Table 1.
Demographic profile of survey respondents in Year 1 and 2.
Fig 1.
Underrepresented minority (URM) and non-URM students’ self-reported study patterns.
Students enrolled in the study course sections reported their study patterns in a pre-course survey from years 1 and 2 of the study. The spacing designation was determined if (1) students answered “I most often space out my study sessions over multiple days/weeks” to the question “Which of the following best describes your study patterns?” and (2) they did not select “absorbing lots of information the night of the test” responding to the question “Select the top 3 study strategies you use most regularly.” The study strategies were determined from response to the latter question. Chi-squared tests determined whether the fraction of URM and non-URM students who selected each strategy were significantly different. *p < .05, **p < .01.
Table 2.
Percent of Self-Reported Study Strategies (pre-survey).
Table 3.
Percent of students’ study decisions (pre-survey).
Fig 2.
Impact of a study skills intervention on students’ self-reported spacing of their study.
(A). Student responses to the spacing question on the pre- and post-course survey are reported for the control (C1 and C2) and intervention (I) sections during years 1 and 2 of the study. (B). Student spacing patterns are reported from the pre- and post-course surveys during years 1 and 2 of the study. Maintained use means the student reported spacing on both the pre- and post-survey, started using means the student only reported spacing on the post, stopped using means the student only reported spacing on the pre, and never used means the student did not report spacing on either the pre- or post-survey.
Table 4.
Spacing and self-testing patterns by course section and year.
Fig 3.
Impact of a study skills intervention on students’ self-reported self-testing.
(A). We examined the percent of student responses that designated self-testing as one of their top three study strategies on the pre- and post-course survey are reported for the control (C1 and C2) and intervention (I) sections during years 1 and 2 of the study. (B). Student self-testing patterns were reported from the pre- and post-course surveys during years 1 and 2 of the study. Maintained use means the student reported self-testing on both the pre- and post-survey, started using means the student only reported self-testing on the post, stopped using means the student only reported self-testing on the pre, and never used means the student did not report self-testing on either the pre- or post-survey. (C). Students in the intervention sections during years 1 and 2 of the study were classified based on their URM status.
Table 5.
Final course grade by Self-Reported Study Strategies (post-survey).
Fig 4.
Course performance for URM and non-URM students based on used of self-testing.
Course grades were examined for students who did and did not report self-testing based on their URM status. Grades were converted to numerical values for this analysis ranging from A+ (13) to F (1).
Table 6.
Final course grade regressed study strategy categories, course section, demographic, and prior achievement.