The Use of Learning and Study Strategies by Students Taking a Remedial Workshop at Selkirk College, Castlegar, British Columbia

The purpose of this study was to discover what the students’ use of learning and study strategies, as measured by the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI), is at Selkirk College on the Castlegar Campus, British Columbia. Nineteen students completed the second, online version of LASSI, developed by Weinstein, Palmer, and Schulte (2002) at the beginning of the semester and prior to taking a 15-hour “Student Success Skills” workshop, and again after having completed the workshop and after having completed one semester. Overall the results confirm other studies that students, in general, are not prepared for the college experience regarding the non-content related area of learning strategies, and although scores and percentiles increased in all ten LASSI scales and seven out of the ten LASSI scales experienced a significant increase in means (p>0.5), students still need to improve their learning and study strategies further. Because of the small sample size, methodological weaknesses, and Selkirk College’s unique geographical and demographical situation, care should be taken when trying to generalize the results of this study to other student populations and institutions. Nevertheless, this research gives rise to numerous possibilities for follow-up studies, which include large-scale studies for the entire student population at Selkirk College, small-scale program-specific studies, as well as correlation studies. The existing data can be used for the improvement of the currently existing Learning and Study Skills Centre on the Castlegar Campus and the program it offers, as well as the development of a first-year, three-credit, university-transfer course in college success skills.