What else did this research project yield? Dr. Sanders and her team identified some patterns for successful and struggling students. Most of these will not surprise you, but how do we as faculty use this information to help our struggling students?
Successful students: 
- Pre-read
- Come prepared for class
- Sit in the front of the room
- Prefer solitary study or peer guided study groups
Struggling students:
- Use groups to study, but usually study with other struggling students
- Cram content then forget it
- Have inconsistent class attendance
- Become overwhelmed, and cannot organize to gain control
Should we as faculty assign seats or at least discuss seating with our struggling students? A memorable moment from my teaching experience was when I flipped my class after they sat down. You would have thought I told them all that they had failed! But after class I had a few of my struggling students come and say “this class really kept me awake.” I pointed out I did not think it was my delivery.
There is a lot of discussion about study groups and whether they should they be prescribed or occur naturally. It is the nature of humans to seek their own level. What good is a study group consisting of all struggling students? Should study groups be lead by stronger non-peers: seniors helping juniors, for example? Changes to typical classroom seating and study groups represent ways we can help struggling students become more successful.
As with most research more questions and thoughts are created than answers. How can we as faculty begin to help our struggling students? Can we apply what successful students do to help other students? I think that is a resounding yes, and I invite you to share your techniques for success to help other educators.
