This article considers the risk of failing college and how the fear of failure shapes students' behavior. Drawing on a semester-long study of students and instructors in a community college English composition course, this analysis highlights the potential for students to undermine their own educational goals in the absence of active intervention…

Argues that affective development is critical to successful learning. Presents a developmental model based on the premise that teachers can understand students' feelings by observing classroom behaviors. Describes the behaviors corresponding to the attending, receiving, responding, valuing, and commitment stages of affective development and…

Recognizes that while most students want to succeed academically, they do not, simply because they are unaware of basic study techniques. Suggests that teachers spend some classroom time discussing basic techniques in the form of their expectations of academic behavior. (TP)