Theories of learning styles suggest that individuals think and learn best in different ways. These are not differences of ability but rather preferences for processing certain types of information or for processing information in certain types of way. If accurate, learning styles theories could have important implications for instruction because…

Over 5 semesters and 10 sections, students in a 300-level research methods course used clickers to respond to knowledge-based and opinion/attitude questions about clicker use, the effectiveness of assignments, self-confidence regarding skills and abilities, and more. Changes during the semester and student answers to questions about pedagogy and…

Previous research has examined differences between students and faculty regarding the weight of effort in assigning grades. Here, students and faculty responded to questions regarding the relative weight of performance and effort on final grades and what letter grades faculty should assign across different types of courses. The authors asked these…

Teaching researchers can assess learning outcome effectiveness as a function of students' graded performance or changes in knowledge, skills and behaviors, or attitudes. We meta-analyzed 197 studies to determine the effectiveness of teaching activities in "Teaching of Psychology (ToP)" both overall and also as a function of type of learning…

The student pacing feature of the Personalized system of Instructional (PSI) is found to have the most influence on student test scores. (DE)

Weekly testing coupled with a mastery performance requirement generated higher student performance in an introductory psychology class. (DE)

Presents data showing that women in an introductory statistics class make higher grades than men. Compares this finding with previously reported results and provides anecdotal observations concerning this experience. (JDH)

This article explores reasons for differences between Brooks' findings and the author's. Additional analysis of the data revealed no significant gender difference. Concludes there is a need for better controlled studies. (JDH)

Life stress among 159 students enrolled in a psychology course was found to be inversely related to exam scores, extra credit points, and total course points. Final course grades were also predicted by life stress. Teachers must recognize that students do not exist in a social, academic vacuum. (Author/RM)

"A,""B," and "C" students scored higher when the final psychology exam was given early in the examination period. Fatigue which accumulates over the course of finals week and increasing anticipation of vacation festivities may contribute to the observed results. (RM)

High and low performance students were found to perceive effective teaching characteristics differently. Therefore, the intended use of evaluations, for feedback or administrative decisions, should dictate data analysis methods. For example, when evaluation data are to be used as feedback, consideration needs to be given to the student performance…

A study to investigate the effectiveness of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) in teaching a college developmental psychology course is described. PSI students were found to be superior on within-course tests and on a 5-weeks delayed retention test. (AV)

Discusses research which explored the hypothesis that students who are fast starters in a personalized system of instruction psychology course would perform better and maintain faster course progress rates than slow starters. Findings indicate that students' starting pace is predictive of course performance and subsequent progress rates.…

Grade A undergraduate psychology students used different test-taking strategies on a multiple-choice exam than did C or F students. In general, the strategies of the best students were characterized by a more thorough consideration of the alternative answers for each question. (RM)

Self-management techniques--e.g., self-monitoring and self-recording--designed to increase the amount of time a student studies had positive results in this study involving undergraduate psychology students. Increases of one letter grade were obtained, and the majority of the students continued use of the methods. (RM)