We developed and launched an online, course-integrated module called Growth & Goals aimed to help students better develop evidence-based learning skills. The module focuses on five main concepts: self-regulated learning, goal-setting, metacognition, mindfulness, and mindsets (growth and fixed continuum). Growth & Goals is an open education…

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are usually six to ten weeks long. Participation tends to decrease as the courses progress, leading to low completion rates. This led to the question: Could shorter MOOCs contribute to learners' engagement, retention and success? This paper compares two versions of Study Skills MOOC, which shared the same…

"Summer bridge programs" are designed to ease the transition to college and support postsecondary success by providing students with the academic skills and social resources needed to succeed in a college environment. These programs occur in the summer "bridge" period between high school and college. Although the content of…

The transition into college remains one of the most formative and complex phases in an individual's life. Institutions of higher learning have responded to the challenges facing first-year students in myriad ways, most often by offering summer orientation programs, dynamic living-learning environments, tailored academic and psychological support…

College graduation rates often lag behind college attendance rates. One theory as to why students do not complete college is that they lack key information about how to be successful or fail to act on the information that they have. We present evidence from a randomized experiment which tests the effectiveness of individualized student coaching.…

Compared the effect of study skills or adjustment workshops on college freshmen (N=304). Workshops were held the first week of the fall term, and students were evaluated at the end of the term. No enduring changes were found, but students who attended the adjustment skills workshop earned higher mathematics grades. (JAC)

Project PASS (Personal, Academic, Social Successes) is a goal-setting model that capitalizes on students' self-esteem and behavior and creates individual accountability for learning. The program was developed for a group of 15 at-risk eighth grade students in a school in the heart of urban Chicago. As part of Project PASS, students, parents,…

This study assessed the attitudes of three groups that participated in Upward Bound, a newly instituted academic advisory program at Tomball High School in Texas. It also provided a baseline of data to measure students' academic performance. The three groups, 300 high school freshmen, 115 of their parents, and 33 full time faculty, responded to…

This study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of a two-quarter, extended orientation program for new, undecided students at the University of California, Irvine (UCI). The course was designed to assist students with the transition from high school to college and acquaint them with strategies to maximize their success at UCI. Of the 690 new,…

At DeKalb College in Clarkston, Georgia, freshman orientation classes are conducted by the counseling and student personnel staff who present information about career planning, study skills, student activities, college regulation, student seminars, drugs, program planning, and library seminars. Classes meet for 10 hours per quarter. During summer…

A group of foreign graduate students (n=29) who participated in a study skills and cultural orientation program at a British university found that in comparison with a group not participating (n=26), and contrary to expectation, participating students had more homesickness and psychological difficulties. The findings cast doubt on the common view…

To increase students' academic success and retention rates, colleges and universities are increasingly implementing seminars that will equip students with academic survival skills such as note-taking and doing library research. UNCC's program was found to be effective, and possibilities for further investigation were offered. (BF)

A longitudinal study was undertaken to assess the effect of a one-credit, 8-week freshman seminar on student development and retention. The study sought to measure student outcomes related to knowledge of college resources and services, utilization of academic support services, increases in self-assessed learning skills, increases in students'…

In addition to traditional study skills, the Master Student (MS) course at Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), in Pennsylvania, includes subjects related to career decision making, human development, and psychology. A study was conducted to track the academic achievement, including grades, number of semesters enrolled, and total credits…

A study evaluated the effectiveness of a career development program entitled Career and Life Planning, which is a two-semester required course for freshmen at the University of West Florida. The career planning format included study and library skills and self-knowledge. Other course focuses were exploration of personal needs, vocational…