Skip to main content
Log in

Relationships between Separate and Connected Knowing and Approaches to Learning

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Sex Roles Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study explored whether connected and separate ways of knowing were related to deep and achieving approaches to learning in a sample of White/Caucasian and Mexican-American community college students in the Southwestern and Midwestern United States. Two hundred forty-one students (72 men and 169 women) completed the Attitudes Towards Thinking and Learning Survey (ATTLS) and the Shortened Study Process Questionnaire (SSPQ). No significant differences in separate (SK) and connected knowing (CK) were found between White and Mexican-American students. However, men scored higher than women on separate knowing (SK) and lower on connected knowing (CK). In addition, both CK and SK were significantly related to a deep approach to learning; only CK was significantly related to achieving approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Belenky, M. F., Clinchy, B. M., Goldberger, N. R., & Tarule, J. M. (1986). Women's ways of knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books; reprinted in 1997

    Google Scholar 

  • Biggs, J. (1987a). Student approaches to learning and studying. Hawthorne, Victoria (Australia): Australian Council for Educational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biggs, J. (1987b). Study Process Questionnaire manual. Melbourne, Australia: Australian Council for Educational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, K. (2003). Hong Kong teacher education students' epistemological beliefs and approaches to learning. Research in Education, 69, 36–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chan, K., & Elliot, R. G. (2003). Exploratory study of Hong Kong teacher education students' epistemological beliefs: cultural perspectives and implications on beliefs research. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 27, 392–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clinchy, B. M. (2002). Revisiting women's ways of knowing. In B. K. Hofer, & P. R. Pintrich (Eds.), Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (pp. 63–87). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conley, A. M., Pintrich, P. R., Vekiri, I., & Harrison, D. (2004). Changes in epistemological beliefs in elementary science students. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 29, 186–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Entwistle, N., & McCune, V. (2004). The conceptual bases of study strategy inventories. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 16, 325–345.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, R. A., McManus, I. C., & Winder, B. C. (2001). The shortened Study Process Questionnaire: an investigation of its structure and longitudinal stability using confirmatory factor analysis. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 71, 511–530.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fuligni, A. J. (1997). The academic achievement of adolescents from immigrant families: the roles of family background, attitudes, and behavior. Child Development, 68, 351–363.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Galotti, K. M. (1998). Valuing connected knowing in the classroom. Clearing House, 71, 281–284.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Galotti, K. M. (2004). Cognitive psychology: In and out of the laboratory (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galotti, K. M., Clinchy, B. M., Ainsworth, K. H., Lavin, B., & Mansfield, A. F. (1999). A new way of assessing ways of knowing: the attitudes toward thinking and learning survey. Sex Roles, 40, 745–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, E. E. (1995). Educating Mexican American students: Past treatment and recent developments in theory, research, policy, and practice. In J. A. Banks, & C. A. M. Banks (Eds.), Handbook of research on multicultural education. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: Psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M. (1964). Assimilation to American life: The role of race, religion, and national origins. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (1997). The development of epistemological theories: beliefs about knowledge and knowing and their relation to learning. Review of Educational Research, 67, 88–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hofer, B. K., & Pintrich, P. R. (2002). Personal epistemology: The psychology of beliefs about knowledge and knowing. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ogbu, J. U. (1978). Minority education and caste: The American system in cross-cultural perspective. New York: Academic.

    Google Scholar 

  • Padilla, A. M., & Gonzalez, R. (2001). Academic performance of immigrant and U.S.-born Mexican heritage students: effects of schooling in Mexico and bilingual/English language instruction. American Education Research Journal, 38, 727–742.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pedhazur, E. J. (1997). Multiple regression in behavioral research (3rd ed.). New York: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perez, W., & Padilla, A. M. (2000). Cultural orientation across three generations of Hispanic adolescents. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 22, 390–398.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, W. G. J. (1968). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years: A scheme. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass; reprinted in 1999.

    Google Scholar 

  • Redfield, R., Linton, R., & Herkovits, M. (1936). Memorandum on the study of acculturation. American Anthropologist, 38, 149–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumbaut, R. G. (1995). The new Californians: Comparative research findings on the educational progress of immigrant children. In R. G. Rumbaut, & W. A. Cornelius (Eds.), California's immigrant children: Theory, research and implications for educational policy (pp. 17–69). University of California, San Diego: Center for U.S-Mexican Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryder, A. G., Alden, L. E., & Paulhus, D. L. (2000). Is acculturation unidimensional or bidimensional? A head-to-head comparison in the prediction of personality, self-identity, and adjustment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 49–65.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schommer, M. (1990). Effects of beliefs about the nature of knowledge on comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 85, 498–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schommer-Aikins, M. (2004). Explaining the epistemological belief system: introducing the embedded systemic model and coordinated research approach. Educational Psychologist, 39, 19–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schommer-Aikins, M., & Easter, M. (2006). Ways of knowing and epistemological beliefs: combined effect on academic performance. Educational Psychology, 26, 411–423.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stanton, A. (1996). Reconfiguring teaching and knowing in the college classroom. In N. Goldburger, J. Tarule, B. Clinchy, & M. Belenky (Eds.), Knowledge, difference, and power: Essays inspired by women's ways of knowing (pp. 25–56). NY: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J., & Zhang, L. (2001). Perspectives on thinking, learning, and cognitive styles. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tasaki, K. (2001). Culture and epistemology: An investigation of different patterns in epistemological beliefs across cultures. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Hawaii.

  • Youn, I. (2000). The culture specificity of epistemological beliefs about learning. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 3, 87–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Heath Marrs.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Marrs, H., Benton, S.L. Relationships between Separate and Connected Knowing and Approaches to Learning. Sex Roles 60, 57–66 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9510-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9510-7

Keywords

Navigation