Transitional Learning: Fostering Successful Learning Strategies in
First-Year Graduate Students
Presenter: Joy Moulton, PT, DPT, OCS, CCI, Cert. MDT, Assistant
Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Dr. Pallavi Patel College of
Health Care Sciences – Tampa Bay
Description: Transitioning from undergraduate to graduate school requires a shift in learning
strategies. Studies show that undergraduate students tend to use strategies successful for short-term
learning to pass exams and earn good grades; however, these strategies do not result in the long-term retention required at the graduate level. When students enter graduate programs and
continue to use strategies that were successful in their undergraduate studies, they often find
themselves failing exams, not retaining information for future units of a course or for future
courses of a program, and unfortunately failing courses or failing out of a program entirely. This
session will discuss the pilot implementation of a short curriculum of workshops designed to
educate first-year graduate students on evidence-based learning strategies for success in graduate
school. The content and learning activities from the workshops will be discussed as well as
outcomes and lessons learned for future delivery of the workshops.
In this session, I will:
1. Highlight the need for teaching students about evidence-based learning strategies.
2. Educate participants on evidence-based learning strategies.
3. Discuss a pilot program for assisting the transition of students into graduate level learning.
4. Share outcomes from the pilot program to inspire ideas for educating students about
effective learning strategies.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Recognize the need for instructing students in evidence-based learning strategies.
2. Contrast ineffective learning strategies with evidence-based learning strategies.
3. Describe the role of metacognition in learning strategies.
4. Justify expected study time for students by using the Carnegie seat time formula.
formulate ideas about how to engage their students with effective learning strategies.
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