Question or Topic:

“We would like to learn more about fluency illusion and how to deal with learned helplessness.” 

What:

Fluency illusion is an automatic cognitive process by which our minds subconsciously trick us into believing we know more about the learning material than we actually do. While we may recognize the material, the truth is that we don’t fully understand it and can’t apply it. 

Learned helplessness is a psychological condition associated with feelings of lost control, and it creates students who disengage from effort, even if the effort is within reach and will clearly lead to success.

Why:

Fluency Illusion is the result of fluency misperceptions that are automatic. These misconceptions form subconsciously and make us poor judges of what we need to restudy, or practice again. We know that if you study something twice, in spaced sessions, it’s harder to process the material the second time, and so people think it’s counterproductive, but the opposite is true: You learn more, even though it feels harder. Fluency is playing a trick on judgment…. The fluency illusion is a primary culprit in below-average test performances. Not anxiety. Not stupidity. Not unfairness or bad luck.

Learned helplessness is a phenomenon that develops early, so it’s critical that educators have an understanding and awareness of the condition since it has a detrimental influence on academic performance and mental well-being.

How/Resources:

• Overcome Fluency Illusion - Article

• Retrieval Practice Website - Pooja Agarwal

  • PDF of Retrieval Practice

• Interleaving - Pooja Agarwal

  • PDF of Spacing

• How We Learn: The Surprising Truth About When, Where, and Why it Happens - book by Benedict Carey

• 17 Ideas To Help Combat Learned Helplessness - Middleweb

• How to Counter Students’ Learned Helplessness - Edutopia