WOOP'ing Study Habits Into Shape: Applying the Wish-Outcome-Obstacle-Plan Framework to a Student Exam Planning Exercise

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Lefevre Hall Room 106

Students struggle to regulate their learning during independent study sessions. We asked whether an online behavioral intervention helped introductory students decrease distraction while studying. The intervention consisted of exam 1 reflection, exam 2 planning, and exam 2 reflection exercises. During planning, students used the WOOP (Wish-Outcome-Obstacle-Plan) framework by forming a study wish/goal, visualizing a positive outcome of their goal, identifying an obstacle, and planning for that obstacle using an implementation intention (IF, THEN statement). During reflection, students self-reported their distraction while studying, which we used as our outcome measurement. Distraction was the most frequently reported study obstacle, and students who planned for distraction obstacles did follow through on decreasing their distraction levels during independent study sessions. Overall, WOOP holds promise as a self-regulatory technique to help introductory students change their behaviors while studying.

Speaker Information

Dr. Elise Walck-Shannon
Senior Lecturer in Biology
Washington University in St. Louis