What students believe about themselves and their learning matters. When students make unfounded negative assumptions about their potential, they are likely to give up quickly in the face of struggle, if they are even willing to try. When students assume that the lack of immediate success signals a lack of ability, they risk losing motivation and waning commitment.
Learning is challenging enough. We should not have students fighting myths and misconceptions about learning that introduce doubts and make the work even more difficult. When we suspect that students are misinformed, are making unfounded assumptions, or hold misconceptions related to their capacity to learn, we need to act. Here are five common misconceptions about intelligence, studying, memory, assessment, and struggle that we need to dispel.
If you do not recall information or skills learned earlier, you did not learn them. Learning and memory are related, but they are not the same. It is possible to learn and be able to demonstrate a concept or skill and not recall much about it later. The fact is that something was learned, but forgetting is less a reflection on the learning and more on how it was stored in memory. Forgetting information and skills is common when they are not reinforced or used frequently. Known as the forgetting curve, what we learn is easily forgotten unless we review, apply, and retrieve it frequently.
If you struggle to learn something, you will never be good at it. While each of us has specific areas of interest and finds some things easier to learn than others, research studies show that we can learn almost anything if we use effective strategies, engage in repeated attempts, seek and accept feedback, and persist. Interestingly, the same research studies have found that people vary less in the rate at which they learn than most people think. The difference is found in what people already know and are interested in when they begin the learning process.
Studying more means that you will learn more. In fact, how long students study is less predictive of what they learn than how they study. When studying, the quality of the strategies students use matters more than how long they spend doing it. As examples, self-quizzing is more effective than highlighting, reading and explaining what was read is more effective than reading the same content multiple times, and spacing study sessions over time is more effective than long, concentrated study sessions.
Test scores are complete and accurate measures of learning. Tests, by definition, can only evaluate certain things. The number and type of questions asked, the way questions are framed, and the scope of content and skills assessed are just a few of the evaluation elements that can influence how completely learning is captured. Some students do best when questions are specific and draw heavily on memorized content, while other students excel when they can demonstrate, explain, or teach what they have learned. Few tests can measure the full scope of learning. Consequently, excessive dependence on test scores as the sole measure of learning should be avoided.
If you do not do well in school, you are not smart. There are many reasons why students may struggle in an academic environment that are not necessarily reflections of intelligence. School performance can be influenced by numerous factors, including motivation, personal interests, time management, academic background knowledge, and emotional and psychological maturity. Consider the number of people who do not do well in school but later find exceptional success in business and other aspects of life. The key is to find learning strategies that work and allow intellectual abilities to show through.
Myths and misconceptions can exert powerful influences on how students see themselves and the concept of learning. What students believe affects the level of motivation they feel, their willingness to persist when they struggle, and even how they see themselves as learners and people. We need to do all that we can to help students develop an informed and accurate picture of what it means to learn and how they can find learning success.
