Teaching Students How to Study: A Workshop on Information Processing and Self-Testing Helps Students Learn

We implemented a “how to study” workshop for small groups of students (6–12) for N = 93 consenting students, randomly assigned from a large introductory biology class. The goal of this workshop was to teach students self-regulating techniques with visualization-based exercises as a foundation for learning and critical thinking in two areas: information processing and self-testing. During the workshop, students worked individually or in groups and received immediate feedback on their progress. Here, we describe two individual workshop exercises, report their immediate results, describe students’ reactions (based on the workshop instructors’ experience and student feedback), and report student performance on workshop-related questions on the final exam. Students rated the workshop activities highly and performed significantly better on workshop-related final exam questions than the control groups. This was the case for both lower- and higher-order thinking questions. Student achievement (i.e., grade point average) was significantly correlated with overall final exam performance but not with workshop outcomes. This long-term (10 wk) retention of a self-testing effect across question levels and student achievement is a promising endorsement for future large-scale implementation and further evaluation of this “how to study” workshop as a study support for introductory biology (and other science) students.

[1]  Division on Earth BIO2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists , 2003 .

[2]  J. Mathewson Visual-spatial thinking: An aspect of science overlooked by educators , 1999 .

[3]  G. Pressley,et al.  Mental Imagery Helps Eight-Year-Olds Remember What They Read , 1976 .

[4]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Metacognitive strategies in student learning: Do students practise retrieval when they study on their own? , 2009, Memory.

[5]  K. Stanger-Hall,et al.  Facilitating Learning in Large Lecture Classes: Testing the “Teaching Team” Approach to Peer Learning , 2010, CBE life sciences education.

[6]  Miriam Reiner,et al.  Visualization : theory and practice in science education , 2008 .

[7]  Sandhya N. Baviskar,et al.  Moving Students from Information Recitation to Information Understanding: Exploiting Bloom's Taxonomy in Creating Science Questions. , 2007 .

[8]  J. Clement,et al.  Effects of Student-Generated Diagrams versus Student-Generated Summaries on Conceptual Understanding of Causal and Dynamic Knowledge in Plate Tectonics. , 1999 .

[9]  Henry L. Roediger,et al.  Examining the Testing Effect with Open-and Closed-book Tests , 2022 .

[10]  Maryellen Weimer,et al.  Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice , 2013 .

[11]  J. P. Holschuh,et al.  Do as I Say, Not as I Do: High, Average, and Low-Performing Students' Strategy Use in Biology , 2000 .

[12]  John K. Gilbert,et al.  Visualization in science education , 2005 .

[13]  Neil D. Fleming,et al.  Not Another Inventory, Rather a Catalyst for Reflection , 1992 .

[14]  Alison Crowe,et al.  Biology in bloom: implementing Bloom's Taxonomy to enhance student learning in biology. , 2008, CBE life sciences education.

[15]  H. Maddox How to study , 1967 .

[16]  S. Tobias,et al.  Knowing What You Know and What You Don't: Further Research on Metacognitive Knowledge Monitoring , 2002 .

[17]  Dianna L. Van Blerkom College Study Skills : Becoming a Strategic Learner , 1993 .

[18]  Michael C. W. Yip,et al.  Relationship of Study Strategies and Academic Performance in Different Learning Phases of Higher Education in Hong Kong , 2005 .

[19]  Georg E. Matt,et al.  High School Study Habits and Early College Achievement , 1991 .

[20]  John K. Gilbert,et al.  Visualization: A Metacognitive Skill in Science and Science Education , 2005 .

[21]  F. Coffield Learning styles and pedagogy in post-16 learning: a systematic and critical review , 2004 .

[22]  Benjamin S. Bloom,et al.  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. , 1957 .

[23]  Maryellen Weimer,et al.  LEARNER-CENTERED TEACHING , 2022, International Research Journal of Modernization in Engineering Technology and Science.

[24]  John K. Gilbert,et al.  Visualization: An Emergent Field of Practice and Enquiry in Science Education , 2008 .

[25]  Y. Benjamini,et al.  Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing , 1995 .

[26]  Walter Pauk,et al.  How to study in college , 1962 .

[27]  Trevor R Anderson,et al.  The importance of visual literacy in the education of biochemists * , 2006, Biochemistry and molecular biology education : a bimonthly publication of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

[28]  Regan A. R. Gurung,et al.  Focusing on how students study , 2010 .

[29]  Jeffrey D. Karpicke,et al.  Metacognitive control and strategy selection: deciding to practice retrieval during learning. , 2009, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[30]  E. Mazur,et al.  Peer Instruction: Ten years of experience and results , 2001 .

[31]  P. Shah,et al.  Exploring visuospatial thinking in chemistry learning , 2004 .

[32]  Randy M. Isaacson,et al.  Metacognitive Knowledge Monitoring and Self-Regulated Learning: Academic Success and Reflections on Learning. , 2006 .