A theoretical model describes the components of academic studying focusing on antecedents as well as the consequences of studying. This study uses correlational means to explore the relationship among student characteristics, study activities, and outcomes for 42 education majors. Study activities were assessed with a self-report questionnaire. Also determined were academic self-efficacy, success on a concept similarity rating task, prior academic ability (current grade point average), and results of an achievement criterion test. Students with a higher sense of academic self-competence reported more engagement in higher-level cognitive strategies, and more efficacious students tended to perceive the source of engagement in generative processing as coming from their own thoughts rather than an external prompt. However, cognitive strategies by themselves do not add much to test performance for students already possessing strong self-efficacy perceptions. Academic self-efficacy and internal consistency of students' knowledge structures were significant predictors of classroom achievement. Six tables and four figures present study findings. (Contains 30 references.) (SLD)