The Who, What, and Where of Learning Strategies

Amber D. Dumford, Cindy A. Cogswell, Angie L. Miller

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Learning strategies have been shown to be an important part of success in the classroom, but little research exists that examines differences across major fields concerning the use and faculty emphasis of learning strategies. This study uses data from the National Survey of Student Engagement and the Faculty Survey of Student Engagement to explore whether there is congruence for academic disciplines between the student use and faculty encouragement of learning strategies. Patterns in the results suggest that are certain fields, including health professions, biology, agriculture, natural resources, and social service professions most frequently emphasizing and using learning strategies, while others, including engineering, physical sciences, mathematics, and computer science are less likely to do so. OLS regression models also suggest demographic and environmental predictors of student use of learning strategies, such as gender, enrollment status, cumulative college grades, Greek affiliation, and participation in a learning community. Potential reasons for and implications of these findings are discussed.

Original languageAmerican English
JournalThe Journal of Effective Teaching
Volume16
StatePublished - Jan 1 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Learning strategies
  • disciplinary differences
  • environmental support
  • learning communities

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