Here is a recent article, by Laura Border, University of Colorado, Bolder, on the role of mastery in student learning. The fall semester is in full swing.
Students rush from class to class, from the library to the campus center, from work to the gym.
Some are focused on what they are doing, what they want, and where they are going in their lives. Others manage to look busy but are actually moving from space to space with no awareness of who they are and what they want out of life. It takes only a few visits to local college classrooms to see the difference. Some students sit up front, ask questions, answer questions, do their homework and come to class prepared. Others sit in the back, write letters, read the paper, or snooze.