Outlines an instructional strategy to be used with postsecondary reading students to help them actively engage with text through the use of elaborations. (SR)

This editorial extrapolates and highlights the role, responsibility, academic course preparation, and competency areas as cited by the International Reading Association (IRA) publication, "Guidelines for the Specialized Preparation of Reading Professionals," for the college developmental reading and study skills professional. The purpose…

Describes part of a college reading and study-skills course that instructs students in using library and computer laboratory resources. Notes the importance of helping students recognize that achievement takes time. Appends four course assignments. (SR)

Investigates what reading skills college students use as they study. Finds differences in students' responses at the beginning and end of a semester in which they were enrolled in a college reading study skills class, including using questioning as a method, and using different study methods for different topics and different types of tests. (SR)

Studies the effectiveness of the analogical study guide, a structured study activity to accompany assigned reading. Compares its learning outcomes with outcomes of two unstructured activities commonly assigned to accompany reading: essay writing and self-questioning. Finds that superior prose-learning occurs when study activities are carefully…

Suggests that readers need to be encouraged to use the text structure when identifying information in a text for later review. They also need to be advised to make summary statements in the margins of their texts when the important information is not explicitly stated in the text. (SR)

Based on the classic test-wiseness principles of J. Millman, C. H. Bishop, and R. Ebel, the STAR strategy streamlines the taking of timed tests. Before explaining the strategy to students, the instructor can convince students of the advantages of the strategy by administering a short test to determine students' test-wiseness. The STAR strategy…

In an attempt to study strategies that college students use to attain high marks in a difficult course, a community college study skills instructor enrolled in a regional geography course and monitored the strategies he used to study for the course. The goals of the study were to determine how knowledge of the criteria was gained, how attention…

The paired course instructional model can help high risk students succeed by enabling them to become aware of themselves as independent learners and to enhance transfer of learning from a reading course to a general education course. In order to examine the effectiveness of this model, and focus on a reading center's participation in the paired…

Studies the reading demands placed on college freshmen (amount, purpose, and relationship to course examinations of required reading) and students' perceptions of these demands. (SR)

Investigates how graphic organizers function in the cognitive processes. Finds that graphic organizers do not significantly improve college students' retention ability. Finds that instruction and training in organizer use as a strategy for organizing and encoding information from texts merits consideration as supported by scores on the retention…

To be effective learners, students should know about the state or level of their learning and the success of the strategies they are using, so that when they misunderstand a concept they can do additional reading or consult outside sources. Traditionally, textbook study has been taught through the use of so-called formula techniques, where the…

Introduces reading research from Great Britain, Sweden, and Australia. Discusses three conclusions from this literature particularly relevant to college reading specialists. (SR)

Researchers are concluding that high school and college students do not have a well-balanced repertoire of effective independent learning strategies. Another line of research has focused upon the question of the "process" or the "how" underlying such learning strategies. Three insights from this research are pertinent to developmental educators.…

To determine whether students have study strategies that they can transfer to future learning tasks, a research study used a content-based model--the Supportive Seminar--a voluntary content review session held by a leader enrolled in a targeted college course for freshmen. The leader acts as a role model for the students by attending all lectures,…