The current study explored Mozambican adolescents' perspectives of the process of academic procrastination, focusing on three key aspects: Type of tasks where youth usually procrastinate, antecedents, and the perceived consequences. Twenty-four adolescents from a pool of 300 (11th and 12th graders) reported high levels of procrastination and were…

This study compared student workload and perceived value of coursework assigned for a matching set of semester and term general education courses at Brigham Young University. Statistically significant differences in workloads were found between most semester and term courses. While term workloads were slightly lighter in general, both could be…

High school students with and without learning disabilities in two chemistry classes accessed technologically-enhanced worksheets, called Pencasts, when completing homework assignments. In this action research study, feedback from students was gathered via questionnaires and interviews. Students most frequently used Pencasts to figure out how to…

Background: How students go about studying, including the learning activities that students engage in both during and between classes, is not easily understood. Previous research indicates that critical student features, such as approaches to learning and decisions of how to organise studying activities, develop in bidirectional interactions…

This article analyzes the crystallized learning disposition formed in secondary schools and its persistent influence on the transition between educational sectors and the workplace. Using interview data from eight adults who graduated from a prestigious university in Korea, this study reveals that "exam-inclined self-direction," a manner…

Group mentoring is an increasingly popular intervention, but is still under-studied. This article reports findings from a qualitative study of the Young Women Leaders Program (YWLP), a combined group and one-on-one mentoring program for early adolescent girls. Protégés (n = 113) were interviewed post-program about changes they made as a result of…

The study explored factors explaining changes in a deep approach to learning. The data consisted of interviews with 12 students from four Bachelor-level courses representing different disciplines. We analysed and compared descriptions of students whose deep approach either increased, decreased or remained relatively unchanged during their courses.…

This paper describes a small-scale research project based on workbooks designed to support independent study of proofs in a first course on abstract algebra. We discuss the lecturers' aims in designing the workbooks, and set these against a background of research on students' learning of group theory and on epistemological beliefs and study habits…

At a community college in Florida, the associate of science in nursing (ASN) program has experienced low persistence rates especially after the first semester of study. Framed by Jeffreys's nursing undergraduate retention and success model, a mixed-method approach was used to investigate first-semester and final-year ASN students' perceptions of…

A well-established literature base identifies a portion of students enrolled in post-secondary General Chemistry as at-risk of failing the course based on incoming metrics. Learning about the experiences and factors that lead to this higher failure rate is essential toward improving retention in this course. This study examines the relationship…

The study reported here examines the learning approaches adopted by students enrolled in introductory chemistry at a public university. To evaluate learning approaches, a group of 61 students enrolled in the course were interviewed at three time-points during the semester, specifically to ascertain how they prepared for the exams. From these…

Some writers (Black and Wiliam in "Phi Delta Kappan" 80(2):139-148, 1998; Clark 2012; Panadero and Jonsson in "Educational Research Review" 9:129-144, 2013) have hypothesized a link between formative assessments (FA) and self-regulated learning (SRL). FA give students an opportunity to play an active role in their learning…

This research asks "What is it like for a K-12 school-age child to learn in a massive open online course (MOOC)?" Evidence suggested that a significant number of children are participating in MOOCs either independently or alongside their parents, both inside and outside the K-12 school system. Researchers have expressed concerns…

For students new to higher education, the task of developing their academic writing skills, and particularly the principles and practices of source-referencing, can be daunting. Although institutions and teachers can and do provide positive guidance on this score, all too often students veer into inadvertent plagiarism through lack of confidence…

Discourses about the value of effort and hard work are prevalent and powerful in many western societies and educational contexts. Yet, paradoxically, in these same contexts effortless achievement is often lauded, and in certain discourses is heralded as the pinnacle of success and a sign of genius. In this paper we interrogate discourses about…