If you’ve taught for any length of time, you’ve probably heard this or gotten similar messages multiple times from students. The bottom line is that it’s easy for students to fool themselves into thinking they’ve learned effectively when they really haven’t. This is especially true for first-year students making the transition to college. It’s surprisingly difficult to learn to study effectively, and it’s easy to mislead yourself into thinking you have learned more than you actually have. In this essay, I describe common ways that students fool themselves and how, with the help of their teachers, they can avoid that trap.
