Student Approaches to Learning is a theory that students will take a different approach to how they study, depending upon the perceived objectives of the course they are studying.

those who took an understanding[1] approach to learning,

and those who took a reproduction approach to learning.

These are commonly referred to as the "deep" and "surface" approaches.

those who adopted a "deep" approach to learning engaged in an active process to reflect and integrate information in order to understand material being taught.

"deep" approach recognized by a sub-scale which involves “(1) seeking meaning, (2) relating ideas, (3) using evidence, and having (4) an interest in ideas”[3].

those who adopted a "surface" approach to learning focused on trying to cope with the task assigned, and visualizes the course as burden, therefore uses memorization of information which then leads to a limited learning understanding.

"surface" approach recognized to have sub-scale which involve “1) unrelated memorizing of information, (2) confining learning of the subject to the syllabus (syllabus-boundless), and (3) a fear of failing”