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- Vol 4 RE: Chapter 6
judgements of learningmetacognitive illusionssubjective fluencyactive learningdesirable difficultiesteaching evaluationsdurable learninglearning measurementJournal article Evidence summaryAt a glance
Carpenter, Witherby, and Tauber review illusions that distort students' judgements of learning and teaching effectiveness.
Key ideas
Smooth lectures, familiar material, engaging presentation, and low effort can increase subjective fluency and confidence without producing durable learning. Conversely, active learning, retrieval, spacing, and other effortful methods may feel less effective while creating stronger performance. These metacognitive errors affect study choices and can also influence course evaluations, which are further shaped by characteristics unrelated to learning. Heavy institutional reliance on satisfaction ratings may therefore reward practices that feel good immediately rather than those that develop knowledge and self-regulation.
Why it matters
For educators and leaders, the review recommends measuring learning independently of impressions, explaining desirable difficulties, giving students opportunities to compare predictions with later performance, and interpreting teaching evaluations cautiously alongside evidence of course design and achievement.
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Edition abbreviations
- TE
- Teacher Edition
- PE
- Practice Edition
- RE
- Research Edition
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