Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of the book. The book addresses to most educators: students can be taught how to use learning and reasoning strategies but subsequently fail to use these on their own volition. Promoting the spontaneous use of learning and reasoning strategies is crucial in current educational environments worldwide, in which there is growing awareness that learning how to learn and how to think are just as important as acquiring subject content knowledge. The book describes evidence obtained by Masayuki Suzuki and Yuan Sun that students' perception of test value is a key influence in their spontaneous use of more effective strategies in test situations. It addresses the questions of how students can interact with each other in beneficial ways when the teacher is not present to provide guidance, and what moves the teacher can make to promote the emergence of such interactions.