I. Broad issue
a. Student success is affected by many factors, such as study strategies
b. Why is this important? (could focus on why student success is important, the fact that there are a bunch of sites and programs marketing stuff to students to purchase to improve success so need to know what works, etc.)
II. If student success is affected by study strategy, it is important to know how students study.
a. Research on the various study strategies used by students – what are they, how frequently are they used?
III. Students use a variety of study techniques, but they are not equally effective
a. Research on effectiveness of study strategies
b. BUT, point out hole in what we know – research looking at student ‘success’ have looked at overall GPA rather than… - explain why this is a problem
IV. Given this hole in knowledge, the purpose of the current study is to investigate…
a. Hypothesis and support
Note: This is just one way to set up the introduction; you may find another method of organizing the information works better for you, especially based on the additional information you find