If students are not 'checking' items you have a teaching/student problem. One of the big problems with some cookbook lists is they are not relevant.
Yes I have seen a student churn off the lists of things to do (DO list or CHECKLIST am not sure) following an engine failure - had them down pat. Trouble was he didn't action one of them. In the space of around 300' or 40sec he was ready to shut down and bail out! I think he was of the impression that he had to learn all these checks and procedures for the purpose of passing a test or because that was what you did. The faster the better. And so I digress again.