Learning from the Learners

Successful College Students Share Their Effective Learning Habits

Edited by Elizabeth Berry, Bettina J. Huber, Cynthia Z. Rawitch

Publication date:

22 December 2017

Length of book:

314 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

236x160mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781442278608

This book turns the traditional approach to student success on its head by examining the learning habits of successful students based on what they have told us about their learning strategies, on what they do to succeed in college, and on the teaching practices they think best foster their learning. This approach is in stark contrast to most recent studies of learning at the college level which focus on what students need to do to succeed, but are written from the point of view of "experts" who provide advice to struggling students.

Learning from the Learners: Successful College Students Share Their Effective Learning Habits is based on what "expert" students tell us about what they - as learners - do to succeed. It is grounded in a 10-year study that rests on a rich qualitative data set that includes open-ended survey responses gathered on a term-by term basis and in depth interviews during the freshman and junior years with over 700 students of diverse backgrounds. Additionally, since many students interviewed were the first in their family to attend college and from backgrounds traditionally underserved by higher education, the book's insights will be of particular interest to educators elsewhere who are increasingly expected to help similar students succeed.

Themes include student success, academic challenges, diversity, pedagogy, and technology in the classroom. No other book on the widely discussed subject of student success relies on such a wealth of quantitative and qualitative data about what works from the point of view of students themselves.

Foreword - Harrold Hellenbrand

Part I: Project Parameters
Chapter 1: The Evolution of the Learning Habits Project: Methods and Procedures - Bettina J. Huber
Chapter 2: Who Are the Learning Habits Students and Why Do They Persist? - Bettina J. Huber

Part II: Differing Patterns of Engagement within Major Student Subgroups
Introduction
Chapter 3: Being the First To Go to College - Steven Graves
Chapter 4: The Role of Gender in Fostering Persistence and Effective Learning Habits - Bettina J. Huber
Chapter 5: Campus Diversity and College Learning Through the Eyes of Learning Habits Students - Bettina J. Huber

Part III: Key Themes in Teaching and Learning
Introduction
Chapter 6: Reading with Understanding: What Do College Students Say? - Elizabeth Berry and Linda S. Bowen
Chapter 7: Gains in Written Communication between the Freshman and Junior Years - Irene L. Clark and Bettina J. Huber
Chapter 8: PowerPoint Fatigue and the Rabbit Hole of Internet Stuff: Students and Technology - Donal O’Sullivan
Chapter 9: Sliding Into Learning: The Power of Webnotes - Carrie Rothstein-Fisch and Sharon M. Klein

Part IV: Fostering Student Initiative
Introduction
Chapter 10: Factors Influencing Academic Help Seeking by College Students - Mark Stevens and Peter Mora
Chapter 11: Self-Regulated Learning Habits - Daisy Lemus, Mary-Pat Stein, and Whitney Scott
Chapter 12: Encouraging Students to Be Thoughtful about Their Learning - Bettina J. Huber

Part V: Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter 13: What Did You Learn? What Are You Gonna Do About It?

Appendix 1. Participants in the Learning Habits Seminar
Appendix 2. Master List of Questions Posed During Face-to-Face Learning Habits Interviews
Appendix 3. Questions Posed at Project Registration and in All End-of-Term Assignments

The Learning Habits Project is an impressive ten-year study that addresses one of the key questions of higher education—how can students be successful and graduate from college? It has several advantages over other studies or projects addressing this issue: it comes from a strength-based rather than deficit perspective; it centers research on students’ voices and perspective; it engages the quality of learning, not just college completion; and it looks at student experience holistically—what happens in the classroom, outside the classroom, and in student lives outside campus. While providing important insight about specific issues, such as how students can best use technology or advice to improve their reading comprehension, it sheds light on important overarching issues, such as the importance of students’ metacognitive strategies in student success. This balance of big-picture issues as well as detailed advice around specific challenges and programs provides the type of systemic and multilevel recommendations needed to truly help students succeed.