Table 2 Emergent categories with descriptions and exemplar quotations

Poor Study Habits

Occurrences where students describe study strategies shown to be ineffective or where students explicitly state that they know their study methods are not working

“I’d just do the reading the night before and I took notes for the meeting, and then I took the quiz for the reading quizzes.”

Course Characteristics

Descriptions, complaints or comments directed at courses and instructors

“Biology is definitely something I keep up with because I actually really, I do not want to say enjoy it, but I appreciate the structure.”

Frustration and Avoidance

Descriptions of feelings or behaviors indicative of frustration or avoidance behaviors explicitly or implicitly tied to anxiety or fear

“I don’t know how to study for this class. I’ve tried everything – office hours, studying alone, groups – that people have said to try in terms of studying, but nothing’s worked.”

High Student Anxiety

Codes qualifying the thoughts and behaviors associated with high anxiety

“Sometimes I stress myself out a lot over nothing.”

Transition to University

Comments and/or experiences about the academic differences between high school and the university

“...except in high school, they baby [sic] you everything.”

Normal Student Anxiety

Comments and codes inferred to be associated with normal levels of anxiety that are commonly experienced by most students

“...and then so it’s again motivation definitely. Obviously, you are gonna [sic] run hard if there’s a dog chasing you.”

Excuses

Codes where students blame other factors such as the class or teacher for their lack of understanding or poor performance

“I am like there must be something on the test that screws everyone over.”

Good Study Habits

Occurrences of study habits related to strategies that have been shown to improve learning

“I tried to come up with questions that they might ask me about a concept that we learned.”

Self-Regulated Learning

Codes explicitly or implicitly refer to tasks, actions, or behaviors dealing with any type of self-regulated learning or metacognition

“...the way I study really sucks. I just read through my notes, and I try to look up like practice exams, and try to do problems, but not really; sometimes I’ll just look over the answer key.”

University Misconceptions

Fallacies and odd perceptions of school, careers, faculty, or learning

“...but it’s nothing like college where it’s almost like it’s a make or break, right?”

Changing Study Habits

Students’ descriptions of the challenges or influential factors associated with altering pre-existing study habits

“Even during first quarter, exam after exam I would do the same thing.”

Time

Identifying occurrences where students comment how exam time influenced their feelings or actions during an exam

“Because I feel like there’s just so much pressure. I have to finish all of this in the given amount of time.”

Negative Self-Image

Negative perceptions of themselves or a perception strongly tied to something like grades or class performance

“I am just dumb.”

Testing

Strategies or experiences directly related to taking tests in any class

“...and so, I think I spend too much time in my own head on tests rather than just doing the material.”

Lack of Confidence

Student comments focused on a negative perception of their ability or worth

“I am an undergraduate. I have not even finished college and I am around smart people. Do I actually deserve to be here?”

Academic Discontent

Codes from students not satisfied with their previous or current academic performance

“Second exam I did not do so well. I was like below average so that was like really discouraging.”

Defeated Mentality

Codes qualifying statements as negative, defeatist, giving up, not worth the effort, or why should I try

“I do not even try to understand those parts. I know I am going to miss that, so I am not going to waste my time on it.”

Confident

Comments that show a positive outlook on their performance and see their accomplishments in positive lights

“I have gotten above average on all of them. I remember the second one, I got way above average, and that was the one I that I thought I did really poorly on, and then I ended up doing pretty good.”

Effects of Poor Performance

Statements where students describe how poor performance, both long term and short term, changes the way they behave or the way they thought about school or studying

“I hate it. It makes me so mad…”

Group Studying

Comments or experiences about studying with peers either in class or outside of class

“...if you do not understand something, there’s a good chance someone else will, and they’ll be able to explain it to you in a way that you never thought could be explained in your head.”

Inability to Assess Performance

Challenges around predicting how well they will do on exams or how well they perceive they understand the content.

“I’ll feel good about it, but then, I’ll not get a good score.”

Challenge Mindset

Codes dealing with a healthy or positive outlook on life, school, or grades

“…and I think that by giving up I would really disappoint myself.”

Higher Order Thinking

Comments oriented towards cognitive task involving analysis, evaluation or synthesis

“The material wasn’t that hard, but the tests were really hard because it required you to apply all the different parts of it to a really hard problem.”

Fear

Explicit descriptions about being afraid of something related to school or if they had an experience in school that made them feel some variety of fear

“Maybe it’s because if you ask a question, you are put on the spot kind of thing. It really scares me.”

Parents

Comments about the strong influence parental perception and desires have on their academics

“Probably my parents. Since I was young, they have been pushing, ‘Education is the most important. You should spend more of your time and energy into that.”

Excited about Learning

Positive statements about students’ attitudes towards school and learning

“Oh yeah, I love it [university]. It’s like a dream.”

Satisfied with Performance

Comments from students who are satisfied with their overall academic performance or their performance on individual courses or exams

“I think I have been doing pretty good.”

Personal Interactions

Comments elaborating on the importance on social connections with other students or faculty

“So, there was like less interaction with the teacher, and there’s a lot more people who are going on office hours, so the teacher does not really remember you.”

Preparation

Attitudes about preparing for exams

“It’s not even like some I know and some I do not. I am just not ready for this test.”

Passive Learning

Students describing passive learning behaviors and how they relate to their academic experiences

“I really like it when teachers repeat things and teach everything in class.”