ABSTRACT
Tonya and Kim are high school students in the same English class. Their homework is to study three chapters in Charles Dickens’s Great Expectations for discussion and a quiz the next day. After dinner, each retreats to study. Tonya turns off her cell phone, TV, and social network webpage and assembles her book, class notebook, pencil, and highlighter. She leafs through the chapters, estimating about 2 hours for completing the task. While underlining relevant text and jotting points in her notebook, she pauses periodically, asking herself questions to prompt understanding of the content. After an hour she is more than halfway done, and feels con dent about her grasp of the material. She takes a short break but nishes early. In contrast, Kim does not turn off electronic devices. While watching TV, she occasionally highlights text and does not take notes. She text-messages friends and hums along to tunes on her portable CD player. After an hour, she is not halfway done but quickly skims the remaining pages. She lacks con dence about doing well on the assigned work.
