This paper reviews the research conducted in the last decade on patterns in student learning, mostly in higher education. More specifically, the review focuses on a series of studies that have in common (a) the use of the Inventory of Learning Styles (ILS), an instrument aimed at measuring several components of student learning, namely, cognitive processing strategies, metacognitive regulation strategies, conceptions of learning, and learning orientations; and/or (b) an integrative learning theory focussing on the interplay between self-regulation and external regulation of learning processes as a theoretical framework. Aspects a and b are closely connected, because the development of the instrument was based on the theory. The review covers the following themes: The theoretical framework and conceptualization of student learning; a description of the instrument; the internal structure of learning strategies, conceptions, and orientations in different educational contexts; developments in learning patterns during the school career; consistency and variability in students' use of learning strategies; dissonance in students' regulation of learning processes; relations between learning patterns and personal and contextual factors; relations between learning patterns and learning outcomes; and process-oriented instruction.

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Background. An important purpose of tertiary education is that students develop more advanced, deep-level learning. Longitudinal, within-subject studies to examine intra-individual changes, however, are scarce. Aims.We aimed at gaining a broad picture of students' development in academic learning by taking many different perspectives. This involves the extent to which students report change, factors that contribute to this, the degree of stability of different aspects of learning, and changes in their interrelatedness.Samples. Participants were 276 full-time students from four different university departments, (60% women and 40% men).Methods. This study has a longitudinal within-subjects design. An inventory that measures learning strategies, learning orientations and mental learning models was administered after the rst and third semester. Paired-samples Ttests were used to analyse changes within variables. Principal component analyses were performed to examine changes in the interrelatedness of variables.Results. Results showed that students became more meaning-directed learners during this period. Personological as well as contextual variables explained this. The factor structure underlying the variables became more clear and consolidated in the course of time. Conclusions.The results concerning intra-individual development are satisfying. The diffuse factor structure after the rst semester is explained by a period of 'friction' in which students have to adapt to a new learning environment.