What Makes a Study Strategy Intervention Impactful? An Interview-Based Study

Abstract:The purpose of the present study was to understand students’ perceptions of the impact of a study strategy workshop intervention. For decades, researchers and higher education practitioners have used workshops as a method to buffer against the challenges that college students face. Prior research has supported the value of such interventions; however, the features that underlie effective workshop interventions are not fully understood. We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews to identify nuance and subjective details related to students’ experiences with a study strategies workshop intervention in an undergraduate biology course. Based on thematic codebook analysis, findings pointed to three themes related to features that allowed the intervention to have an impact on students’ study strategies: receptivity to workshop content, motivation and ability to change, and conditions for sustained change.