This research project investigated the relationship between students' pre-entry characteristics, perceptions of the learning environment, reported work discipline, the use of deep information processing strategies, and academic achievement. Ability measured by grade-point average in pre-university education was the most important predictor of…

Hispanic students are less likely to persist at community colleges than white students. The study reported in this article suggests that students with appropriate study behaviors are more likely to persist. The study investigated the study behaviors of Spanish-speaking Hispanic students at one Hispanic-serving community college using the…

This article reports the findings of a study investigating the learning and study strategies of advanced music students and the manner in which their self-efficacy beliefs relate to the strategies employed. Participants were first-year students in Norwegian higher music education aged 18 to 43 years. They were asked to fill out a questionnaire…

The authors investigated in this study the effects of two electronic notes conditions (complete vs. partial) and two testing conditions (immediate vs. delayed) on three types of tests (fact, structure, and application). A 2 x 2 factorial multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) yielded no significant main effects for notes conditions on the fact…

We administered announced, multiple-choice quizzes to 1 of 2 sections of a Psychology of Learning course in each of 2 consecutive semesters. We administered the quizzes between the first and second exams and discontinued them between the second and third. At the end of each semester, students completed a questionnaire about their studying and…

This investigation focused on the relation between college student drinking behavior and study skills, behaviors, habits, and attitudes among undergraduate students at a predominantly African American university. Students (N = 492) were administered a multimedia alcohol survey with an embedded measure of study practices. The negative and generally…

In an effort to improve active learning in introductory statistics, we introduce the use of concept mapping techniques as part of the course. While previous papers have touted the use of this and other interactive teaching methods in statistics education, we add to this literature by providing additional assessment of its efficacy. This comes…

Predictors of persistence previously found useful in distinguishing successful from unsuccessful distance learners were assembled in a 60-item survey. The survey was completed by 259 learners enrolled in associate's, bachelor's, or master's level distance learning courses in accounting, business administration, information services, criminal…

In this paper, we review findings from Project Competence on the nature of personality development from middle childhood through the early adult years and place these findings in the context of current research on temperament and personality traits. In a series of studies using data drawn from the Project Competence longitudinal project, we have…

Policy makers are especially concerned about persistently high dropout rates among U.S. Latinos, the largest minority population in the United States. This study used a national longitudinal database to show that the behavioral and social aspects of schooling are dynamically linked in the process of school completion and dropout among Mexican…

There is considerable debate about the relative importance of family versus school factors in producing academic and nonacademic student outcomes, and whether and how their impacts vary across different student groups. In addition to critically reviewing and synthesizing earlier work, this study extends the literature by (a) using the ECLS-K, a…

A culturally-based approach to learning adopted by many Japanese students is hypothesized, and it is proposed that while it is effective in many areas of learning, it may hinder second language learning. Japan's politico-economic structures, geared toward efficiently manufacturing competent workers, encourages a psychology of procedure that tends…

A study investigated the test study habits of college students in the context of Effort Management theory, which describes metacognitive and self-regulatory activities. The subjects, 20 upper-division education majors enrolled in a required Educational Psychology course, were interviewed to discover their study activities for the course final at…

This practicum was designed to increase the use of study skills of sixth-grade students in the social studies. Study skills pretests were administered to students with results showing student difficulties in acquiring the concepts of social studies and achieving passing scores on tests. A unit on study skills was integrated within each chapter…

Intended as a comprehensive review of study guides, this monograph combines a discussion of why and how study guides help students comprehend text with a focus on the most effective ways to use these guides in the classroom. The publication is designed to help teachers decide when and how to use these comprehension aids. The monograph presents an…