ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of key aspects of the approaches to learning theory. It focuses on the "deep/surface dichotomy" which forms the focal point of the approaches to learning theory. The chapter reviews studies that use an interpretivist methodology. It shows that the approaches to learning theory represented a significant shift in orientation for student learning researchers, particularly in moving away from an exclusive focus on individual characteristics and incorporating a focus on educational context. The Origins of Approaches to Learning Starting in the late 1960s, the experiences and voices of university students took on new levels of prominence in public life, and it is therefore not surprising that this era also saw new developments in research on student learning. Approaches to learning theory have been surprisingly insulated from these perspectives, which have had a profound impact on the broader field of educational scholarship.
