loes et al., 2015); and the potential uses of learning gain in a changing higher education sector (Wilson, 2018), from programme-specific improvement (e.g. Arico et al., 2018) to cross-university data-driven assessments of gain (e.g. Rogaten et al., 2016).

Much of this evidence has contributed to an understanding of what student learning in higher education is, whether subject-specific, discipline-related or skills-oriented. This research has predominantly adopted quantitative approaches that rely on assessment data, tests or self-report survey and questionnaire measures, even as it has recognised the range of methodological complexities inherent in capturing learning gain (Cunha & Miller, 2014; Tight, 2021). Within this, the learning gain research explicitly focuses on specific learning domains, be they academic subjects (as in the case of medical education, e.g. Colt et al., 2011), course components (such as work placements, e.g. Crebert et al., 2004), or extracurricular activities (Thompson et al., 2013).

Far less research, however, has focused on students’ perspectives, openly provided. Such evidence indirectly but importantly emphasises the importance of academic disciplines, with substantial work in clearly delineated academic subjects. For instance, McIntosh et al. (2013) used focus group data to explore midwifery students’ learning outcomes, determining that midwifery students with previous nursing training did not value skills such as communication very highly in their current learning, as many had already gained them during previous employment. Nilsson and Lindström (2017) also explored with focus groups the effect of emergency ambulance placements and their skill-building role for nurses, with cultural, social and ethical aspects of caring emerging as the most relevant generic skills, alongside a strong association between such skills and the specific subject and topic they were being applied to.

Further evidence has focused on the different perspectives of stakeholders, including students. Aimed at understanding the intersections between students, teachers in higher education and employers, Fejzic and Barker (2015) and Crebert et al. (2004) have explored the different types of skills, abilities and competencies each of these groups value. In a mixed-method study of one Australian higher education institution, Crebert et al. (2004) examined students’ and employers’ perceptions of what ‘generic skills’ are best developed in a university and a workplace context. Lee and Chin’s (2016) research ranked graduate attributes, finding that the three most important skills according to engineering students were communication, teamwork and problem-solving, with students from a polytechnic background rating initiative, enterprise and self-management more highly than their peers from junior college. This research highlights a conflict between the culture of learning in universities (personal achievement and independent studying) and what is valued in the workplace (being a team player, team results), which is mirrored in the differences observed in the value of work experience, for instance between student and teachers (Fejzic & Barker, 2015). This is despite evidence that higher education institutions have engaged meaningfully with wider debates around students’ employability and learning gain and outcomes (Matthews & Kotzee, 2021) and have worked to improve these, partly in response to student-expressed perspectives (N. Entwistle, 2018) and partly in response to wider policy pressures to identify the teaching practices and institutional set-ups that support better learning gain and its alignment with both student and employer needs and expectations (Gourlay & Stevenson, 2017; Heaney & Mackenzie, 2017; Ortagus et al., 2020).

Most of this research therefore focuses on the identification of skills, rather than on broad understandings of learning, which would allow for the in-depth exploration of what higher education students see their learning to be, which aspects of their educational experience in higher education most successfully support their learning, and how learning gain occurs over time. The present paper specifically addresses this research gap. The paper contributes therefore to the scholarly work around learning gain by adding a deep, student-driven perspective. The paper also contributes to higher education institutions’ abilities to engage with the aforementioned policy pressures by providing the first necessary step towards better and better aligned learning gain by students, namely a clear view of students’ perceptions and understandings of their learning gain.

Paper aims

Given this evidence background, we set out to explore students’ conceptions of learning and learning gain in university settings across several academic disciplines. The research questions we answer in this paper are:

1. RQ1: What are students’ conceptions of learning, specifically of the development of subject-adjacent skills, competencies and abilities?

2. RQ2: To what extent are these understandings reflective of disciplinary orientations or other aspects of study (such as stage of study)?

Methodological approach

To address our research questions, we carried out a set of thirty-three semi-structured, stimulus-based interviews with students in three highly-selective English universities. This interview study was the first step of a broader study exploring learning and learning gain, whose aim was to understand if and how, subject-adjacent learning gain may be captured at scale. Since this included the development of a new assessment of skills and competencies (Vermunt, Ilie & Vignoles, 2018), we deemed it essential for students’ own perspectives to represent the starting point alongside existing evidence.

Research design: Phenomenography

Phenomenography is a qualitative approach situated within an interpretivist paradigm which seeks to map ‘the different ways in which people experience, conceptualise, perceive and understand various aspects of, and phenomena in, the world around them’ (Marton, 1986, p. 31) and, as a research design predominantly developed within the field of higher education, phenomenography is considered as particularly appropriate for research into learning and teaching (Tight, 2016). Here, the phenomenon of interest is students’ understandings of subject-adjacent learning and learning gain in higher education.

Context and participants

Thirty-three students took part in qualitative interviews on the main topic of learning. Although Trigwell (2000) suggests that a sample of 20 is sufficiently large to illuminate perspectives, the fact that our participants came from three institutions, four disciplinary areas (as follows) and different stages (undergraduate, postgraduate), we felt it necessary to expand the sample to allow for a multiplicity of perspectives. In line with the phenomenographic approach, participating students were diverse: 21 were undergraduate (first degree) and 12 were postgraduate students; participants were studying four broad subject categories: 9 interviewees each in Business, Chemistry; 5 in English; and 10 in Medicine; across three different institutions. The sample of respondents was fairly evenly balanced in terms of gender (18 women, 15 men). The sample and included both UK- (19) and overseas-born students (14). All interviewees were attending research-intensive selective institutions at the time of the study and were recruited with support from each institution’s staff.

Interviews

Data were collected via semi-structed, stimulus-based interviews conducted by two members of the research team. These took place at the participants’ university, and each lasted between 30 and 45 min. In line with principles of phenomenographic interviews (Tight, 2016), the focus throughout was on encouraging participants to express their qualitative understanding of subject-adjacent learning and learning gain. In order to ensure that data collected were authentic (i.e. truly representative of participants’ own perspectives and experiences, which entails a more open-ended approach to questioning) yet also systematic (i.e. covering the key areas of learning gain identified as important based on existing literature, which entails more deliberate prompting on the part of the interviewer), each interview consisted of two parts.

In the first part, participants were asked introductory questions about their general motivation for and attitude towards their course, along with questions about their expectations about learning at university. This was followed by a series of open-ended questions linked to the types of skills, knowledge, abilities and competencies they viewed as making up their learning. The aim was to keep questions general, to ensure that responses were not influenced by specific prompts or examples from the interviewers.

To elicit participants’ insights into particular areas of learning gain, the second part of the interview was stimulus-based, using a Q-sort ranking task (Brown, 1996). Participants were provided with a blank pyramid-shaped grid along with a series of cards, each listing a different skill (e.g. critical thinking, problem-solving, communication skills). So as not to restrict responses, blank cards were also provided for participants to add their own.

Participants were asked to place the cards in the grid in order of importance in terms of their own learning, and to talk through their rationale while they were doing so. The interviewer then probed further to elicit examples or experiences, and to clarify respondents’ understanding of the skills, abilities and competencies ranked, as well as their views around their relative importance and relevance to their learning. While Q methodology has been gaining popularity as a research method (Ramlo, 2016) and has been used successfully in higher education research (Woods, 2012; Young & Shepardson, 2018), in the current study it was used primarily as a stimulus for discussion and the Q-sort data was not analysed separately. All interviews were audio-recorded with the consent of the participants, and transcribed verbatim.

Data analysis

Analysis was conducted in line with the key principles of phenomenographic analysis outlined by Given (2008). Firstly, complete transcripts of the interviews were upload to NVivo11 (QSR, 2017) and were read independently by two members of the research team. The initial process of identifying key themes was iterative and abductive and, as such, involved linking the empirical data to key concepts of learning gain as defined broader project, reported in full elsewhere (Vermunt, Ilie & Vignoles, 2018). The following three main themes were identified across the transcripts:

1. Learning goals, strategies and gains;

2. Meanings attached to aspects of learning gain;

3. Development and relative importance of subject knowledge and generic skills.

Next, a process of comparative analysis was undertaken, with the aim of identifying similarities and differences between these themes across the participants. Consequently, three principal categories of understanding emerged: naïve, emergent and comprehensive.

This hierarchical structure, itself characteristic of phenomenographic analysis, indicates increasing complexity in the ways of understanding and experiencing learning gain. The Findings section below explores each of these categories of understanding in relation to the above three themes. Drawing on relevant examples from the data, emphasis is placed on identifying the critical features of each category with a view to, ultimately, exploring the relationship between these categories.

Findings

Naïve conceptions of learning gain

The category of naïve conceptions of learning gain is characterised by a lack of independence, a focus on surface approaches to learning and prioritisation of subject-specific knowledge over more general skill development. Four participants emerged as strongly illustrative of this conception, all Chemistry undergraduates.

Learning goals, strategies and gains

Naïve conceptions of learning are characterised across this group of participants by a generally unstructured approach to studies and extracurricular activities. Learning goals are short-term, and students deal with what is immediately necessary to fulfil immediate course requirements. Learning activities and strategies are aimed at the reproduction of information, and because students report often feeling overwhelmed with detail, they find it difficult to gain an overview of a subject. One interviewee illustrating this conception summarised their approach to learning as:

It depends on the module but I normally start to study for it in the last time, like two days before and I cram everything in which I shouldn’t do. And I just feel that sometimes the floor is slipping out and I can’t handle things. (Undergraduate, Chemistry).

While students recognise the transition from directed study at school to independent study at university, the realisation of the necessity of working alone and autonomously is daunting. Tutors and the appropriate timing of modules or courses are seen as at least partially responsible for students’ progress, or lack thereof, and students who hold this type of understanding often express a need for clearer structures than those already in place, explicit guidance, compulsory study sessions and regularly repeated assessment so that they can assess their own progress. Criticism of the university’s expectations or its training provision may be offered, but without concrete supporting evidence. All four respondents holding this conception reflected these perspectives, best summarised by one as:

. . .maybe lecturers could make it [the subject] more interesting, more, you know, entertaining and more lively, more fun, instead of like boring, dully, yeah [. . .] . . .in our uni we don’t have like, you know January exams [. . .] you don’t have that pressure on you to work, and I feel like if I had exams then I would have much more pressure on me to work. [. . .](Undergraduate, Chemistry).

Meanings attached to aspects of learning gain

In naïve conceptions of learning gain, high importance is attached to memorisation as a way of learning. To this end, students with naïve understandings of learning gain will use flashcards or read and re-read course material without any clear aim aside from remembering the content. Examples of this kind of learning approaches were evident across all four respondents holding a naïve conception of learning gain. Work towards written assignments and revision for examinations may be left until the last minute and attempts to compensate by ‘cramming’ are generally unsuccessful. With a limited understanding of the reasons why knowledge of specific topics is necessary, students who hold such conceptions may see significant amounts of course materials as ‘boring’ or difficult to understand. Topics that are found uninteresting take considerably more time and effort to learn and to comprehend fully. Important skills such as critical thinking or synthesising information are often difficult to grasp. As an example, some students view synthesis as a form of précis, a simplistic way of condensing information to remember more of it. When present, awareness of some of the cognitive and metacognitive components of learning and learning gain is sometimes is at an incipient stage.

Tutors and lecturers are often viewed as binary (positive or negative) influences on students’ engagement, subject learning and skill development. Surface learning approaches predominate. The degree of independence, self-regulation and autonomy expected at university can take students with this category of understanding by surprise, and instances of burnout, stress, demotivation in completing tasks, assignments and study schedules occur. Motivation to learn is primarily extrinsic, with the aim of improving examination grades. This understanding is further characterised by a reluctance to leave behind one’s established ways of learning and working, with independent study and undirected time daunting and often contextualised as a value-for-money issue (in the sense of contact hours for paid tuition fees). Naïve conceptions are further characterised by a fixed view of knowledge and approaches to learning, with only occasional exceptions for a specific ability or skill.

One of the students holding a naïve understanding of learning gain illustrated this perspective in relation to the potential for curiosity to be developed during higher education: ‘Curiosity is, kind of, hit and miss. You either have it or you don’t. [. . .] if you’re trying to make them more curious about chemistry, you’ve got to make it [chemistry] appeal to them in a way that they haven’t seen before’ (Undergraduate, Chemistry).

Ethical matters and research are generally thought of as irrelevant or not discussed, possibly because of the participants’ (early) stage of study or because they are not emphasised by tutors or lecturers within their discipline. If research is mentioned, as it was done by two of four respondents holding this conception, it is almost exclusively in the context of finding out about topics of personal interest, with the internet seen as a useful resource.

Development and relative importance of subject knowledge and generic skills

In naïve conceptions of learning gain, subject knowledge gains take centre stage. The development of communication skills, time management and other transferable skills, for instance, is thought of as an incidental and occasionally useful benefit, rather than a desirable outcome for personal development and longer-term benefit. Students who hold such a conception are either unclear as to the relative importance of skills and subject knowledge (two interviewees) or see skills as only directly related to their own discipline (the other two interviewees). There is, however, an expectation that tutors should be helping to develop these. Generic skills and subject-specific knowledge thus tend to be thought of separately: the purpose of higher education is seen as either to gain subject knowledge or entry to a specific career.

In one of the interviews, the following question was posed of the participant: ‘How important do you think that those sort of [transferable] skills are in comparison to the core subject. . . Both for your degree course itself and in the future?’ (Interviewer). The interviewee answered immediately: ‘So I think they are important. I think they’re probably less important for most careers within chemistry, the other skills that I’ve learned. [. . .] They don’t necessarily need to be taught within a degree format, I guess. Like they are things you would learn just by doing a bit in the future. [. . .] Yeah, I think the core subject knowledge is probably more important’ (Undergraduate, Chemistry). This excerpt illustrates the focus on subject knowledge that is characteristic of the naïve conception of learning gain and the relative lack of depth when discussing adjacent skills and competencies.

Emergent conceptions of learning gain

The category of emergent conceptions of learning gain is characterised by greater awareness of approaches to learning, beginning to engage with deep rather than surface-level learning and emphasising the connections between subject-specific and general skills. This represented the largest group, 21 students, across all four subjects and at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Learning goals, strategies and gains

Emergent conceptions of learning reflect increasing structure in planning of learning activities, with students holding such understandings ready to act upon what they need to do to reach both short- and long-term learning goals. Emergent conceptions are further characterised by an emerging realism, and a pragmatic attitude concerning what is (not) possible to achieve; there is less need or desire for explicit guidance, but still an emphasis on ‘being taught’. This type of conception sees students getting to know both their own strengths and the areas in which they need to develop. A fifth-year medical student best illustrated this process: ‘. . .in my fourth year I failed one of my exams and I talked to someone in the Medical Education department and I picked up a few tips from him about how to learn Medicine especially because there’s such a vast amount of information. [. . .] you never get taught all that well on how to deal with patients who are particularly angry or sad. We get a three-day learning course in your final year and I don’t think that’s enough’ (Undergraduate, Medicine)

In becoming increasingly proactive in managing their own learning, students who hold this conception are prepared to independently seek information from tutors or peers. Adaptation is a further feature of this type of conception, in terms of skill development (e.g. attempting skim-reading, writing to a deadline), although such demands continue to be sometimes challenging. Students may occasionally offer broad critiques regarding course material or training provision, with evidence drawing from personal experience. One of the undergraduate students holding this emergent conception of learning gain highlighted the importance of adaptation: ‘. . .you have to adjust yourself to this environment. And I guess it is more harder (sic) for people who are coming straight from A levels. It wasn’t that hard for me but it was difficult task’ (Undergraduate, Chemistry).

Meanings attached to aspects of learning gain

Students holding this conception often, though not always, draw explicit interconnections between the different aspects of learning. As an example, when large volumes of information need to be learnt in a limited time, extrinsic and/or intrinsic motivation is seen as vital in bringing this about. An emergent conception of learning gain is associated with the valuing of deep comprehension over knowledge and information acquisition, but also with a selectivity in what gets learned that is driven by the necessity of absorbing large quantities of information quickly. Despite this, there is evidence of perseverance when the course materials become difficult to understand, and an association with resilience when faced with time pressure.

Further, this type of conception is characterised by an acceptance, and even welcoming, of other perspectives and by a pragmatism in relation to learning outcomes that accompanies an increasing realisation of the usefulness of questioning and reflection in assessing personal learning progress. An undergraduate interviewee focused on their ability to learn about their own approaches to learning: ‘. . .I've learnt a lot more about myself but also about other people and appreciating and empathising. [. . .] . . .not just that there’s one rational way of doing things, there’s one best way to study, there’s one best way to do an essay. Really, that everyone’s different and that people mature differently and have different perspectives’ (Undergraduate, Business).

A further feature is the prevalence of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, with skill development often occurring through ‘necessity’, prompted, for instance, by assessment pressures. One of the medical students holding this conception illustrated this feature of the emergent conception by exploring the range of motivations they held: ‘. . .you have to be motivated because otherwise you just wouldn’t be able to get through the course, so you have to be motivated either by getting decent grades or by whatever else, or money or the outcome or whatever, but if you are not motivated, then you will not be able to get through medicine as a course’ (Undergraduate, Medicine).

Deep, rather than surface approaches to learning are increasingly apparent as gains in subject knowledge and skills are applied to other contexts; and a developing sense of autonomy and independence, and engagement in a subject and motivation to learn are recognised as invaluable. Where students who hold emergent conceptions are dissatisfied with courses, training or support, they work to resolve this, with this type of understanding accompanying a strategic approach to the use of extracurricular activities that develop new skills or improve those already gained. About a third of respondents holding this conception discussed how they became more strategic in their learning and engagement with the learning process, with one of the postgraduate students noting: ‘I’m much more strategic now I guess in terms of the seminars I attend or the persons I talk to, the way I network with people that I think will be interesting for me in the future’ (Postgraduate, Business).

Knowledge and intelligence are increasingly seen as dynamic processes rather than a fixed product. Students with emerging conceptions of learning often see personal attributes as influencing skill development but acknowledge that improvement is sometimes possible through appropriate training and practice. While the vast majority of respondents displaying this understanding of learning gain held this view, this is best illustrated by one of the undergraduate interviewees studying business: ‘There are fixed practices such as like critical thinking problem solving or communication skills. So normally I think there are fixed factors like that. . . Interviewer: Do you think you can improve in those areas. . .: It can be improved. For these things, I don’t think all of them are natural and then it just depends on your god-gifted or something like that. It can be built up. Sometimes the student can get the guidance’ (Undergraduate, Business).

Emergent understandings are further related to a recognition of interpersonal differences in perspectives and learning approaches. While research matters and ethics are becoming more salient in this type of conception, the focus remains on students’ specific experience than their application to wider contexts. All medical students holding emergent conceptions of learning gain expressed this, with one undergraduate student making the distinction between the learning context and the later application of specific competencies around ethical decision-making: ‘. . .making ethical and moral decisions would be the highest priority as a doctor but in terms of learning at medical school it doesn’t particularly apply’ (Undergraduate, Medicine).

Development and relative importance of subject knowledge and generic skills

A further feature of emergent conceptions relates to growing awareness of the skills and subject knowledge still to be acquired, both according to immediate necessity within students’ discipline and for longer-term benefit. One of the interviewees studying chemistry illustrated this in relation to using opportunities to explain ideas and concepts to others as a way of developing their own understanding: ‘If you are trying to explain what you wrote to somebody often you either spot that’ve you’ve. . .That you’ve got some sort of, logical flaw and your answer doesn’t work. Or actually it helps you to think about it properly and make sure you’ve really understood it by. . . Just to explain something does take a lot more understanding of it than just to be able to write vaguely an answer’ (Undergraduate, Chemistry).

Finally, in an emergent conception, extracurricular activities are seen as helpful in developing interpersonal and social skills, and academic interactions with others (for instance, in group work) are valued for the opportunities to expand both subject knowledge and skills. The vast majority of interviewees discussed their engagement in extracurricular activities, and how this had helped develop abilities and skills, best summed up by one of the undergraduates studying business: ‘Being in the, like, the student committee, actually taught me a lot about politics and about how you talk to certain people, [. . .] like how do you talk to your fellow student, opposed to how you talk to your teacher, and how to. . .most importantly, how you combine those two to make them work together’ (Undergraduate, Business).

This leads to the deeper approaches to learning specific to emergent conceptions, where the usefulness of understanding a concept or topic and critiquing one’s own work is realised over its memorisation. Also in this way, the interdependence of generic skills and subject knowledge is emphasised, along a willingness to leave behind established ways of working in order to progress learning.

Comprehensive conceptions of learning gain

Finally, the category of comprehensive conceptions of learning gain is characterised by a much more nuanced and future-oriented understanding. Students holding this conception showed a high degree of self-awareness and self-regulation, and engaged in deep approaches to learning. There were eight students in this category and while they were distributed evenly across subjects, the majority (five) were at postgraduate level.

Learning goals, strategies and gains

The most sophisticated category of understandings of learning gain is the comprehensive conception. This type features carefully considered learning plans, an awareness of and work towards a variety of skills considering both immediate and longer-term learning needs. One of the interviewees studying English outlined their own deliberate work to develop a range of skills and learning behaviours: ‘So I went to a course about, like, managing stress and performance, for instance, and managing your inner critic. And it’s quite good because it alerts you to behaviours that you have that you're not very aware of. [. . .] . . .managing your time and understanding that the PhD is very important, but it’s not all that you have in your life. [. . .]’ (Postgraduate, English).

A comprehensive conception further reflects realistic, flexible goals concerning learning and future employment, and a realisation of the independent nature of learning in higher education, whereby ownership of the approach and a proactive stance and regular reflection upon learning are accompanied by constructive critique of learning environments and materials.

A postgraduate interviewee studying Medicine described the process of critically engaging with the structure of their course, including arriving at a solution for what they saw was a more effective way to support the development, in this case, of technical data skills: ‘I think definitely the timing of the training . . .which was compulsory, how to handle research data and how to use research database management techniques etcetera. So I think that that was only either in the late part of the first term or the start of the next term, [. . .] it was coming too late, being told this is how you should organise yourselves, this is how you should sort your folders and things, and I was. . .by that point I’d already had this [. . .], so I think the timing could certainly be shuffled around a bit’ (Postgraduate, Medicine).

Meanings attached to aspects of learning gain

Comprehensive conceptions of learning gain additionally display conscious associations between practical activities and the aspects of learning gain needed to accomplish them. Thus, skills are associated with specific contexts, so that, for instance, communication skills are connected with academic presentations, group work and research outreach, while problem-solving and critical thinking are prioritised in academic writing and technical work.

Ideas and concepts are readily synthesised, so that students with such understandings construct their own integrated array of abilities, knowledge and understandings. Comprehensive conceptions are also associated with an emphasis on independent thinking, critical and autonomous approaches to learning and adaptation to different situation through problem solving.

Strong self-regulation is a further feature of comprehensive conceptions of learning gain, as is a strongly intrinsic motivation, so that knowledge and skills are sought both for the sake of personal development and to ensure continued progression in learning, and visible learning gains. All interviewees holding a comprehensive conception of learning gain provided perspectives indicative of strong self-regulation. Where major changes in learning styles are necessary (within a degree programme or because of a change in course), these are viewed pragmatically. One of the undergraduate students holding this conception illustrated this perspective by showing an ability to reflect on their own learning approach and its changing nature: ‘I think you do learn skills; one that definitely jumps out at me is adaptability, definitely. I’ve had to adapt to this new learning style. If I tried to apply my previous learning style [. . .] I wouldn’t make it through [. . .]’ (Undergraduate, Medicine).

Comprehensive conceptions are described by a high level of awareness of what does not need to change, and high levels of perseverance and adaptability, essential attributes in dealing with the challenges inherent in higher education. The same undergraduate respondent above also noted that: ‘[. . .]my personal development has come a long way because of it [extracurricular activity] but yeah it has been useful in assessments as well. I think it just gives a lot of confidence which is what you need especially in your practical assessment, the ability to deal with something that’s going wrong in front of you’ (Undergraduate, Medicine).

A comprehensive conception further sees reflection recognised as a highly useful tool that enables students to realise what has needed to change to achieve learning gain, and what has influenced this change. There is a strong sense of autonomy and proactivity in relation extracurricular engagement, importance is attached to belonging in an academic community and there is often a stated wish to contribute to the university in some way. While all interviewees holding the conception of learning offered examples suggestive of this, this is perhaps best illustrated by one of the undergraduate respondents studying English: ‘I also volunteer at the SU [Students’ Union, on-campus student association], so that was quite nice to, sort of, also do my work but also help and give back and volunteer. [. . .] You just have to look for the opportunities, really, rather than just sit there and think, oh, I could do other things’ (Undergraduate, English)

Dynamic views of knowledge, ability and intelligence characterise a comprehensive understanding of learning: given sufficient willingness and practice, knowledge and skills may be developed within most individuals. This allows for different personal attributes, but the emphasis rests on potential change, with intentionality and effort. This complexity was evident in the answers of all respondents holding a comprehensive conception of learning, with an interviewee studying business noting: ‘Curiosity is probably the most personality-like, but time management, synthesising information, problem-solving, critical thinking, these are ones that really you just need practice in. They're not innate skills that someone’s amazing at just because they were born with it. You have to work on them, so university can help with them’. (Undergraduate, Business).

Students with this understanding also see engagement with moral and ethical matters as an interconnected whole, relevant to everyday life and integral to both work and study. In their interviews, students highlighted how their studies supported them in building a greater awareness of ethical issues generally: ‘[. . .] considering the current state of the world and how much more aware of it I am now, I think this [making ethical and moral decisions] really does take greater prominence, or else we’re going to have repeat mistakes. [. . .] I do think that we need to put greater appreciation on it, and not just chalk it up to something you make a report on and then leave it because of its impact’ (Undergraduate, Business). This is further indicative of comprehensive conceptions of learning being characterised by an awareness of the wide-reaching implications of learning and skills development, beyond amassing subject specific knowledge, as follows.

Development and relative importance of subject knowledge and generic skills

Finally, comprehensive conceptions are illustrative of little or no hierarchy between subject knowledge and generic skills, and a deliberate emphasis on cross-curricular, cross-disciplinary and extra-curricular activities. All respondents holding comprehensive conceptions of learning provided answers in support of this feature of the conception, best captured by one of the postgraduate students studying Business, who noted: ‘[skills and subject knowledge] are probably on equal footing I guess. [. . .]. . .for me it was very important to complement this work which I really enjoy with some other work that gives me – that exposes me to things and makes me learn things I wouldn’t learn in my PhD’ (Postgraduate, Business).

There is a clear awareness of the contexts in which specific skills are useful and where subject knowledge is more likely to come to the fore. The prospect of using skills and subject knowledge in different contexts is welcomed because they are seen as closely integrated. This integration was also reflected as transferability, with one of the interviewees studying Chemistry suggesting that ‘[. . .]subject knowledge is definitely crucial to being in research, but in many ways lots of things are transferable skills, so being able to perform well in an interview, being able to produce a good application, that’s just the hiring process, then doing a good job in placement’ (Postgraduate, Chemistry).

Deep approaches to learning therefore characterise comprehensive conceptions of learning gain, with the addition of intentionality and critique over emergent understandings. Subject knowledge and adjacent skills are seen as similarly important, both for learning and for future employment. Students who hold comprehensive understandings show a willingness to risk leaving established ways of working and thinking in the knowledge that something, even if unknown or unexpected, is likely to be gained from doing so. Six of the students holding a comprehensive conception of learning made statements to this effect, with one of the postgraduate respondents studying English reflecting on this in relation to their co-curricular activities: ‘. . .I think for me, the reason that I am doing it [organising postgraduate research seminars] is because it will enable me to . . .surround me [sic] with researchers, with works I find really fascinating, and be part of that community in much more direct and active ways than you would just as a student coming into a lecture’ (Postgraduate, English). Alongside the lack of hierarchy between subject knowledge and skills, such a perspective is indicative of the core features of the comprehensive conception of learning: a reflective stance on the complex relationship between subject knowledge and subject-adjacent learning gain, and an intentionality in their development.

Discussion

This study looked to understand students’ conceptions of learning and learning gain. The above three phenomenographically derived categories of understanding point to sets of perspectives that can meaningfully be distinguished from each other, with interviewed students holding understandings predominantly (and usually exclusively) falling into one of the three categories.

A key distinction between the different categories of understanding related to the differing constructions of change, as directly related to the notion of learning gain. Naïve conceptions were reflective of ‘time as resource required to learn something’ perspectives, while the more sophisticated emergent and comprehensive conceptions added to that the notion of within-individual change (in goals, expectations and standards) related to both the academic subjects being pursued as well as bigger social changes for which students deemed their own subjects relevant.

In keeping with earlier evidence (Lee & Chin, 2016), students across all subjects and holding all categories of understanding saw the different skills, competencies and abilities as associated with their subject, though the comprehensive conception included the clearest acknowledgement of the broader relevance of these skills beyond the specific subject.

Further, perceptions around the fixed nature of skills and potential for change differentiated between naïve and the two more sophisticated conceptions. As further elaborated below, some of this emerged from respondents’ stages of study: postgraduate students held substantially more sophisticated views of change over time and, therefore, gain; and their perspectives were relatively homogenous by academic subject. Meanwhile, undergraduate students offered much more varied perspectives on this matter, and not systematically associated to academic subject. What this research could not address was how individuals’ perspectives of change over time and learning gain evolved longitudinally, given the study’s single point of data collection. Future work could explore these changes, particularly considering evidence that approaches to learning are flexible even when surface approaches dominate substantially at the start of a higher education course (Piumatti et al., 2021).

As already discussed, this study also explored how students’ academic subjects, their stage of study and broad educational experiences contextualising their perspectives, may relate to the principal category of understanding of learning gain. The three conceptions of learning gain were found to be at least partly associated with an interaction between stage of study and the academic subject but did not vary by university.

Study stage on its own was associated with the comprehensiveness of the understanding being held: students at earlier higher education stages (first and second year undergraduate students) were more likely to display naïve or emergent understandings of learning gain. All holders of naïve understandings were undergraduates; and 13 of the 21 holders of emergent conceptions were also undergraduate). Conversely, postgraduate students were more likely to display a comprehensive understanding (five of the eight students holding this conception). This opens research avenues around temporal development, with recent research suggesting that approaches to learning do not necessarily evolve towards deep learning with more time in higher education (Asikainen & Gijbels, 2017).

The category of understanding also varied by academic subject alone, though in a pattern less clear than for study stage. Interviewees in Chemistry were more likely to provide perspectives indicative of naïve or emerging understandings of learning gain (eight of nine interviewees). Students in English and Medicine were comparatively less likely to provide perspectives indicative of naïve conceptions (none), with two of the five English-studying interviewees and respectively three of the ten Medicine students displaying a comprehensive understanding of learning. Business students’ perspectives were also spread across the emergent and comprehensive conceptions of learning, with two of the nine interviewees illustrating a comprehensive understanding.

More interesting was the interplay between subject and stage, particularly evident for Medicine. As undergraduate students in later years and postgraduate students noted, the nature of many of their degrees demanded a significant shift in their learning approaches, including because of an increasing focus on practice towards later degree stages. Interviewees also reported that the changes from the information-rich pre-clinical stages of their degrees to the sophisticated set of communication and practical skills required during the clinical stages were accompanied by periods of time of reassessment of learning approaches and own’s conceptions of approach and purpose of learning. This mirrors evidence indicating meaningful differences in learning by stage of study in Medicine, for instance around clinical reasoning (Khin-Htun & Kushairi, 2019), (declining) empathy (Mahoney et al., 2016) and self-regulated learning strategies (Cho et al., 2017).

Subject and stage interactions were also present in relation to which aspects of learning gain were prioritised across each respective category of understanding, and further in relation to students’ educational experiences, especially around how explicit specific aspects of learning gain were tackled in their respective subject. Cognitive skills were seen by most students as most important, with Medicine students the only ones who ranked the social aspects of learning gain, specifically around clinical skills. Some of the justifications included problem-solving and critical thinking being explicitly discussed in relation to assessment and explicitly included in skills training. Students noted the importance of such training for supporting their cognitive competencies, though only if they were appropriately pitched and relevant to their subject.

Conclusions

The three categories of understandings developed here shed light on the variety and variability of students’ own perspectives on their approaches to learning in higher education. The three categories of understanding offer in-depth perspectives of how students recast their context and evolving educational experiences through the lens of learning gain. These categories of understandings vary by stage and subject of study together, but not by university. This suggests that the degree course - that is, the combination of subject and level of study- is a key aspect to consider for higher education institutions looking to improve learning gain.

Students’ conceptions of learning and learning gain point towards complex relationship between learners’ academic subjects and the type of skills, abilities and competencies they prioritise. Intentionality and self-reflection distinguish comprehensive conceptions of learning gain, suggesting that enabling students to engage with their own learning deeply may be an essential aspect of improving learning gain. In their efforts to improve learning gain, higher education institutions may therefore consider supporting students to understanding their learning. Institutions may also work to develop a contextualised student perspective about the meanings and values attached to learning gain, alongside or as a precursor to measuring learning gain. Only then can such measures of learning gain support the development of students’ learning.