Students succeed best in developing higher-order learning skills when such skills are reinforced throughout the education program. Changes in students' ability to think critically are significantly and positively correlated with levels of praise from faculty, interaction among students and faculty, and high-level cognitive responses from students in class. Unlearning what is already known is more difficult than learning new information. Identifying misconceptions and correcting them through active discussion and involvement with other students is essential. To be remembered, new information must be meaningfully connected to prior knowledge, and it must be remembered in order to be learned.
New information organized in personally meaningful ways is likely to be retained, learned, and used.
There is a direct correlation between hours spent studying and all academic outcomes. Prior knowledge and experience generally make more difference than intellectual ability in learning success. High expectations encourage high achievement. Over 50 percent of students report studying five or fewer hours per week. We learn to do by doing.