Initial investigation of Hong Kong post-secondary students' learning patterns

Purpose - The purpose of the present study is to report the initial analyses of relationships between various components of the learning patterns exhibited by a group of 1,572 post-secondary students in Hong Kong as operationalized via the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS), a quantitative instrument developed by Vermunt originally for the Dutch higher education context. Design/methodology/approach - The ILS was adapted and translated into Chinese for the new response-context. After validation of the ILS scales (results reported in another paper), the possible direct, indirect, or spurious effects among the learning constructs operationalized by these scales were explored using a general theoretical model proposed by Richardson, according to the exhibited statistical significance and magnitude of the beta weights derived from multiple regression analyses. Findings - Empirical support was found in this new Chinese response-context for the theoretical model that underpins the ILS. In particular, the findings confirm the central explanatory role of regulation strategies in students' learning patterns, as originally hypothesized by Vermunt. Originality/value - The present study contributes to the ILS literature by expanding the application of the instrument to a new Chinese response-context. It is also believed to be the first attempt to adapt Richardson's general theoretical model to analyse the relationships between the ILS components.