This paper investigates the illusionary difficulty that novice programmers face, where students struggle with new tasks despite feeling well-prepared. The study explores how traditional assessments, like self-reports, may fail to detect misconceptions that contribute to this issue. By applying Veenman’s metacognitive cueing with scaffolded self-check questions, we guide students to take proactive steps to enhance their cognitive skills and identify knowledge gaps. Pilot experiments show that although students initially overestimate their understanding, the cueing approach improves both their test preparation and actual performance (rather than cumulative performance). Additionally, the method is practical, requiring minimal extra resources and is easily adaptable across different educational contexts. The results underscore the importance of addressing misconceptions in problem-solving training using non-identical cues (as opposed to code evaluation training, which follows a predetermined solution path) to foster long-term self-efficacy, even if it temporarily reduces self-esteem.