This study investigates the relationship between approaches to studying and course completion in two online preparatory university courses in mathematics and computer programming. The students participating in the two courses are alike in age, gender, and approaches to learning. Four hundred and ninety-three students participating in these courses…

Immigrant college student populations continue to grow on college campuses across the nation; yet, little is known about the experiences of immigrant students. This paper examines differences in perceived academic obstacles between immigrant students and non-immigrant students at six large, public research universities (n = 56,000). The…

Increased difficulty in retaining millennial students (individuals born between the years 1982-2002) within or after the first year of attending a college or university has become an alarming problem facing higher educational institutions in the United States. This study explored the opinions and perceptions of freshman, sophomore, and…

One of the major obstacles in the learning process is temptation, which has the power to divert students from even their most important goals (e.g. getting a degree). In two studies, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive reappraisal could be used to successfully resist temptation. Participants had to memorize tedious material while being tempted…

This meta-analysis examined the influence of attributes related to the implementation of learning strategy instruction interventions on students' academic performance, and also examined how the attributes related to the method of testing the intervention effects affected the actual effects measured. Using metaregression, we analyzed the…

The current study examined students' study behaviours using a diary methodology. Given the limitations of previous investigations, participants were asked to complete daily study diaries for 10 days prior to a course test to assess students' actual study behaviours. Results showed that students engaged in a diverse set of behaviours with only some…

With the mention of "sustainability" and "recycling," most people think about reusing paper, plastic, metal, and glass, but what the authors discovered when they embarked on a word-study unit is that the sustainability movement has also brought about the recycling of words. The authors were team-teaching a language awareness class taken by…

Making spelling instruction effective, fun, practical, and meaningful is a challenge faced by many teachers. Spelling is traditionally taught with prepackaged word lists using a test-practice-test method, which results in little transfer to independent word use. Because spelling is an important component and gauge of literacy skills, students need…

This article reports the results of a study that explored the applicability and effectiveness of a GIS-based exercise implemented by a teacher on a single computer in an ordinary classroom. The GIS-based exercise was implemented in two different environments with two different groups of students. The study reveals that implementing GIS exercises…

The objective of this study is to analyze the relationship between preservice teachers' time and study environment management, effort regulation, self-efficacy beliefs, control of learning beliefs and metacognitive self-regulation. This study also investigates the direct and indirect effects of metacognitive self-regulation on time and study…

Despite the clear long-term benefits of spaced practice, students and teachers often choose massed practice. Whether learners actually fail to appreciate the benefits of spacing is, however, open to question. Early studies (e.g., Zechmeister & Shaughnessy, 1980) found that participants' judgments of learning were higher after massed than after…

This paper reviews best practices for effective adolescent literacy programs. A focus is placed on five areas of literacy instruction including word study, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, and motivation. Each of these areas is discussed as well as how each area is relevant to reading and understanding narrative and content-area text at high…

This article provides a framework for designing balanced literacy instruction for individuals with significant needs. A balanced literacy approach consists of instruction in word work, reading, and writing. It is critical to realize that balanced literacy ties closely to communication. The authors promote utilizing a before, during, and after…

Learning approaches, learning methods and learning environments have different effects on students? academic performance. However, they are not the sole factors that impact students? academic achievement. The aims of this research are three-fold: to determine the learning approaches preferred by most students and the impact of the learning…

This article provides a methodological illustration of how to conduct randomized controls trials (RCT) for secondary levels of prevention within the context of three-tiered models of support. First, the authors demonstrate one method of using school-wide data to identify middle school students (N = 45) who were struggling in academic and…