The resources in this section focus on the skills, beliefs and behaviors that have been shown - through valid and reproducible research studies - to be central to student success in college[1].

These skills, beliefs and behaviors are metacognitive and non-cognitive in nature – meaning that they do not include skills like the ability to solve a differential equation or to program in Matlab. The development of these attributes is often strongly influenced by external environments and contexts. In fact, this section includes only those skills, beliefs and behaviors that are malleable, and can be developed through specific actions, interventions and practices.

Information on the following skills, beliefs and behaviors on this site include:

Cognitive Skills & Strategies

1. Retrieval: the ability to recall and remember knowledge increases if it is periodically retrieved.
2. Spacing & Interleaving: spacing and interleaving problems types result in greater learning gains and better discrimination among problem types than asking students to do similar problem types in succession over a single period of time.
3. Worked Examples & Self-Explanations: when non-experts are learning new concepts, it is more efficient for them to study solutions to solved problems than to attempt solving problems first.

Non-cognitive Skills & Beliefs

1. Metacognition: the ability to plan, monitor and assess one’s own learning is associated with better academic performance and deeper learning.
2. Belonging: a sense of academic and social belonging (feeling accepted, included and valued by others) is associated with a student's achievement motivation, expectations to achieve, as well as actual academic achievement.
3. Self-efficacy: individuals with higher levels of confidence in their ability to organize and execute a given course of action to solve a problem or accomplish a task tend to be more motivated and successful in the given task.
4. Growth mindset: students who believe that human traits (ex: intelligence) are malleable will persevere and learn from challenging academic experiences by allocating more effort, seeking feedback and trying new strategies.

Well-being

Psychological well-being contributes to a range of positive outcomes, including physical health measures, positive emotions and life satisfaction, and resilience in the face of difficult circumstances.

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[1]National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Supporting Students' College Success: The Role of Assessment of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/24697.