Reading and writing connections: scaffolding students’ learning and use of an organizing strategy for understanding text

Research shows that successful students are actively engaged in the learning process and have access to a repertoire of learning strategies that they can apply to different learning contexts. Yet many incoming college students arrive academically underprepared for the demands they will face in college. Fortunately, research has also shown that students can benefit from strategy instruction and can learn to become strategic learners. This case study of an introductory psychology course presents a set of instructional practices to foster students’ use of an organizing strategy and to help promote students’ reading of course content. The impact on students’ performance in the class as well as the pedagogical benefits of using the organizing strategy are discussed.