Describes a survey on student motivation and presents developmental education students' responses describing their strategies for academic success. Addresses the importance of combining effort with effective study strategies, planning, finding a quiet space, being persistent, and preparing for class. (NB)

Possible relationships between student study behaviors and academic achievement were studied in an extension of a large-scale project at the Far West Laboratory. Factor analysis was used to identify latent variables measured by the 76-item Study Activity Survey (SAS) that might be more strongly related to college course achievement than are the…

Both a self-management approach, teaching the principles of behavior modification and self-control (n=36), and a group-discussion technique, involving discussion of study habits and problems (n=41), led to improvements in grade point averages compared with a no-treatment control group (n=36) for low-achieving junior high school students. (Author)

In academic contexts, self-sufficient learners engage autonomously in study activities that promote effective criterion performance. Their expertness in studying presumably increases as students develop and move from one educational level to another. A correlational investigation was undertaken to evaluate four hypotheses about differences across…

Undoubtedly test anxiety is a troublesome condition found to be prevalent today among college students. Over the years various attempts have been made to explore how test anxiety influences academic achievement. This paper discusses the extent to which test anxiety affects academic achievement of college students, and the techniques found to be…

The study investigated (a) relationships between measures on study habits and attitudes, locus of control, achieving tendency, and semester grade-point averages (SGPA), (b) differences between the sexes on the above mentioned variables, and (c) best predictor of SGPA. The subjects were 39 males and 81 females. There were a number of significant…

This paper shows what research about student perceptions of lecture courses can indicate about student approaches to learning and the outcomes of learning. The amount that students will learn from a lecture course depends on: 1) student approach to learning, 2) perception of what is to be learned, and 3) level of information processing. It was…

The current stage in an on-going research program of student learning is summarized. With two more years to run, provisional research provides the beginnings of a model of student learning which is neither static nor mechanistic. Recent research has placed emphasis on describing how students learn and how learning is affected by the academic…

Thirty-six second semester freshmen students on academic probation were matched according to sex, high school class rank, S.A.T. scores, and IQ. They were divided into two groups: control and experimental. Both groups were administered the Survey of Study Habits and Attitudes, after which the experimental group participated in four one-hour study…

Focuses on the student learning realm of distance education, to investigate how well students did according to institutional criteria for success, in what ways these students experienced the university, how course completers differed from withdrawers in their experience, and how students organized their study time. Thirty-nine references are…

This study conducted in the Netherlands examines the role of student-generated learning issues in a problem-based curriculum. The first questions was in which way students make use of the learning issues generated (as strict guidelines or as global guidelines) and does this differ between years of training? The second questions was what the…

Freshmen placed the greatest responsibility for their low grades on their own lack of motivation, improper study habits, and inattention to school work. Because of the predicted decline in the number of college-age youths in the 1980s, schools need to put more emphasis on retaining students. (Author)

Examined factors contributing to individual differences in the educational attainment of African American young adults from families of low socioeconomic status. Subjects were 123 participants and their families. Found that characteristics of the participants at the time of school entry were predictive of the participants' achievement and…

A study with 317 college freshmen found that the utility of the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory to predict academic achievement, beyond that which could already be predicted by student background and entry-level variables, was quite limited. (MSE)

Examines the study strategies of successful and unsuccessful learners to determine whether successful learners differ qualitatively in their information processing from unsuccessful learners. Finds that, the successful students were more active, purposeful, and flexible in their strategy use. Finds that although unsuccessful students were less…