There is widespread belief that test-taking ability is an influential component of academic success distinct from domain knowledge and comprehension. Most of today's college students took many more tests over the course of their primary and secondary education than students of previous generations, and also participated in regular training to…

Identifying impediments to learning can help both instructors and students. In this study students (N = 222) from across the nation listed concepts from research methods they found the most challenging--"potholes" or impediments to learning, and also rated the difficulty of various concepts from the class. We also measured student…

Autonomy, competence, and relatedness are psychological needs that may be particularly important for instructors to address in learning-to-learn courses, which are designed to support college students' personal development and academic success. Guided by self-determination theory, in this qualitative study we focused on the learning-to-learn…

Background: Undergraduates may not use the most effective learning strategies, particularly those considered "desirable difficulties" such as spacing, elaboration, and testing ("SET"). Objective: This study examined knowledge-based, metacognitive, and behavioral outcomes from interventions designed to teach undergraduates about…

The goal of this research was to determine whether there is a generation effect for learner-created keyword mnemonics and real-life examples, compared to instructor-provided materials, when learning neurophysiological terms and definitions in introductory psychology. Students participated in an individual (Study 1) or small-group (Study 2)…

This article provides a list of statistical mnemonics for instructor use. This article also reports on the potential for such mnemonics to help students learn, enjoy, and become less apprehensive about statistics. Undergraduates from two sections of a psychology statistics course rated 8 of 11 mnemonics as significantly memorable and helpful in…

We experimentally investigated the effect of crib sheet construction and use on student learning and exam performance. Students expected to use their prepared crib sheets during testing; however, unexpectedly they first completed a pretest without their crib sheets. Students scored significantly better on the same questions with crib sheets…

This article reports on the use of a repertory grid as a tool for studying conceptual systems in line with Kelly's (1955) personal construct theory. Using 7-point construct continua, students rated the positions of major developmental theorists on various bipolar constructs (e.g., nature-nurture, continuity-discontinuity) representing salient…

Describes a technique used to motivate students to complete assigned journal readings in a college psychology course. Maintains that students completing readings receive two types of tangible benefits: (1) extra course credit and (2) use of their notecards on tests. Asserts that students responded favorably to the technique. (CFR)

Friedman's (1987) immediate feedback, no return test technique was evaluated via student ratings. Students were enthusiastic in their assessment of the technique and believed that it facilitated their learning. (Author)

Reports on the comparative effectiveness of demonstration and lecture formats for presenting physiological measures. Although demonstrations may improve retention of information concerning simple procedures, the lecture format is more effective for complex information. (CFR)

Students in 4 classes had a short exam at the start of every class. Grades were significantly better than in previous classes where the same material was taught but with only 4 exams, and there were fewer withdrawals from the exam-a-day classes. Students taught with the exam-a-day procedure also performed better on a retention test than did…

Undergraduate students participated in an experiment designed to evaluate different types of elaborations on definitions of 16 psychology terms. First, participants received booklets presenting the definition of each term, followed by 1 of several elaborations: an example, a mnemonic, a paraphrase, or a repeated definition (the nonelaborating…

Describes an instructional model labeled "connected teaching" used in a college developmental psychology course. Employs teaching techniques identified by women as being the type of instruction they desired. Concludes that the overall goal is to convince students that they can actively construct knowledge. (CFR)

Describes a college psychology course titled "The Power of Myth," which is interdisciplinary and uses collaborative learning techniques. Maintains that students reported increased curiosity about the world and improved abilities to work in groups. (CFR)