HOW STUDENTS SAY THEY LEARN WAS INVESTIGATED. INTERVIEWS WITH A RANDOM SAMPLE OF 74 WOMEN STUDENTS POSED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE, FREQUENCY, PATTERNS, AND CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH ACTS OF DISCOVERY TAKE PLACE IN THE ACADEMIC SETTING. STUDENTS WERE ASSIGNED DISCOVERY RATINGS BASED ON READINGS OF TYPESCRIPTS. EACH STUDENT WAS CLASSIFIED AND ANALYZED IN TERMS OF QUANTITATIVE TESTS OF FLEXIBILITY (ROKEACH DOGMATISM AND OTHER USES TEST) AND SECURITY (MASLOW SECURITY-INSECURITY TEST AND A SELF RATING). A MAJORITY OF STUDENTS REPORTED DISCOVERY EXPERIENCES. A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE ACT OF DISCOVERY WAS DEVELOPED. IT WAS CONCLUDED THAT A PHENOMENOLOGICAL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF THE DISCOVERY ACT IS FRUITFUL WHEN COUPLED WITH ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE SUBJECTS. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACADEMIC MOTIVATION, PERSISTENCE, AND VERBAL SKILL IS SUGGESTIVE ON AN INDIVIDUAL CASE LEVEL AND WARRANTS FURTHER STUDY. THE STUDY REVEALED THAT STUDENTS ARE INTERESTED IN THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TEACHER AS DIAGNOSTICIAN, AND NOT MERELY EVALUATOR OF PERFORMANCE, WAS ALSO BROUGHT OUT. TEACHERS IN TRAINING MAY BENEFIT FROM A CONSIDERATION OF THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENT AS A COMPLEX OF INTELLECTUAL AND PERSONALITY VARIABLES WHICH INTERACT WITH CIRCUMSTANTIAL FACTORS. (SK)