Explanation for these changes over a short time period might be students’ perceptions of the learning environment and the associated requirements, and in line with this, their belief in a suitable learning strategy that would be beneficial to achieve the intended performance outcomes. Elliot (1999) stated that students who perceive themselves as being highly competent are expected to be directed toward positive outcomes and are expected to be willing participants (i.e., fostering a mastery-approach and/or performance-approach). In our study, mastery and performance orientations were positively associated with deep learning. Liem et al. (2008) suggested, the interpretation of the learning environment by students may lead to surface learning when they expect that the assessment system would reward them with higher grades if they shift from deep to surface learning strategies or vice versa. This suggestion might give direction to the interpretation of the findings: the perception of the learning environment, the assessment system, and students' cultural background might be antecedents of reported learning strategies. In addition, the perceived increased work load during the eight-week teaching period might have directed the students towards surface learning, the students had to prepare themselves for a variety of assessments towards the end of the period. This shift towards surface learning and the relation with perceived work load was also found by Gijbels & Dochy (2006). In line with this explanation, Diseth (2011) suggested that learning strategies are a function of processes in the present learning context rather than a result of previous academic achievement. Therefore, knowledge about changes in self-efficacy, goal orientation, and learning behaviour during a relatively short period of time is importance for educators.