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 2009 Completed 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 . 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 BehaviorCorrelation 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),

Introduction Hypothesis: 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 113 undergraduates taking a learning course (mostly juniors) 91 Females22 Males

Method Trained in Operational Definitions Studied and Tracked Strategies Used Took Test

POLL QUESTION: WHICH ONE WAS MOST LINKED TO GRADES? 1. Reading- reading the textbook 2. 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 Performers M (SD) (n = 19) Organizing *43.13 (32.72)10.28 (9.02) Studying* (66.76) (47.43) Reading90.79 (36.49)80.10 (35.00) Reviewing56.03 (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 models Use 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 129 Students volunteered; 60 student selected based on prior exam scores (20 “A”; 20 “C” and 20 “F”) Took multiple choice exam individually and tape recorded thoughts while taking it Five test taking behaviors: 1. Number of alternatives read 2. Anticipation of answer 3. Incorrect alternatives eliminated 4. Questions initially skipped 5. Total score

POLL QUESTION: WHICH BEHAVIOR(S) MATTERED MOST? Test taking behaviors: 1. Number of alternatives read 2. Anticipation of answer 3. Incorrect alternatives eliminated 4. Questions initially skipped 5. All of the Above

Results! VariablesACF Answers read per question* 3.66 (.63)1.82 (.51)1.48 (.60) Number of anticipated answers* (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),

The Research Study Research 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

Results Not 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),

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

Purpose of Study: Note-taking Note-reviewing Encoding function External storage function

Groups ( n =144)Attended LectureTook NotesReviewed Notes Took Notes, Reviewed Own NotesYes Yes- own Took Notes, No ReviewYes No Took Notes, Reviewed Lecture NotesYes Yes- lecturer notes Did Not Take Notes, No ReviewYesNo Did Not Take Notes, Reviewed Lecture NotesYesNoYes- lecturer notes Did Not Attend, Reviewed Lecture NotesNo Yes- lecturer notes Did Not Attend Lecture; Did Not ReviewNo

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 Took Notes, No Review Took Notes, Reviewed Lecture Notes Did Not Take Notes, No Review Did Not Take Notes, Reviewed Lecture Notes Did Not Attend, Reviewed Lecture Notes Did Not Attend Lecture; Did Not Review9.967

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.

Method 23 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 points 2. Examples- provided in class 3. Extra points- supporting statements that were not critical points or examples

Experimental Conditions Traditional Lecture No Visual Aid No Notes Slides Visual Aid Used Slides not Provided Slides Plus Guided Notes Visual Aid Used Most of Slide Information Provided

Results: Critical Points Traditional: 62% Slides: 97% Guided Notes: 100% Examples Traditional: 13% Slides: 26% Guided Notes: 60% Extra Points Traditional: 9 Slides: 7 Guided Notes: 29

Summing it All Up: Putting Research into Practice! Organizing was most effective study strategy Effective 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!