This Academic Skills Mini-Module is one of the first documented efforts designed for encouraging students to prevent themselves from dropping out of college. It is also a reflection of research findings which maintain that any methods used to help students to improve their academic performance will also minimize attrition rates. Academic…

Based on observations made in an introductory psychology course, the author offers suggestions to instructors who use the lecture-textbook-test method of instruction. States that students should be taught appropriate study and note-taking skills and that they should be encouraged to ask questions when they encounter difficulty. (GEA)

Describes a four-phase assignment in an English-for-academic-purposes class in which nonnative-speaking students apply the listening and notetaking skills learned to other classes, then write a report that both the English instructor and the content area instructor evaluate. (HTH)

A study of student test performance in a preclinical operative dentistry amalgam course revealed that structured worksheets linked to videotape and lecture presentations improved immediate recall of key points for both presentation types and were well-received by students. Other worksheet uses are suggested. (MSE)

Microcomputer uses by social researchers include writing programs, standard spreadsheets and data base management. In addition, microcomputers can increase the effectiveness and efficiency of information gathering by improving notetaking and organizing. Software developments will help make microcomputer data base management tools, now not…

Offers a method for teachers in the content areas to teach study skills, specifically, strategies for allocating study time, reading, note taking, and learning for tests. (SRT)

The effects of two learning techniques on immediate and delayed tests examining factual and high-order learning outcomes was examined using 23 college students. Results indicated that listening to a lecture and subsequently reviewing the instructor's notes leads to higher student achievement than taking and reviewing personal lecture notes.…

Problems experienced by mildly handicapped students include visual perceptual and visual motor problems, inability to use and organize time, poor notetaking and outlining skills, and deficient reading vocabulary and writing skills. What the social studies teacher can do to alleviate each of these problems is discussed. (RM)

Outlines a basic writing skills course organized around the process of transcribing reading and lecture notes from students' other classes. (HTH)

In two experiments subjects were required to either take notes or not take notes while viewing a videotaped lecture on automobile engines. Results produced a pattern of interaction in which note-takers performed better on far-transfer tasks such as problem solving but worse on near-transfer tasks. (Author/LMO)

A communicative classroom procedure designed to give students initial practice in deriving notes and summaries from a written text is described. Using various kinds of classroom interaction, the procedure allows practice in recognition, production, and evaluation of paragraph summaries in note form. A piece of text used with adult and college…

Suggests how transcripts of academic lectures and pseudo-cloze exercises developed from these transcripts may be used to help foreign students to become aware of the skills (e.g., recognition of conventions and cues which signal important information in lectures) involved in the process of listening to lectures. (SL)

Complete sets of notes on an introductory psychology course were obtained and analyzed, and information about class attendance and the quantity, organization, and presentation of the notes was collected. Variables based on this information were then correlated with performance on two final examination papers. (Author/MLW)

This study determined which study habits would distinguish successful from unsuccessful foreign language learners. Participants were 219 college students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds enrolled in either Spanish, French, German, or Japanese classes. The students completed the Study Habits Inventory and the Background Demographic Form.…

This digest discusses six identified areas of instruction in which assistive technology can aid students with mild disabilities. It begins by discussing how assistive technology can help the student's organization. Low-tech solutions are explained, including teaching students to organize their thoughts or work using flow-charting, task analysis,…