UC San Diego

Students preparation for their courses varies depending on their background.Previous work has found that certain types of study strategies are correlated with success, but it has not been done across multiple biology courses, at various levels, nor have the reasons for perceiving strategies as useful been identified or faculty perceptions. The goal of this study was to examine student perspectives of study strategies, which they find effective and ineffective and why. A second goal was to compare student perceptions to those of faculty and learn more about the communication of study strategies from professors to students. Students and faculty members were asked to rank, in a survey, what they perceived to be the most effective and ineffective study strategies, explain why the strategies are the most and least effective, whether or not faculty encouraged study strategies and if self-testing was among those recommended study strategies. Students and faculty both agreed that cramming, flashcards, quizlet, and recopying your notes are the least effective study strategies. Students appear to be more oriented towards more individual based work and faculty rank peer communication-based strategies higher. This is an indication that the perception of what makes a study strategy effective is somewhat different among students and faculty. Students and faculty both agree that learning and understanding is the biggest reason for the effectiveness of a study strategy. Perception of study strategies should align more between faculty and students which may lead to improved performance in UCSD biology student’s coursework.