Teaching secondary school students how to learn: Effects of a learning strategies intervention on students' achievement

This study reports on a naturalistic intervention conducted in a secondary school aimed at enhancing students' use of effective, evidence-based learning strategies grounded in cognitive science-specifically, retrieval practice and the minimization of distractions-under the hypothesis that such training would enhance academic performance. Using a quasi-experimental design, the study compared an experimental cohort with a control cohort from the previous academic year. Students in the experimental group reported a higher frequency of evidence-based study strategies and a lower incidence of maladaptive behaviors, such as listening to music while studying. They also achieved higher scores on a post-intervention exam, with even greater differences observed on an unannounced follow-up test administered one week later. Importantly, the effects of the intervention remained significant after controlling for cognitive ability, study time, and pre-intervention test scores. These findings suggest that a brief, scalable, and teacher-led intervention can effectively modify students' study habits and yield measurable improvements in academic achievement.