Abstract of

My Journey With Learning Logs

Beth Hurst

Learning logs, or reading response logs, are an effective reading strategy that helps students learn from text. This article reports the use of such logs, with an added element of social interaction in which students were asked to share one entry from their logs with the class. Two studies were conducted to ascertain students' perceptions of the learning value of the strategy. The first consisted of 123 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in education courses. The second study consisted of 547 middle and high school students. After using the strategy three times, students were given a 12-question survey. One hundred percent of the college students and 98% of the middle and high schoolers reported they read at least some of the assigned text. Ninety-two percent of college students and 72% of middle and high school students reported they understood and remembered the text better when reading for interest rather than reading for a test. Ninety-four percent of college students and 65% of the middle and high school students reported they gained new perspectives from the discussions.

Abstract from Hurst, B. (2005, September). My Journey With Learning Logs. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 49(1), 42–46. doi: 10.1598/JAAL.49.1.5