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…

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…

This manual was written to help college students become better students and more successful learners. The goals of the book are to raise awareness of, and interest in, the learning process generally; increase each student's awareness of her/himself as a learner; introduce specific strategies for more effective learning; suggest that each student…

Courses using a Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) have proliferated in the past decade. Researchers have explored various factors related to PSI, but rarely, if ever, have students' study habits or preferences been considered. A questionnaire examining the study habits, exam preferences and attitudes toward various instructional formats was…

Presents a model illustrating distance education students' perceptions of their aims for studying a course. Analyses of verbal reports of four students using this model showed that their goals differed from those of the teacher and influenced how they studied. Relevance for external course design is discussed. (23 references). (MBR)

A Filipino study of the Biggs Study Process Questionnaire, which investigates relationships between study habits and personality characteristics and fields of study, found satisfactory internal consistency reliability and correlations with school grades but not IQ for two of the three scales, but did not support the creator's proposed structure.…

Introduces reading research from Great Britain, Sweden, and Australia. Discusses three conclusions from this literature particularly relevant to college reading specialists. (SR)

A study analyzed behavior patterns, conditions under which students learn, and educational achievements of German university students with disabilities. Results indicate students have common coping strategies regardless of disability type. The more the students had learned to accept and understand their disabilities during childhood and early…

Discusses the results of interviews conducted with 20 women distance learners from community nursing disciplines at the University of Wolverhampton (United Kingdom) that investigated relationships between approaches to study, learning styles and strategies, and materials design, and how these impact on the need for support and guidance in distance…

Examined approaches to studying among deaf distance-education students in Britain who preferred either sign language or spoken language. Findings included that deaf students seemed just as capable as hearing students of adopting a meaning orientation, and that there were no differences in approaches to studying related to students' preferred mode…

Examines determinates of student academic success in a Swedish university using estimates of a proportional-odds model. Finds that students studying previously given examinations, engaging in physical activity up to 6 hours per week, and taking courses in natural and technical sciences in high school play an important role in determining academic…

The five papers in this edition address issues of general interest in distance education. In the first paper, "Study Methods and Study Notes: Interim Report," Stephen Relf and Terry Geddes report on a study designed to identify patterns of use and trends in the ways in which distance students use their study notes. In the second paper,…

The conceptions of learning of 29 students enrolled in the Social Science Foundation course of Open University, Great Britain, were analyzed in relation to the five conceptual categories of learning reported by Saljo (1979). The first three of these concepts describes learning as an increase in information, knowledge as external to the student,…