What to Learn + How to Learn
= Student Success
Research conducted & presented by:
Sherri Chandler, Ph.D.
Muskegon Community College
Data Instrument
1)  Age: ____
you:
□ Male □ Female
3)College credits taken before this term:
□ 0 - 9 □ 10 - 19 □ 20+
4) Please list activities you expect to do
to learn course content: 2) Are
1000 student participants
student population for
age and sex and credit hours.
Sample representative of
Students who coded the data
listed 18 responses.
Number of activities students list
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
none
one
two
three
four
Many students
DON’T
what to do
to learn course content! know
Most frequent activities students list.
Activities listed
students
NOT
effective
methods for learning.
by
Those with learning / mastery goals
use deeper approaches,
expect difficulty,
& persist longer
when they experience difficulty. Those with achievement
/ego-protection goals
use surface approaches,
&
quit
when they experience difficulty.
Our culture in general
and young adult’s
particularly
value concrete goals
(such as earning an A).
Grades are the currency of academics. a s s i g n mnemonics
experience
notes
time
test
Self-regulation:
& figuring the steps
to reach goal
& monitoring progress to achieve
Teachers need to show
students how to learn
while teaching
what to learn. Learning = Time on task
+ Effort on task
All effort is not =
courses if work Learners expect to
experience distress,
tolerate unpleasant feeling
of confusion,
through practice
until reach comprehension. Effective Learning Practices
1)  Create (lecture/activity + reading) notes
+ organize notes.
2) Relate information to own experience
& what already know.
3) Make mnemonics*.
4) Study (practice) over time,
NOT cramming.
5) Test self before test,
mnemonics *
experience
notes
time
test
* ment²
Strategies
Desirable Difficulties
Test-enhanced Learning
Generation Effect
Retrieval Practice
Find more at:
www.memphis.edu/psychology/
teaching/content/misc.php
Self-Explanation
Distributed Practice
Interleaving
Brief videos by Chew:
www.samford.edu/how to study/
Expertise Reversal Effect
Worked Examples
Coherence Principle
Elaborative Interrogation
Transfer Appropriate Instruction
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Selected References:
Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentive
perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 1-26.
Benassi, V., Overson, C., & Hakala, C. (Eds.). (2014). Applying
science of learning in education: Infusing psychological science into
the curriculum. Available at the Teaching of Psychology website:
http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/asle2014/index.php
Dweck, C. & Elliot, A. (2007). Handbook of competence and
Motivation. New York: Guilford Press.
Pintrich , P. (2004). A conceptual framework for assessing
motivation and self-regulated learning in college students.
Educational Psychology Review, 16, 385-07.
Schunk, D. & Pajares, F. (2002). The development of academic
self-efficacy. In A. Wigfield & J. Eccles (Eds.), Development of
achievement motivation (pp. 16-31). San Diego: Academic Press.
U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education
Statistics. (2012). Digest of Education Statistics, 2011
(NECES 2012-001).
Vroom, V. (1964). Work and Motivation. New York: McGraw Hill.