John W. Thomas

Relationships among student characteristics, study activities, and achievement as a function of course characteristics*

A battery of instruments were administered to 1240 junior high, senior high, and college students to assess their academic aptitude, self-efficacy, achievement orientation, and course-specific study actities. Also assessed were characteristics of the 22 social science courses within which these students were enrolled. The results revealed (a) an increase in demand for information capacity between junior and senior high school and an increase in demand on integration activities between junior high school and college; (b) significant positive correlations between academic achievement and both academic aptitude and self-efficacy ratings; (c) an interaction, across grade levels, between achievement orientation scales and achievement; (d) different patterns of relationships between the student characteristic measures and study scales across grade levels; and (f) some indication that grade-related differences in course features may account for these grade-related differences in the pattern of correlations between student characteristics and study activities.

Grade level differences in students' study activities as a function of course characteristics

A self-report method was used to assess the frequency of engagement in 15 varieties of study activities by 1240 junior high, senior high, and college students enrolled in 22 social science courses. Also assessed, by means of observations and document analyses, were 14 characteristics of these courses. The results revealed (a) a comparatively low incidence of engagement in planful and generative study activities, (b) an increase in engagement in such activities across grade levels, (c) parallel increases across levels in course demands for and support of engagement in these activities, (d) substantial variation between courses within grade level in study-activity engagement, but (e) only inconsistent relationships between course-to-course engagement variation and course differences in demands and supports.

Improving Students' Self-Directed Learning: Issues and Guidelines

Recent recommendations for educational reform at the elementary level are considered in terms of their implications for improving the self-directed learning capabilities of students. The construct of self-directed learning is defined and its importance at the elementary level is explored. The article focuses on the ways by which classroom practices and conditions can encourage or discourage capabilities and dispositions to engage in self-directed learning. A classroom environment that would support effective self-directed learning is described with respect to 4 components: demands, supports, opportunity, and goal structure. Examples of how classroom tasks might be defined or changed are included within the discussion of each component.

Domain-Specific Knowledge, Metacognition, and the Promise of Instructional Reform

Advancements on two major fronts in cognitive and developmental psychology provide a foundation for reforming the character of academic instruction. Advancements on one front, sometimes referred to as domain-specific cognition, promise to identify the structures of content knowledge students need in order to become proficient in particular subject-matter domains. Advancements on the second front, sometimes referred to as metacognition, promise to specify the knowledge of their own cognitive procedures students need in order to acquire and deploy these procedures effectively. Even if both of these promises are fulfilled, however, their impact on the outcomes of education may be negligible unless major changes are made in certain features that typify instruction in academic courses.

The Role of Mnemonic Strategies in Study Effectiveness

To achieve academic success, students must be adept in a variety of kinds of remembering. They must remember in order to recite or to make presentations in class. They must remember in a different way in order to compose coherent and convincing papers. They must remember in yet another way in order to excel in taking tests. Furthermore, variety characterizes not only the purposes of remembering but also the content to be remembered. Students must remember information, in the form of facts, concepts, or principles. In addition, they must remember procedures of the kinds involved in constructing proofs or solving problems.

Studying Across the Life Span

Studying can be defined as self-directed learning undertaken in anticipation of a future performance event. Although tests are the performance events most often associated with studying in academic contexts, in other contexts individuals commonly study in preparation for other kinds of performances as well. Job seekers study the firms of prospective employers in preparation for interviews. Lawyers study rulings in prior cases to prepare written and oral arguments. Advertising agents study market surveys to prepare publicity campaigns. Consumers study product review periodicals in preparation for major purchases. Prospective tourists study tour guides to enhance their travel experiences.