Interesting Question. The first sentence is good. If you change the last one to say " he seems to be making little progress in his studies" or "He seems to make little progress in his studies" would be better. To add a little Nuance to discussion read both of my corrections and see if you can tell the difference in meaning between the two. One of them refers to a specific Topic in which they're studying, the other would suggest you are referring to the lack of follow-through or commitment into one's endeavors.