Investigated how parents did homework with their third graders, noting socioemotional influences that occurred. Data from observations and interviews (including with teachers) indicated that everyday experiences with homework, as mediated by parents, provided opportunities for children to learn to cope with various difficulties and distractions…

Describes academic profiles of 1,379 college students, diverse in ethnicity, prior college experience, and academic goals. Discusses relationships between demographic characteristics, study habits, beliefs about academic success, and four indices of success: GPA, perseverance, task involvement, and teacher rapport. Discussion focuses on ways to…

Discusses a study of students in a college study skills course who self-reported procrastination in three critical tasks: studying for exams, writing term papers, and keeping up with weekly reading. Reports that procrastination scores were positively correlated with number of perceived barriers to academic success, including problems with time…

Many districts have a vision or mission statement that includes the importance of lifelong learning. The alternative, school-long learning, is exemplified by curricula and instruction that are generally only useful while the student is in school; it does little to stimulate or fulfill that element in those who find pleasure in the process and the…

Associations between early child care and children's functioning though the end of third grade were examined. Some of the relations that had been detected before children's school entry were maintained. Higher-quality child care continued to be linked to higher scores in math, reading, and memory. More time spent in center care was associated with…

A distance education system may be viewed in terms of intrapersonal and interpersonal instructional dialogues that mediate the learning and instructional resources that enable such dialogues. Instructional resources include self-instruction texts, tutorial sessions, instructor availability, Web sites, and more. This study investigated the kinds of…

Although there is extensive research into what constitutes second language learning motivation and how it works, most of the existing work is carried out in ESL environments, and is mainly concerned with motivation to communicate using the target language. However, in EFL environments such as Japan, students have quite limited contact with target…

Most undergraduate programs require completion of a mathematics course, but pass rates in these courses are often low. To determine predictors of student success in 100-level mathematics courses at the University of Southern Maine, we used a questionnaire to collect information on possible predictors of grade (student demographics, attitude,…

Project Aspire was created to identify poor rural students with academic potential and to provide them with academic and counseling support in advanced placement courses and prerequisites. This article describes Project Aspire and its foundations; the relevant lessons learned from the literature on poverty, small schools, rural schools, and gifted…

The authors explored test-preparation and test-taking strategies that high school students used in algebra tests. From a pool of high school students (N = 156), 61 students participated in interviews, and of those interviewed, 26 represented those who were high achieving as well as highly interested in mathematics (n = 15) vs. those who were low…

There is a need for research into understanding students' learning barriers and cognitive style of learning before they embark on an online PhD program. Online university students in the School of Education express success and difficulties electronically as they navigate through a spectrum of courses, Learning Agreements, Knowledge Area Modules…

Study strategies are the activities that an individual uses to facilitate learning. Although no consistent findings exist to show the factors that comprise the study-strategy concept, a three-factor conceptualization (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) is often suggested. These factors were studied with 128 undergraduates of high and low…

Intended for parent educators, this facilitator's guide outlines a parent workshop on helping children with homework. The guide first presents a framework for both a 1-hour and 2-hour workshop, based on a companion video. The remainder of the guide corresponds to the video, presenting suggestions for discussion prior to and after viewing the…

This guide to academic achievement in courses that require problem solving shows the student how to see things as the teacher sees them. The student who sees with the professor's eyes can cut through the useless and irrelevant activities that interfere with real achievement. The approach, which requires that the student do all required work, is…

This brochure offers a plan to help college students study for tests. It explains how to prepare for a test and reviews techniques for taking multiple choice, essay, and other types of examinations. Organization, planning, and time management are essential for becoming a successful student. Regular reviews are the key to reducing test anxiety and…