We compared the effectiveness of a "Study Smarter, Not Harder" presentation to spending an equivalent amount of time reading an article: "Optimizing Learning in College." One-hundred-sixty undergraduate students participated. The presentation and article yielded comparable ratings of study tip effectiveness, helpfulness, and…

Peer mentoring and associated programs have gained prominence due to demonstrated positive effects on student retention and matriculation, but scant research exists on voluntary peer academic coaching as part of a peer mentoring program. This study was conducted for two purposes: to describe the demographics of students who register to participate…

This research documents educator responses while learning and implementing a new pedagogy. In our analysis of our own written reflections, we found the ten LASSI scales, normally used to look at student learning, became, for us, themes that emerged from faculty learning as well. The value of peer support for learning, and the balance of skill,…

Readers' beliefs about their understanding and test performance as a function of the reading purpose was examined. Participants read a series of expository texts for entertainment or study purposes, answered questions about the texts, and their beliefs about future and past test performance were assessed. The results showed that students believed…

Addressing issues on developmental education, instructional and learning methods, learning assistance and academic support, and reading and research, this issue of the Journal of College Reading and Learning includes the following articles: "Moving the Mountain to Mohammed: Study Skills Tutoring in the Residence Halls" (J. L. Rogers); "Memory…

Presents Part II of a two-part article on developmental students' self-regulatory deficiencies. Suggests four teaching guidelines for selecting specific activities that structure and promote self-regulation, based on documented self-regulation deficiencies or needs in the areas of: preparing, organizing, monitoring, and evaluating. (SR)

Many instructors supply online lecture notes but little attention has been given to how students can make the best use of this resource. Based on observations of student difficulties with these notes, a strategy called parallel note-taking was developed for using online notes. The strategy is a hybrid of research-proven strategies for effective…

Claims a deficit in self-regulation can be overcome through instruction. Provides (1) a review of the literature of the self-regulation field; and (2) a review of research which reveals that lower achieving students lack key regulatory processes which affect achievement. (NH)

Finds that students in a comprehensive developmental studies program (study skills course and required attendance of tutoring sessions) exceeded their predicted grade point average significantly more than the comparison groups, and that instructors reported a greater number of positive behaviors on the part of these students in their classes.…

Finds that students in both mandated and voluntary Supplemental Instruction groups (academic support led by peer facilitators) in a high-risk, required, freshman-level, writing-intensive United States History course earned significantly higher course grades and semester grade point averages than students in the non-SI group. Finds no significant…

Interviews nine college developmental reading students regarding reading and metacognition, study skills, notetaking, motivation and attitudes, and family literacy history. Finds students had weak reading, study, and notetaking skills although they got fairly good grades. Reveals numerous differences between quantitative and qualitative results.…

Working from a cognitive perspective, a range of studies have supported the relationship between study strategies and academic performance of college students (e.g., Peverly, Brobst, Graham, & Shaw, 2003). In particular, self-regulatory processes comprised of learner-directed activities geared toward promoting academic achievement have been…

This study compared 34 lower-achieving (developmental) first-time college students' self-reported self-regulation strategies from a Likert scale to those they reported in structured interviews. Likert scales have offered convenient administration and evaluation and have been used to identify what and how learners study. The reported study activity…

In college-level courses, the vast majority of students read expository textbooks with a primary purpose in mind: to memorize and, hopefully, understand enough information to receive a particular grade on a course exam. Intuitively, this kind of reading is different than the kind of reading that these same students do when reading a novel while…

Drawn from the proceedings of the 1985 Western College Reading and Learning Association, as well as articles submitted for juried selection, the papers in this journal issue focus on reading, learning assistance, developmental education, and tutorial services at the college level. Titles and authors of the papers include (1) "Reaching New Heights:…