In higher education, many students make poor learning strategy decisions. This, in part, results from the counterintuitive nature of effective learning strategies: they enhance long-term learning but also cost high initial effort and appear to not improve learning (immediately). This mixed-method study investigated how students make learning strategy decisions in category learning, and whether students can be supported to make effective strategy decisions through a metacognitive prompt, designed to support accurate monitoring of effort and learning. Participants (N = 150) studied painting styles through blocked and interleaved practice, rated their perceived effort and perceived learning across time, and chose between either blocked or interleaved practice. Half of the participants (N = 74) were provided with a metacognitive prompt that showed them how their subjective experiences per strategy changed across time and required them to relate these experiences to the efficacy of learning strategies. Results indicated that subjective experiences with interleaved practice improved across time: students’ perceived learning increased as their perceived effort decreased. Mediation analysis revealed that the increased feeling of learning increased the likelihood to select interleaved practice. The percentage of students who chose interleaved practice increased from 13 to 40%. Students’ learning strategy decisions, however, did not benefit from the metacognitive prompt. Qualitative results revealed that students initially had inaccurate beliefs about the efficacy of learning strategies, but on-task experiences overrode the influence of prior beliefs in learning strategy decisions. This study suggests that repeated monitoring of effort and learning have the potential to improve the use of interleaved practice.

在高等教育中，许多学生做出糟糕的学习策略决策。这部分是由于有效学习策略的反直觉性质造成的：它们增强了长期学习，但也需要付出高昂的初始努力，并且似乎不会（立即）改善学习。这项混合方法研究调查了学生如何在类别学习中做出学习策略决策，以及是否可以通过元认知提示支持学生做出有效的策略决策，旨在支持对努力和学习的准确监控。参与者 ( N  = 150) 通过封闭式和交错式练习来学习绘画风格，评估他们在时间上的感知努力和感知学习，并在封闭式或交错式练习之间进行选择。一半的参与者（N = 74) 提供了元认知提示，向他们展示了他们每个策略的主观体验如何随时间变化，并要求他们将这些体验与学习策略的功效联系起来。结果表明，交叉练习的主观体验随着时间的推移而改善：学生的感知学习随着他们感知努力的减少而增加。中介分析表明，学习感的增加增加了选择交错练习的可能性。选择交错练习的学生比例从 13% 增加到 40%。然而，学生的学习策略决策并没有从元认知提示中受益。定性结果显示，学生最初对学习策略的有效性有不准确的信念，但是，在任务中的经历会压倒先前信念对学习策略决策的影响。这项研究表明，反复监测努力和学习有可能改善交叉练习的使用。