University, Community College, and High School Students' Evaluations of Textbook Pedagogical Aids

We compared university, community college, and high school students' evaluations of common learning aids. Over 500 participants rated 15 pedagogical aids on 3 dimensions: familiarity, probability of use, and educational value. Overall, there was striking agreement about which learning aids are most useful. The pedagogical aids that earned the highest marks were boldface technical terms, running or chapter glossaries, chapter summaries, and self-tests.