Supporting students to study smart: a learning sciences perspective

In higher education, 60-90% of the students regularly use ineffective learning strategies such as rereading or highlighting of text. Importantly, students are usually unaware of this issue. These strategies give students a positive feeling of learning, but are in fact very passive and extensive use can have a negative effect on academic achievement. Ample research has shown that active learning strategies, for example testing yourself or spacing out study sessions over time, cost more effort yet improve learning very effectively. To make students aware of what learning strategies are (in)effective and support the use of effective strategies, a cross-faculty design team supported by EDLAB developed the ‘Study Smart’ program. This dissertation examined the effects of the Study Smart program implemented at different faculties at UM. The program increased students’ knowledge about and use of more effective learning strategies. Tackling students’ uncertainty in adapting effective learning strategies to their own context, however, requires further continuous support.