This study was conducted to extend the present state of research involving independent study as a teaching and learning methodology in the 2-year community college. A stratified random sample of 241 subjects was organized into six day and two night sessions of freshman English at Prince George's Community College, Largo, Maryland. Four instructors were randomly assigned one independent study section and one lecture-discussion section each. Pretests were administered, treatments were applied and checked, and posttests were then administered. Major instruments used in the study were the Otis Self-Administering Tests of Mental Ability, the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress-Writing (STEP), essay tests, and a student satisfaction questionnaire designed by the investigator. A reliability coefficient for the raters who graded the posttest essays was .84, while that of the questionnaire was .87. Results showed that students in the investigation were able to meet the freshman English objectives equally well and with equal satisfaction through both independent study and lecture discussion. (Author/JM)