Studying Strategies to Learn More
Did you know that many of the most common strategies for studying– highlighting, underlining, and cramming– aren’t effective?
You might do okay on a test, but research shows the learning won’t stick.
Consider these strategies instead.
1. Quiz yourself: Don’t reread the same material. Instead, quiz yourself using flash cards, which is particularly useful before you engage in deeper studying techniques.
2. Individual reflection: The act of intentional reflection is an effective practice for surfacing consciousness and bringing greater awareness. This is one of the most powerful aspects of the interview-based approach to college essay coaching.
3. Take breaks: Ditch the marathon cram sessions and study like you’re doing high-intensity interval training. Taking breaks and spacing out your studying into shorter, more focuses sessions will give your brain more chances to forget – and remember – important information, a process that fortifies your knowledge more deeply with each rep.
4. Mix it up. Studying the same thing for a long time, like reading from a text book, will yield minimal learning benefits. But when you mix up what topics you’re studying, or the skills you’re practicing, research shows you’ll retain more. This strategy, known as interleaving, can be applied to how you study (flashcard games, writing tasks, or reading a textbook) and the types of problems you’re studying (mixing lower and higher cognitively complex problems).
5. Teaching others: Having to prepare materials and present information to other people forces you to think more deeply about what key lessons and concepts are most important to understand.
6. Don't take notes (yet). Read a book chapter, watch a YouTube video, or listen to a podcast. But do it without taking notes. Close out entirely and then take two minutes to write down EVERYTHING you remember. Open it back up and continue consuming.
Jennifer Whitley, PhD, lecturer of mathematics at Park University explains her approach to teaching students about building effective study habits.
Further reading:
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel
Grasp: The Science Transforming How We Learn by Sanjay Sarma
