Higher Education 33: 471–493, 1997. 471 c 1997 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands. Conceptions of learning among Nepalese students BO DAHLIN 1 & MURARI P. REGMI 2 1 University of Karlstad, S-651 88 Karlstad, Sweden; 2 Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal Abstract. The paper presents a phenomenographic study of conceptions of academic learning among Nepalese students. Students from various disciplines at the Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu were interviewed about their understanding and experience of learning. The results are related to previous studies in Nepal, using Bigg’s Study Process Questionnaire and written responses to open questions. They are also compared to similar phenomenographic studies carried out in the East as well as the West. The present study indicates, among other things, that Nepali students look upon memorising and understanding as interlinked in a way not usually found among Western students. The results are described within a two-dimensional outcome space, derived from previous studies of learning experience conducted in various cultural settings, and providing a general framework for different conceptions of learning. Resum´ e. Ce travail pr´ esente une ´ etude “Ph´ enom´ enographique” sur les conceptions d’appren- tissage des ´ etudiants n´ epalais. ´ etudiants des diff´ erentes disciplines universitaires et ´ el` eves achevant leur dixi` eme et derni` ere ann´ ee du second cycle ont ´ et´ e interview´ es au sujet leur exp´ erience de l’apprentissage. Les r´ esultats s’appuyant sur Bigg’s “Study Process Question- naire” et sur des r´ esponses ´ ecrites ` a d’autres questions pr´ ealablement pos´ ees, se r´ ef` erent ` a de pr´ ec´ edentes ´ etudes effectu´ ees au Nepal. La pr´ esente ´ etude montre, entre autre, que les ´ etudiants n´ epalais consid` erent la m´ emorisation et la compr´ ehension comme ´ etant li´ ees, ceci d’une mani` ere qui est ´ etrang` ere ou peu commune chez leurs condisciples occidentaux. Les r´ esultats s’int` egrent dans un mod` ele ` a deux dimensiones de l’exp´ erience d’appressintage, lequel mod` ele d´ ecoule de pr´ es´ edentes ´ etudes men´ ees dans diff´ erents champs culturels, il procure un cadre g´ en´ eral aux diverses conceptions de l’apprentissage. Introduction This paper presents a phenomenographic study of conceptions of academic learning among Nepalese students. In accordance with phenomenographic research, “conception” here means the way people conceive or understand particular phenomena (Marton, 1981). This kind of study raises the general problem of the conditions for under- standing a foreign cultural tradition, and the conceptions of its bearers. From the purely philosophical point of view, this problem has been investigated mainly with regard to the possibility of an inter-traditional understanding of religious and philosophical ideas. Although we are not dealing with issues at the level of Weltanschauungen, the philosophical perspective has relevance,