A battery of test was given to 1,240 students at the junior and senior high school and college level to assess their academic aptitude, self-efficacy, achievement orientation, and course-specific study activities. (RB)

Contends that academic achievement cannot be improved by increasing the amount of time students spend on homework. Instead, achievement depends on the nature of the study activities students do. (RB)

The study reports on the first of several investigations into the antecedents and consequences of students' study activities across junior high school through college years. The development and validation of a self-report instrument, the "California Study Activities Inventory" (CSAI) is described. The principal features of the instrument…

Research on college students' study skills and habits and on secondary-level course organization suggest certain patterns of instructor demand (workload, test difficulty, latitude for self-direction) and compensations (test review practices, test item overlap with instructor handouts, "safety nets") may account for student study deficiencies, and…

For the past two years a survey has been conducted of over 20 junior high school, high school, and college social science courses in order to describe the interrelationships among a number of factors believed to related to classroom achievement. These factors include age and grade level, academic ability, self-concept, personality, and…

Reviews the opportunities for and obstacles to promoting independent learning at the middle grades level. Proposes the substitution of compensatory practices that discourage self-directed learning activities, such as test review handouts, with instructional practices that support independent learning activities, such as performance feedback and…