Using multidimensional scaling to improve functionality of the Revised Learning Process Questionnaire

The Revised Learning Process Questionnaire has been part of the development of a conceptual understanding of how students learn and what motivates them to engage in particular tasks. We obtained responses from 329 student volunteers at a mid-sized public university in the southeast USA. We first investigated whether the psychometric properties and latent factor structure of this questionnaire are replicable in a different educational context and with students from a different country than that originally used to create and validate the questionnaire. We found this to be true. Second, we used Profile Analysis via Multidimensional Scaling (PAMS) to improve the diagnostic functionality of the instrument as well as further explore the latent structure of the questionnaire. The factor structure was evident in this solution, but we found that interpreting the latent structure in terms of the dimensions of Strategy and Motive as opposed to the factors of Deep and Surface approaches to be more appropriate for diagnostic use. We also found that PAMS has the inherent ability to assess an individual's fit within the model, thereby acting as a measure of self-report credibility. The Strategy dimension was found to have ecological validity through analysing its relationship to academic performance.