ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes some key characteristics of learning in tertiary contexts, based on a constructivist pedagogical philosophy. It attempts to lift the 'lens' on learning to a more general level by integrating concepts from other frameworks to arrive at a broad description of what occurs in learning and teaching environments. The chapter presents a generalized and integrated conceptual framework for learning, with five components: the learning environment, learning processes, learning outcomes (LEPO), learner characteristics and teacher characteristics. Biggs conceived of learning as having three components: Presage, Process and Product (3-P), which can be broadly interpreted as what happens before, during and after learning. Goodyear and colleagues have been investigating new conceptions of educational design: "the set of practices involved in constructing representations of how people should be helped to learn in various circumstances". The learning process component of the LEPO framework incorporates the 'approaches to study' component of the 3-P model.
