Abstract

This study is mainly designed to evaluate a popular learning method: previewing material before classes and to answer two research questions on the learning method. The research questions are “Does previewing have benefits in promoting future learning?” and “Do people have correct metacognitive judgements on the effects of previewing?” The hypothesis states that previewing is beneficial in ways other than directly pre-stating answers (e.g., providing context information or keywords) and that, in general, individuals’ judgements on the effects of previewing are correct. This experiment found that participants who read preview materials before watching a brief lecture do not perform significantly better on post-tests than participants who have not read the preview. At the same time, most people who read preview materials see the preview as beneficial to their understanding of the topic, which is an incorrect metacognitive judgement. This study indicates that the importance of preview for learning performance may be a myth and reveals how people misjudge the benefits of previewing. These findings can lead to an improved understanding of better ways to conduct self-cognitive study.

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