Studies Find ‘Easy’ Material May Not Be Easy to Learn

Emerging research suggests that, contrary to what students may think, material that’s easy to understand is not always easy to learn—and working harder can help them hold on to what they’ve learned.

This Education Week article summarizes several research studies on “stability bias” – where people confuse things that are easy to process with things that are easy to remember.

The stability bias works both ways: Not only do students give too little credit to effective study strategies that feel more difficult, but they can give more weight to ineffective strategies that make content feel easier to learn.

It’s like assuming that food that is easy to eat is the healthiest.

Sylvia