Difficulties characterizing developmental college students are reviewed within the context of motivational theories of learning. The author highlights problems of low self-efficacy and inadequate self-regulated learning for developmental college students. The author argues that the use of Facebook, a widely-used social networking technology, may…

As educators we talk a great deal about theory to practice, and we hope our candidates will understand and make the connections needed in order to apply their theory to practice. Often though, we do not spend enough time helping our candidates discover what their own theory base is and thus that theory to practice (praxis) connection gets broken.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate a multi-faceted women's calculus course designed to retain women in advanced mathematics courses. With this research, we wanted to find out, first, in what ways students were influenced by participation in the course and, second, in what ways these influences affected their mathematics learning or…

In a previous article published in the "Journal of College Reading and Learning," we presented the results of a self-study of our commitment as faculty and staff members to providing a multicultural learning experience for our students. This follow-up article provides the findings of a study conducted during spring semester 2004 to explore student…

Knowledge of the strategies used by English as a foreign language (EFL) or second language (ESL) readers can help instructors teach these techniques and thereby enhance their students' reading comprehension. The present study compared three categories of reading comprehension strategies (metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective) to determine…

This two-phase study integrated quantitative and qualitative research methods to investigate the relationship between success outcomes of two-year college students with disabilities and self-determination, and how students with higher and lesser degrees of self-determination understand and describe the outcomes of their post-secondary experience.…

Case study learning was integrated into a course designed to improve students' potential for academic success and increase student retention. Case studies related to self-regulation of behavior, motivation, and cognition for academic tasks were used to prompt students' critical thinking and facilitate deep learning of self-regulation topics,…

Scores on a vocabulary test given at the beginning of two semesters in a large entry-level course predicted performance on multiple-choice exams more strongly than pre-course knowledge and critical thinking. Words on the vocabulary instrument were derived from multiple-choice exam items in the course. Although commonly used in the course, these…

The authors' goal in this paper is to initiate a dialogue among educators who continue to make assertions about the usefulness of identifying students' learning styles with little or no research support. They discuss the status of learning style instruction and the unsubstantiated claims made by authors of learning style instruments and by…

One hundred nine college students participated in an experiment that involved reading a passage and responding to a 20-item multiple choice test. The students were randomly assigned to one of four groups. The four conditions involved reading and copying, reading and highlighting, reading and taking notes, and reading and generating questions.…

This study had two purposes. One was to investigate the effect of text format on underachieving first-year college students' self-efficacy for reading; the second was to compare self-efficacy ratings with subsequent reading comprehension. Seventy-six students in a university learning support services program at a large Northeastern university…

University students (n = 69) enrolled in an introductory psychology course at an historically Black university completed nine curriculum-based measurement probes. Results for each student were graphed and trendlines were calculated. Trendline direction was examined to determine whether a possible formative assessment technique might be developed…

Little research has discussed how writing center tutors can help postsecondary students develop skill in reading. Via individual interviews, this investigator collected data from eleven writing center tutors at a large urban public university. Analysis of this data suggests that while nearly all of the tutors lacked specific knowledge of how…

Research on mentoring in higher education is increasingly widespread. This article aims to provide insight into different kinds of mentoring programs and the research conducted to determine the effectiveness of these programs. A review of the literature revealed multiple definitions of what mentoring means, how programs operate, and types of…

Although first-year students in Supplemental Instruction (SI) earned similar average numerical-grades in an introductory biology course as non-SI students, their grade distributions were different: SI students earned fewer D's and F's than non-SI students. SI students who earned A's and B's had similar admissions scores as those who earned D's and…