Behavior-change theories reliably explain behavior, but they often lack messaging recommendations to modify behavior. The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) could benefit from clear, replicable messaging strategies to target its constructs of attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control (PBC) about a behavior (Ajzen, 1991). Habit Theory…

Metacognition is often described as the awareness and regulation of learning. It uses strategies which include monitoring one's own thinking, engaging in active planning and self-evaluating one's study habits. Bloom's taxonomy can be used as a metacognitive tool to guide students' study strategies and thus improve their academic performance by…

Autistic students demonstrate poor academic performance which may be related to challenges in learning behaviors such as organization, planning, study skills, and so forth. Most studies report on summary scores; however, there may be value in understanding specific strengths and challenges to better inform assessment and intervention efforts. The…

Procrastination is a prevalent problem in higher education, leading to lower performance. Procrastination is often linked with low class attendance and little class preparation, which are two important foundations to process learning materials. Hence, interventions are recommended to overcome procrastination. One promising intervention is nudging.…

This qualitative, non-experimental meta-synthesis explored the antecedents, consequences, and interventions of both active and passive procrastination among university students. Based on the academic procrastination paradigm proposed by Schraw, Wadkins, and Olafson in 2007, the study synthesized and interpreted the findings of twelve purposefully…

Procrastination is common in the collegiate sphere. However, procrastination is often stigmatized as causing college students to be unsuccessful. Most students have been told not to procrastinate, but they continue to do so, implying that student procrastination will not stop. Yet, significant discontinuities exist between emerging procrastination…

Habits are critical for supporting (or hindering) long-term goal attainment, including outcomes related to student learning and well-being. Building good habits can make beneficial behaviors (studying, exercise, sleep, etc.) the default choice, bypassing the need for conscious deliberation or willpower and protecting against temptations. Yet…

This paper reports results from a mixed-methods intervention conducted in partnership between a faculty member and an undergraduate to shape student study strategies for success in an introductory course. The instructor provided students with information on the effectiveness of the successive relearning study strategy, conducted an in-class…

Planning for and evaluating study behaviors are key regulatory skills that present considerable challenge for college learners. This study examined the utility of a targeted intervention tool intended to promote college learners' study time calibration. Through implementation of a weekly, reflective activity, we examined improvement in learners'…

This study aimed to learn if a guided metacognitive exercise helped students analyze their past behavior in their preparation for assessments to influence their future practices and performance on assessments. Specifically, this study used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group design which followed two groups of student participants…

Childhood obesity is a prevalent health condition, the effects of which extend to mental health, social relationships, educational performance, and long-term physical health conditions. The present study focused on an optimized student support intervention that functions in predominantly high-poverty urban locations, which recognizes students as…

Pluralistic ignorance occurs when individuals misperceive a group norm and attempt to match the perceived--rather than actual--norm. Little is currently known about its role in the undergraduate classroom. The present research examined the pluralistic ignorance of studying behavior and its relationship with examination performance across four…

Several studies have found that higher hope is associated with higher academic achievement. Although scholars have asserted that this association is the result of higher hope leading to an increased likelihood that students will engage success-oriented behaviors (e.g., participating in class, completing homework assignments), very little empirical…

How does the perceived relationship between effort and achievement affect effort? To answer this question, I conduct a field experiment with a popular online learning platform. I exogenously manipulate students' beliefs about returns to effort by assigning them to different information treatments, each of which provides factual information.…

This study describes the development and implementation of an iterative diagnostic and intervention routine designed to elicit and quantitatively describe aspects of student metacognition, affect, and study habits in a first-year undergraduate biology course. The Student Metacognition, Affect, and Study Habits (SMASH) inventory is a…