The purpose of this study was to investigate how students who were enrolled in a developmental writing course at a community college used and adapted cognitive writing strategies learned in the course. The students participated in a funded research project for the development and evaluation of a writing curriculum based on self-regulated strategy instruction. The current study investigated students' application of the planning and revising strategies using think-aloud protocols. The results showed that students remembered the strategies but did not use them consistently. Also, they tended to use an outline but not always effectively. Finally, reading comprehension seemed to impact their use of revision strategies. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed. [This paper was published in "Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy" 2018 (EJ1194950).]