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BACKGROUND. Both achievement goals and study processing strategies theories have been shown to contribute to the prediction of students' academic performance. Existing research studies (Fenollar, Román, & Cuestas, 2007; Liem, Lau, & Nie, 2008; Simons, Dewitte, & Lens, 2004) amalgamating these two theoretical orientations in different causal models have reported their associations with other adaptive strategies and motivational constructs - for example, effort expenditure. Despite this recognition, there have been to date very few studies that explored the relations between achievement goals, study processing strategies, effort, and academic performance over time. AIM OF STUDY. The primary focus of our study is to explore the relations between the aforementioned theoretical constructs over a 2-year period. Specifically, we tested an empirical model that conceptualized the relations between performance-approach and mastery goals, deep processing strategies, effort, and academic performance across six time points of data collection. METHODOLOGY. Two hundred and eighty-one (161 females, 120 males) university students took part in this study. The participants were administered various Likert-scale inventories and the overall course mark and final examination were used as indexes of academic performance. RESULTS. Structural equation modelling indicated a relatively good fit to the a posteriori model and the hypothesized paths were, in part, supported. The major findings included the predictive effects of performance-approach goals at Time 1 on deep processing strategies at Time 2 and mastery goals at Time 3; the predictive effect of mastery goals at Time 3 on effort at Time 4; the predictive effects of deep processing at Time 2 on mastery goals at Time 3 and Time 4. Furthermore, the placement of deep processing and effort in this structural model also accentuated the performance-approach goals - mastery goals - effort - academic performance relation, and the performance-approach goals - deep processing - mastery goals - effort - academic performance relation. DISCUSSION. Our study has important theoretical and practical implications concerning the conceptualization of the performance-approach and mastery goals relationship, and the use of goal structure and adaptive strategies (e.g., deep processing) to enhance academic learning., (©2010 The British Psychological Society.)

Background: Recently research evidence emphasizes two main lines of inquiry, namely the relations between future time perspective (FTP), achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance) and study processing strategies, and the relations between epistemological beliefs, achievement goals and study processing strategies. To date, however, there have been very few attempts made to amalgamate these two strands of inquiry within one study and how they in totality determine the success of academic learning., Aims: This study proposed and tested a conceptual model of relationships among FTP, epistemological beliefs, achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance), study processing strategies and academic performance., Sample: Two hundred and seventy-five tertiary second-year students (167 females, 108 males) enrolled in a university in the Pacific participated in this study., Method: Likert-scale inventories were used to elicit relevant data from students; for example, the epistemological questionnaire (EQ; Schommer, 1990) and the Zimbardo time perspective inventory (Zimbardo & Boyd, 1999). Academic performance was collated from students' course and final exam marks in the course educational psychology. LISREL 8.72 and SPSS 15 was used to test and evaluate the conceptual model proposed., Results: Latent variables procedures supported the conceptual model in general, although not all hypothesized paths were significant. MANOVA indicated no gender differences in the five theoretical frameworks or academic performance., Discussion: The determinants of academic performance from our findings are deep and surface processing strategies. Furthermore, the established supports the mediating roles of deep processing strategies, mastery goals, and performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals.

Background: Although extensive research has examined epistemological beliefs, reflective thinking and learning approaches, very few studies have looked at these three theoretical frameworks in their totality., Aims: This research tested two separate structural models of epistemological beliefs, learning approaches, reflective thinking and academic performance among tertiary students over a period of 12 months., Sample: Participants were first-year Arts (N=616; 271 females, 345 males) and second-year Mathematics (N=581; 241 females, 341 males) university students., Method: Students' epistemological beliefs were measured with the Schommer epistemological questionnaire (EQ, Schommer, 1990). Reflective thinking was measured with the reflective thinking questionnaire (RTQ, Kember et al., 2000). Student learning approaches were measured with the revised study process questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F, Biggs, Kember, & Leung, 2001). LISREL 8 was used to test two structural equation models - the cross-lag model and the causal-mediating model., Results: In the cross-lag model involving Arts students, structural equation modelling showed that epistemological beliefs influenced student learning approaches rather than the contrary. In the causal-mediating model involving Mathematics students, the results indicate that both epistemological beliefs and learning approaches predicted reflective thinking and academic performance. Furthermore, learning approaches mediated the effect of epistemological beliefs on reflective thinking and academic performance. Results of this study are significant as they integrated the three theoretical frameworks within the one study.

Background: Research evidence seems to suggest that the social and cultural environments influence students' approaches to their study. This social and cultural contention has led to the rethinking and reconceptualization of theories (e.g. Biggs, 1987; Marton & Säljö, 1976) pertaining to student approaches to learning (SAL) in academic settings., Aims: The present research discusses two separate empirical studies on student learning approaches situated in the South Pacific region with two respective cohorts of secondary students. Study I involved the examination of secondary Pacific Islands students in their learning approaches using a modified version of Biggs' (1987) original Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ). Study II involved the administration of a revised version of the LPQ (R-LPQ-2F; Kember, Biggs, & Leung, 2004) to another cohort of secondary Pacific Islands students., Sample: The first sample included 2,150 (1,285 girls, 865 boys) students and the second sample included 2,295 (1,363 girls, 932 boys) students., Methods: The factor structures of approaches to learning were examined by means of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using the LISREL program. Different a priori models were hypothesized and tested., Results: Results of Study I indicated a two-factor structure solution to Biggs' LPQ, supporting Richardson's (1994) theoretical model of learning and emphasized the factors of Reproducing and Meaning. Study II indicated a hierarchical organization of two main study approaches - deep and surface - that are structured as higher-order factors and a defined by four first-order factors., Conclusion: The results from the two studies accentuate the important argument for the rethinking and reconceptualization of learning approaches, as well as for the redevelopment and modification of learning inventories such as the LPQ. They also suggest the importance of situating the theoretical paradigm of learning approaches in a social and cultural environment.

Recent advances in genomics, proteomics, and structural biology raised the general need for significant amounts of pure recombinant protein (r-protein). Because of the difficulty in obtaining in some cases proper protein folding in bacteria, several methods have been established to obtain large amounts of r-proteins by transgene expression in mammalian cells. We have developed three nonviral DNA transfer protocols for suspension-adapted HEK-293 and CHO cells: (1) a calcium phosphate based method (Ca-Pi), (2) a calcium-mediated method called Calfection, and (3) a polyethylenimine-based method (PEI). The first two methods have already been scaled up to 14 L and 100 L for HEK-293 cells in bioreactors. The third method, entirely serum-free, has been successfully applied to both suspension-adapted CHO and HEK-293 cells. We describe here the application of this technology to the transient expression in suspension cultivated HEK-293 EBNA cells of some out of more than 20 secreted r-proteins, including antibodies, dimeric proteins, and tagged proteins of various complexity. Most of the proteins were expressed from different plasmid vectors within 5-10 days after the availability of the DNA. Transfections were successfully performed from the small scale (1 mL in 12-well microtiter plates) to the 2 L scale. The results reported made it possible to establish an optimized cell culture and transfection protocol that minimizes batch-to-batch variations in protein expression. The work presented here proves the applicability and robustness of transient transfection technology for the expression of a variety of recombinant proteins.