Examining the Benefits of Teaching Active Study Strategies as a Part of Classroom Instruction

Abstract

When students self-regulate their learning, those using more active strategies demonstrate greater learning than those using passive strategies. The article examines whether teaching active study strategies in a first-year seminar can improve test performance in another course. Using a quasi-experimental approach in two studies, 18 students enrolled in a first-year seminar course received study instruction and selected another course to use these methods. Eighteen control students in a first-year seminar course did not receive study strategy instruction. Results show that when the study-strategy students were required to study for Test 2 using active strategies, they improved more than control students. In Study 2, when study-strategy students were not required to study actively for Test 3, they no longer performed better. This suggest requiring students to study actively improves performance, but research needs to examine how to encourage students to continue studying actively.