g. Chamorro-Premuzic and Furnham, 2008, Duff, 2004 and Furnham, 2011). Learning motives concern why students learn; they precede learning strategies that refer to how students learn ( Biggs, 1987). Together motives and strategies inform learning approaches, which are unrelated to intelligence (e.g. Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2008) but overlap with personality traits (e.g. Duff et al., 2004 and Furnham et al., 2009). While their relationship with academic performance is multilayered ( Haggis,

2003), it is unknown to what extent learning approaches are explained by personality traits and intelligence. Typically, three learning Selleck Ku 0059436 approaches are differentiated: deep, achieving and surface learning ( Biggs, check details 1987). Deep learners seek to explore a topic to the greatest possible extent, aiming for a better understanding of the subject matter and its wider context. Achieving learners study to obtain the rewards that are attached to high academic results, such as a prestigious job offer or monetary rewards. Surface learners only learn those facts that are indispensable to pass, thereby applying minimum but highly targeted study efforts (cf. Biggs, 1987). In line with this, research studies have shown that deep and achieving learning lead to better grades while surface learning tends to precede lower marks (e.g. Chamorro-Premuzic and Furnham,

2008, Duff, 2004 and Furnham et al., 2009). However, the Miconazole empirical evidence for the association between learning approaches and academic performance is often inconsistent ( Haggis, 2003). Learning approaches overlap conceptually and empirically with broad personality traits, i.e. the Big Five that span Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness

and Conscientiousness, with shared variances ranging from 25% to 45% (e.g. Duff et al., 2004 and Zhang, 2003). A recent review showed that Neuroticism is positively related to surface learning and negatively to deep learning; Extraversion and Conscientiousness are positively associated with deep and achieving learning; and Openness is strongly linked to deep learning (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2009). However, some data have challenged these associations, especially with regard to Extraversion (Chamorro-Premuzic & Furnham, 2009). Beyond the Big Five, deep and achieving learning have been shown to be positively correlated with Typical Intellectual Engagement (TIE), a trait that describes intellectual curiosity (Goff & Ackerman, 1992). Conversely, surface learning is negatively associated with TIE (e.g. Furnham et al., 2009). TIE refers to individual differences in typical intelligence or investment, that is, the desire to engage with and understand the world or the need to know ( Goff & Ackerman, 1992), which is conceptually very similar to deep learning.