Mentors working with students who have confidence problems need to determine how the students are studying, whether there are times when they are successful in the class, whether their expectations are realistic, and what kind of errors they made on the exam. The final issue contributing to student academic difficulties is unproductive study methods. Students generally are not taught how to study, and they often try to do more of the same rather than developing more productive study habits. Mentors can help students with unproductive study habits by finding out what the students did while studying. Often the amount of time spent is less important than the study activities.
Mentors can also ask to see lecture notes, and question students about when and where they study.
A related issue is that professors often teach at the knowledge level, but test at a much higher level. Bloom's Taxonomy of Intellectual Behavior indicates the various levels of learning.