Chapter 8: Preventing “I Never Learned How to Study”: How Teachers Can Develop Students’ Effective Learning Strategies

Students who struggle with the transition to college often report that they never learned how to study in their earlier schooling (Yazedjian et al., 2008). Previous exposure to and opportunities to practice effective learning strategies are essential to students’ college readiness, yet many students have little awareness of effective learning strategies and their connections to how learning works (McGuire, 2015). Although this problem is most readily called out in postsecondary education, it tends to reflect the tendencies and habits students have developed over time. As Bjork and colleagues (2013) explain, “many students are not formally trained (or even told) about how to use effective strategies, perhaps because societal attitudes and assumptions indicate that children and adults do not need to be taught them” (p. 427). Unfortunately, not teaching learning strategies keeps students from becoming more self-aware and intentional learners in K–12 settings and beyond. Preservice teachers (PSTs) face a dual challenge: to develop learning strategies they can use to support their own success in college and to develop knowledge and skills related to teaching learning strategies to their future K–12 students. The educational psychology classroom provides an ideal context for teacher educators and PSTs to explore such challenges in detail. In our chapter, we provide guidance for both of these challenges.