Self-Testing and Follow-Through of Learning Strategies Supports Student Success.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Learning Sciences

Background:

• Passive learning strategies (e.g., rereading) are less effective than active ones (e.g., self-testing).
• Students often prefer comfortable, easy strategies over more effective ones.
• Understanding students' actual strategy use versus self-reported preferences is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate students' self-reported study strategies and compare them with actual use.
• To examine the relationship between self-testing frequency and academic performance.
• To explore if accurate self-reporting of strategies correlates with performance.

Main Methods:

• Students self-reported study strategies post-testing, including planned new strategies.
• Actual use of self-testing (completing online practice problems) was tracked.
• Self-reported strategy use was compared against actual self-testing data.

Main Results:

• Students reported using self-testing more frequently than other strategies.
• The amount of self-testing significantly predicted final course performance.
• Accurate reporting of self-testing and reporting intended new strategies correlated with better outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Self-testing is a highly utilized and effective learning strategy.
• Accurate self-awareness of study habits, particularly self-testing, is linked to academic success.
• Encouraging accurate self-reporting may enhance metacognitive skills and learning outcomes.