Christine Harrington Ph.D.Middlesex County College

Cengage Learning

What study strategies REALLY

work best for

students?

Starting at Middlesex County College

Student Sucess Students (n = 38)

Spring 2009Completed

Academic Behaviors Survey

Correlations between behaviors and Term GPA

Academic Behaviors Survey

1. I have ATTENDED my classes regularly.2. I have READ my textbook.3. I used SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIALS provided with the text

(CD ROM or website).4. I have taken NOTES effectively in class.5. I REVIEWED my notes regularly.6. I ORGANIZED my notes and made connections between

concepts when studying.7. When studying, I TESTED my knowledge through quizzes that

came with the book or that I made up myself.8. I asked my PROFESSOR questions via e-mail.9. I went to SEE my professor in his or her office.10.I MANAGED my TIME well.11.I spent a lot of TIME STUDYING.12.I BELIEVE in my ability to succeed in college.13.I went for TUTORING.14.I went to see a COUNSELOR for support.

POLLING QUESTION: WHICH ONE DO YOU THINK WAS MOST CORRELATED TO SEMESTER GRADES?

The Results!!!Academic Behavior Correlation with SP 09

GPA

10. I managed my time well. .56**

1. I have attended my classes regularly. .54**

11. I spent a lot of time studying. .38*

12. I believe in my ability to succeed. .38*

6. I organized my notes and made connections between concepts when studying.

.37*

** p< .01* P < .05

Dickinson, D.J., & O’Connell, D. Q. (1990). Effect of quality and quantity of study on student

grades. Journal of Educational Research, 83 (4), 227- 231.

IntroductionHypothesis:

Study time and strategies (time spent reading, reviewing and

organizing) would be related

to grades.

Used a self-monitoring

technique where participants

tracked their study time and technique

as they studied instead of trying to recall and reflect

back on study practices.

Subjects

Method

POLL QUESTION: WHICH ONE WAS MOST LINKED TO GRADES?

1. Reading- reading the textbook2. Reviewing- rereading underlined material,

reading notes, reading headings, recalling information and definitions, repeating material

3. Organizing- writing answers to objective, using your own words, finding a structure to the material, combining lecture and reading notes, figuring out meaning, associating material to material you already know, using mental images, summarizing in your own words

ORGANIZING WAS THE

ONLY VARIABLE THAT WAS LINKED TO GRADES!Stepwise regression

analysis was used; organizing accounted for 18% of the variance, while reading and reviewing barely contributed.

More Results

Average Number of Minutes per Week

High Performers M (SD)(n = 20)

Low PerformersM (SD)(n = 19)

Organizing * 43.13 (32.72) 10.28 (9.02)

Studying* 190.18 (66.76) 136.53 (47.43)

Reading 90.79 (36.49) 80.10 (35.00)

Reviewing 56.03 (30.05) 44.85 (24.98)

*p < .01

Application: The So What Factor!Students Faculty

• Amount of time studying is important

• How you study is most important

• Organizing material (linking it to prior and newly learned knowledge, discovering relationships, hierarchies and structure) maximizes your study time.

Share information with students

Show students how to use organizing strategies

Provide modelsUse organizing

strategies in your teaching

What do the best

performing students do

when preparing for and taking a

test?

McClain, L. (1983). Behavior during examinations: A comparison of “A”, “C”, and “F” students. Teaching of Psychology, 10(2), p. 69 – 71.

Method

POLL QUESTION: WHICH BEHAVIOR(S) MATTERED MOST?

Test taking behaviors:1.Number of

alternatives read 2.Anticipation of

answer3.Incorrect alternatives

eliminated4.Questions initially

skipped5.All of the Above

Results!Variables A C F

Answers read per question*

3.66 (.63) 1.82 (.51) 1.48 (.60)

Number of anticipated answers*

40.90 (9.54) 7.65 (4.84) 2.30 (3.50)

Critiques of incorrect answers per question*

1.93 (.25) .20 (.19) .07(.12)

Number of questions initially skipped*

5.40 (3.41) 1.25 (1.45) .40 (.82)

*p<.001

POLL QUESTION: SHOULD STUDENTS CHANGE THEIR ANSWER ON A TEST?

1. YES

2. NO

Di Milia, L. (2007). Benefitting from multiple-choice Exams: The positive impact of answer switching. Educational Psychology, 27(5), 607-615.

The Research StudyResearch has

consistently indicates that changing your answer is often effective

De Milia (2007) investigated this in an international sample

Subjects 2,776 international

students at an Australian University

Procedure Judges reviewed exams

for eraser marks and categorized as wrong to right; right to wrong; or wrong to wrong

ResultsNot many answers

were changed (around 2%)

Most answer changes were wrong to right (about 50%)

Shatz, M.A., and Best, J. B. (1987). Students’ reasons for changing answers on objective tests. Teaching of Psychology, 14 (4), 241 - 242.

Results!

Should I change my answer? It depends!

72% of Changes from Wrong to Right

35% of Changes from Wrong to Right

•Misread or Misinterpreted the question•Read something later that provided a hint or clue

•Guessing

GOOD REASON(S) TO CHANGE YOUR

ANSWER!

DON’T CHANGE- NOT GOOD USE OF TIME

POLL QUESTION: IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO GIVE STUDENTS A COPY OF YOUR POWER POINT SLIDES BEFORE THE LECTURE?

1. YES

2. NO

Knight, L. J., & McKelvie, S. J. (1986). Effects of attendance, note-taking, and review on memory for a lecture: Encoding vs. external storage functions of notes. Canadian Journal of Behavioral Science, 18(1), p. 52- 61.

Purpose of Study:Note-taking Note-reviewingEncoding function External storage

function

Groups ( n =144) Attended Lecture

Took Notes Reviewed Notes

Took Notes, Reviewed Own Notes Yes Yes Yes- own

Took Notes, No Review Yes Yes No

Took Notes, Reviewed Lecture Notes Yes Yes Yes- lecturer notes

Did Not Take Notes, No Review Yes No No

Did Not Take Notes, Reviewed Lecture Notes

Yes No Yes- lecturer notes

Did Not Attend, Reviewed Lecture Notes No No Yes- lecturer notes

Did Not Attend Lecture; Did Not Review No No No

1. Took Notes, Reviewed Own Notes

2. Took Notes, No Review

3. Took Notes, Reviewed Professor Notes

4. Did Not Take Notes, No Review

5. Did Not Take Notes, Reviewed Professor Notes

6. Did Not Attend, Reviewed Professor Notes

7. Did Not Attend Lecture; Did Not Review

POLL QUESTION: WHICH GROUP PERFORMED THE BEST ON THE EXAM?

THE RESULTS! Mean Test Score (max was 35)

Best to worst performance

Took Notes, Reviewed Own Notes 14.16 4

Took Notes, No Review 10.04 6

Took Notes, Reviewed Lecture Notes

18.76 1

Did Not Take Notes, No Review 10.88 5

Did Not Take Notes, Reviewed Lecture Notes

17.15 2

Did Not Attend, Reviewed Lecture Notes

16.89 3

Did Not Attend Lecture; Did Not Review

9.96 7

Key Findings:Students who reviewed lecturer notes (even those

who did not attend the lecture!) performed the best!

Students who took notes and reviewed them did better than those who did not review their notes

Students who did not review their own notes did not do any better than students who did not take any notes

Students who had the lecturers notes did better than those who took their own notes

Austin, J. L., Lee, M., & Carr, J. P. (2004). The effects of guided notes on undergraduate students’

recording of lecture content. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 31(4), 314 – 320.

Method23 students in an

applied psychology class took notes as usual and at end of term consented to participate in study where notes were shared

Dependent Variables:1.Critical points- major

and supporting points2.Examples- provided in

class3.Extra points-

supporting statements that were not critical points or examples

Experimental Conditions

Results:

Summing it All Up: Putting Research into Practice! Organizing was most

effective study strategyEffective Test Taking

Strategies: Read all options, anticipate answer, skip if needed, it’s okay to change answers!

Share Power Point or other notes with students!