PROFILING THE DIFFERENCES IN STUDENTS KNOWLEDGE, INTEREST, AND STRATEGIC PROCESSING

The purpose for this research was threefold: to determine whether dist inct and informative student profiles would emerge from knowledge, int erest, and strategy measures specific to educational psychology; to co mpare these profiles with prior studies; and to explore changes in stu dent profiles across an academic semester. As a result of cluster-anal ytic procedures, 3 distinct groups of participants emerged at pretest, and 4 emerged at posttest. One of the profiles that remained fairly c onsistent from pretest to posttest was the Learning-Oriented cluster. Students fitting this profile began the semester with the highest mean s in interest and strategic processing and with a moderate level of do main knowledge. By the end of the semester, this cluster obtained the highest means also on the domain knowledge test. Yet, the largest clus ter at posttest seemed unable or unwilling to learn from demanding exp osition.