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Background: Engineering students who achieve academic success during their first year may later disengage from challenging course material in their upper-level courses, due to perceived differences between their expectations and values and those of their degree programs. In the extreme, academic disengagement can lead to attrition. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to better understand the learning approaches and strategies used by first-year engineering students. Research questions were as follows:  How do first-year engineering students describe their learning approaches and strategies?  How do first-year engineering students customize their learning strategies among their courses?  How do first-year engineering students employ reflection as part of their learning strategies? Design/Method: I employed both qualitative and quantitative methods to collect and analyze data, using an explanatory design approach consisting of two surveys and a set of semi-structured interviews between survey administrations. The interview data from a purposive sample of survey participants were coded using a priori, pattern and comparative coding. The survey data were analyzed for medians and interquartile ranges in order to identify trends in reflective learning strategies among courses. Results: One notable finding was the fact that many interviewees stated that their overall purpose for studying was to achieve high grades by preparing for tests (a surface-level approach), and yet the learning strategies that they used reflected a deeper engagement with their course material than one would expect from students whose singular focus was on grades. Certain strategies were similar for both technical and non-technical courses, while others were dissimilar. There are also ways to combine the surface and deep learning strategies sequentially. They need not be mutually exclusive. Conclusions: The results of this study will provide educators with a starting point for the development of guided practice in meaningful learning strategies to encourage a greater engagement with learning. Both educators and administrators should be amenable to measures that would improve their students' chances for success, by providing guidance in how to learn as well as what to learn. Several recommendations are given for future studies, such as the relationships among reflection, metacognition, and critical thinking, and the integration of meaningful learning strategies into technically overloaded engineering degree curricula. / Doctor of Philosophy / I chose to study the learning approaches and strategies of first-year engineering students. The term "learning strategies" refers to study habits, but learning strategies also involve choices about how to study based on goals, motivation, and available resources. My results will provide professors and instructors with insights that they can use to help their students learn more effectively and find deeper meaning in their course material, by guiding them in how to learn as well as what to learn. Knowing how to learn is a lifelong skill. First-year engineering students have a special need to know how to learn in order to be better prepared for a more challenging workload in their upper level engineering courses. Prior studies have shown that students most often leave an engineering program during their first or second year due to inadequate academic preparation in prior years. If we are to help engineering these students to improve their learning approaches and strategies, we first need to know what approaches and strategies they currently use. My data came from two surveys that were given at the end of each of two introductory engineering courses to a group of approximately 1,200 students, and from interviews with fifteen students who had also completed the surveys. I was trying to learn more about how these students customized their learning strategies among their courses, and how they used reflection to discover the meaning behind what they are learning. One of the most interesting findings was the fact that many interviewees stated that their overall purpose for studying was to achieve high grades by preparing for tests (a surface-level approach), and yet the learning strategies that they used reflected a deeper engagement with their course material than one would expect from students whose only focus was on grades. This combination of different learning approaches was more common in engineering, science and mathematics courses than in humanities or social science courses. This dissertation also contains a three-part class assignment, given at the beginning, middle, and end of a first-year engineering course, in which students reflect on their progress in learning one or more skills that they had identified at the beginning of the course. Implications arising from my study are directed at researchers, administrators, faculty, and students, respectively, as well as opportunities for further work in this aspect of higher education. Opportunities for further studies include the relationship between reflection and critical thinking, and methods for incorporating guided practice in learning strategies into engineering degree programs that currently contain too much technical content.

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This thesis investigates the vocabulary learning behavior of Romanian high school students in a digital context. The research identifies the vocabulary learning strategies used by EFL high school students and focuses on how the choice of vocabulary learning strategies varies across four independent variables: students' age, gender, academic profile (math-ICT, humanities, science and economic-technical) and language program (intensive English, bilingual, normal). These variables are hypothesized to influence learners' vocabulary behavior. Furthermore, the study examines the technology enhanced tools (computer and mobile assisted language learning tools) used by these students in their vocabulary learning as well as their attitudes towards using technology in vocabulary learning. Likewise, the study analyzes how students' choice of technology enhanced tools and their attitudes towards them vary across the four independent variables. The study is a mixed methods investigation with 1,239 participants (60% female, 40% male, aged 14-19 years old) learning English as a foreign language in nine Romanian secondary schools. Of the 1,239 participants who filled in the self-reported questionnaire, 43 also participated in focus group discussions prior to the administration of the questionnaire. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics procedures whereas the qualitative data were analyzed thematically. The results from both phases were integrated in the results chapter. The main findings indicated that Romanian high school students prefer social strategies, followed by determination, metacognitive, cognitive and memory strategies. However, the usage of the strategies in these categories is medium towards low. As for individual vocabulary learning strategies, the participants reported that the impact of a new word, English media, guessing from context, associating the word with a picture and using cognates are frequently used strategies. The results also indicated that students' use of vocabulary learning strategies varies across the four independent variables. As far as the use of digital tools for vocabulary learning, the findings indicated that the students in this particular cultural context use few available digital tools with a preference for online dictionaries, games and social networking web sites. The results showed that overall Romanian students are not very familiar with computer and mobile assisted language learning tools, their attitudes towards the use of digital tools for vocabulary learning are neutral and they mostly associate the use of personal devices with their personal space, suggesting that they may not want to embed learning in their everyday activities. The results enrich existing knowledge of vocabulary learning strategies in a Romanian cultural context and they also give us an insight into how high school students use computer and mobile assisted language tools in their vocabulary learning. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Objective: To explore and compare the use of metacognitive, cognitive, and environmental resource management self regulatory learning (SRL) strategies used by a national sample of students enrolled in traditional and accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs. Background: Learner focused reforms in nursing education require students to assume more responsibility for learning. Nursing student responsibility for learning is reflected in their use of metacognitive, cognitive, and environmental resource SRL strategies. Learning strategy use promotes the development of clinical reasoning and lifelong learning skills requisite to meet the needs of complex patients in a dynamic healthcare environment. Method: Using Bandura’s social cognitive theory as a framework, the learning subscales of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were used to survey a national sample of 514 baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in their final semester of a traditional baccalaureate nursing program or a 12-month accelerated baccalaureate program. Delineation of student use of metacognitive, cognitive (rehearsal, organization, and elaboration), and environmental resource management (help seeking, peer learning, effort regulation, and time and study environment) SRL strategies was examined by program and in light of age, grade point average (GPA), weekly hours spent studying independently, and weekly hours spent in employment. Results: Differences in SRL strategy use were found between the program groups and between program groups divided by sample age. Older students in both the accelerated and traditional programs used more metacognition and elaboration SRL strategies than their younger traditional counterparts. Older traditional students used significantly more effort regulation SRL strategies than both groups of younger students. Both older groups of students studied significantly more, used significantly more time and study environment SRL strategies, and had significantly higher GPAs than the younger groups of students from both programs. Conclusions: This study provides a framework for learner focused nursing education by explicitly defining differences in SRL strategy use of students enrolled in traditional and accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Collaborative learning activities are those that involve students in jointly constructing meaning and solving academic tasks (Damon & Phelps, 1989). Collaborative approaches to learning are particularly appropriate for learning disabled (LD) students who tend not to actively engage in learning activities (Torgesen, 1978; Wong, 1980). Activities of the interactive semantic mapping (ISM) strategy (Bos & Anders, 1989; Scanlon, Gallego, Duran, & Reyes, in press) provide students with opportunities to engage in collaborative learning. The purpose of this study was to determine how adding collaborative learning skills instruction to ISM strategy instruction would affect LD adolescents' comprehension of texts, collaborative skills performance, and participation in the ISM strategy and collaborative group activities. Subjects for the study were 32 LD adolescents with fourth grade or higher reading skills and IQs in the average range. Subjects were assigned to one of two treatment conditions and groups (n's = 4) within conditions. In one condition, subjects only learned the ISM strategy; in the other, subjects were instructed in both the ISM strategy and effective collaborative learning skills. Comprehension, collaborative skills performance, ISM skills performance and group interaction patterns were assessed at baseline, post test, and long term application, as well as at domain generalization and situation generalization. Findings indicate that virtually no significant differences occurred between conditions for comprehension or performance of collaborative or ISM skills. Significant differences were found for time. Comprehension, collaborative learning and ISM skills increased significantly from baseline to posttest. Students in both conditions were better able to generalize their skills at domain generalization than at situation generalization. Comprehension and skills use generally decreased at long term application. Interaction process analyses indicated that groups taught collaborative learning skills interacted in a marginally more collaborative manner than did ISM condition groups.

Semantic clustering has been used as a measure of learning strategies in a number of clinical populations and has been found to be deficient in individuals with Schizophrenia, but less attention has been paid to the dynamic use of this strategy over the course of fixed-order learning trials. In the current study, we examined this pattern of clustering use over trials in a sample of individuals with Schizophrenia, and explored whether the addition of this dynamic information would help us to better predict specific executive deficits. Results suggested that a decrease in semantic clustering across trials was associated with some executive deficits in the predicted manner. Nonetheless, the overall semantic clustering index generally proved more effective for the purposes, suggesting that in this population, the addition of dynamic information in strategy use is not likely to add considerably to clinical prediction and understanding.

The aim of the research study is firstly to examine the relationship between self-esteem and learning strategies amongst first year university students. From this the investigator aimed to discern whether there is a link between cognitive and affective factors in student learning as has been widely accepted in pedagogical studies. Secondly, the difference in self-esteem levels in relation to gender and year of study were also examined. Thirdly, the differences in self-esteem and learning strategies in relation to year of study were investigated. The rationale for the investigations in this study stems from the fact that first year university students are seen to be at a major life transition that brings with it challenges on an affective (self-esteem) and cognitive (learning strategies) level. The sample of the study consisted of 197 participants gathered from the University of the Witwatersrand. The instruments utilised were the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale (1965), the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory- LASSI (Weinstein, 1987) and a brief Student Demographic Survey to gain information such as the students gender and year of study. Findings indicated that there is a relationship between self-esteem and the motivation to learn- one of the components of the LASSI. However, contrary to many other findings, no cognitive-affective link was evident. Furthermore, males and females appeared to show difference in the study aids learning strategy as well as in self-esteem levels, where females proved to have more positive self-esteem levels than the males. Year of study lastly, also proved to have an influence in student self-esteem levels.

Abstract not available