Despite the seductive appeal and ease of text nudges, messages alone were not enough. Of the 400 students invited, no more than 100 followed through to register at a given time. Web traffic stats show far fewer clicked through to the web site. In the post- survey, only 8% of students said they “always” looked at texts and 25% said “sometimes.” We asked them, via free recall, to name and describe the principles. Only 10% could both name (close approximation) and define the principles. One reported that texts, flyers and web site were “very helpful” yet described a principle as “Look over notes - reread go back.”

Why did this happen when 96% reported that the strategies were discussed in class? A shortcoming of the project was the lack of preparation time for faculty to learn and integrate the Six Strategies into their teaching. Those entering the project with knowledge of the Six Strategies could make explicit connections to course work while others made only one or a few mentions. Creating time and space for faculty to study and work together to identify course-specific applications could turn text messages into reminders rather than micro lessons (6).

Anecdotally, faculty reported that if students perceived the study tips as “nice to know,” rather than “need to know,“ they would tune them out, as evidenced by discarded flyers at the end of class. Students may have “advice fatigue” from the steady stream of (sometimes ineffective) advice they have received throughout their schooling. And first-generation college students often feel inundated by unfamiliar college-process information. The texts and flyers may become part of that torrent.

Telling Is Not Enough: Correcting and Building on Prior Knowledge

Even if we had implemented our project thoroughly, we would still have to overcome the hurdle of metacognitive bias. In a recent set of studies (7), while students learned better in interleaved conditions they still rated blocked study as more effective, even after being presented with their own contrary test performance. Why?

The authors speculate that, on top of a lifetime of academic experience in which content is blocked in textbooks and curricula, students tend to fall for the “fluency illusion”: what feels easily learned will be easily remembered. This leads to the over-reliance on blocked study and re-reading because the content is readily at hand and learners do not have to expend effort to discriminate, recall, or question. They then use their folk beliefs about learning to rationalize away the evidence that they performed better in the interleaved condition. Breaking these illusions requires the combination of experiencing success with an effective practice AND acquiring a learning theory that explains the success.

In the book How Learning Works (8), the authors explain how prior knowledge can help or hinder understanding. This is due to how our minds use schema – a network of facts and concepts about a subject – and scripts – the expected routines for how common actions occur, as shortcuts for understanding new information and experiences (9). A correct and relevant network of facts facilitates learning. An absent or incorrect network impedes it. The most pernicious form of incorrect prior knowledge is misconception:

…models or theories that are deeply embedded in students’ thinking … including naïve theories about physics … folk psychology myths … [They] are difficult to refute for a number of reasons. First, many of them have been reinforced over time and across multiple contexts. Moreover, because they often include accurate—as well inaccurate – elements, students may not recognize their flaws … Research has shown that deeply held misconceptions often persist despite direct instructional interventions. (Ambrose et al., How Learning Works)

This is as true of students’ understanding of learning as it is of course subjects. Here are some ideas for overcoming misconceptions about learning:

1) Start with students’ existing schema and scripts: We learned that our students tend to think of studying in terms of routines involving course notes, course texts, flash cards, computers, study groups, etc. Other research suggests these surface features and routines comprise students’ mental models for studying (5). We may engage students more successfully using their “own language.” For instance, a guide to “getting the most out of your course notes” may garner more attention than a primer on, say, interleaving. Students think studying means to review notes. This has a grain of truth. How they create and use their notes, however, is an opportunity to introduce accurate ideas about learning.

2) A promising method for overcoming misconceptions is refutational lecture and texts (10). Several studies have shown that misconceptions can be overcome through refutation (eg. “many think X but the science contradicts this”), rather than neutral presentation (eg. “here is the science”). A powerful way to implement this could be preparing faculty to lead demonstration exercises. A starter resource for this is Learning and Memory Strategy Demonstrations for the Psychology Classroom (11). This guide provides over a dozen easily adaptable demonstrations.

3) Our final objective is to create a college environment where evidence-based study advice is consistently conveyed across all areas of instruction and academic support. While consistent faculty advice is most influential, reinforcement from advisors, tutors, librarians and others creates a unified message for how effective learning occurs and that we expect students to master these lifelong skills.

What do you think of our approach and our ideas? Have you tried to bring study skills education to scale at your institution? What strategies have you found to be effective? Please share your ideas in comments and directly with us so we can all help our students, and ourselves, learn effectively.