A TALE OF A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL STUDENT
A highly successful student is not necessarily one that studies for many hours, rather it is the one who is the most efficient with the learning time that he or she has.
One way of becoming more efficient is by understanding which study techniques actually provide you with the most bang for your buck. After all, there is a lot of misinformation out there regarding good study techniques: to test, or not to test? Focus on one or multiple subjects? Highlighting — good or bad? Laurel or Yanny? (okay maybe not the last one… P.S. It’s clearly Laurel, fight me).
On the other hand, there are also plenty of sound, research-based strategies readily available for you to use — the problem is simply to know which is which! Luckily for you, I have scoured the internet for the best, up-to-date study techniques, so all that is left for you to do is simply read, remember and apply.
With the tips outlined in this blog post, you’ll be able to make your next study session, your best study session (or your money back). Good luck!
TECHNIQUE 1: PRE-TESTING
This is actually a concept which isn’t very well known around the study community and should be. Pre-testing is different from simply doing a mock exam as it refers specifically to doing a quiz before you learn anything about the topic.
Yes, you’ve read that correctly — before. It might seem like a completely bonkers idea (I know I did a double take when I first heard about it!), however there is some solid research-based evidence to support this concept.
One example is a 2009 study by Richland, Kornell and Kao, which found that
“even failing a test or taking a test before learning new information, can lead to stronger memory for that information than spending the same amount of time studying.”
Although this concept is still underappreciated, a number of studies have since replicated these findings. A 2019 review by Latimier et. al., for example, compared pre-testing and post-testing effects, finding that although post-testing tends to be more effective, there is strong evidence for both.
Whilst there is still a lot more research to be done, one explanation for this effect is the idea of ‘knowing what you’re looking for’. A lot of the time when we first start learning, we may not know which bits are the most important to remember — pre-testing helps with that. By having specific questions in mind when reviewing material (since you’ve just tried to answer them), it makes it easier to spot answers and organise your thoughts.
TECHNIQUE 2: INTERLEAVING LEARNING
Interleaving learning is a technique which stresses the importance of mixing up your study topics, rather than doing everything in one single block. It might seem counter-intuitive at first, however research has shown that interleaving learning leads to a better long-term memory and improved ability to transfer studied knowledge (Rohrer, Dedrick & Strershic, 2014; Pan, 2015; Taylor & Rohrer, 2010).
One explanation for this effect is the idea of retrieval practice — as you switch between different topics and study strategies, your brain simply cannot rely on short-term memory to hold its information (like in block practice), and is therefore forced to retrieve (and store the information) from/in the long-term memory store.
This not only helps you remember more, but also improves your ability to differentiate between concepts and better organise your memory associations.
The key to interleaving learning is to study subjects or topics which are distinct, but also related in some way to each other. For example, you could work on different types of math problems which require unique ways of solving them e.g. some questions on statistics, others on algebra or differential equations etc.
An important thing to remember is to not use interleaving learning as an excuse to simply switch a subject or topic when things get hard — you still need to develop a deep understanding about whatever you’re studying!
TECHNIQUE 3: REFLECTING & REWORDING
Learning a concept, word for word, is difficult and often unnecessary. A better approach to studying is to focus on the big picture — the meat of the burger so to speak.
When learning, it is important to step back and think to yourself: what is the key takeaway from this? What is the most important bit of information I need to remember? Once you’ve done that, a useful technique to enhance your memory is to reword all you have learnt and put it into your own words.
Reflecting and rewording works because of two main factors: association and retrieval. Firstly, by actively rewording the information, you make the text, idea, or theory relatable to you and the knowledge you already possess.
This is vital because one of the most powerful concepts in memory research is the idea of ‘strength by association’ and its underlying mechanism of neural connections. Research shows that linking new information to something you already know allows for greater understanding and more efficient encoding (van Kesteren et. al., 2014).
Moreover, reflecting and trying to reword the information forces you to constantly retrieve new knowledge, signalling to your brain the necessity of remembering it.
By reflecting on your studies, you’re also able to more effectively identify the gaps in your knowledge and ensure you’ll have an easier time talking or writing about the subject in the future.
This is what makes this technique very popular amongst memory-performance researchers (Brown, Roediger III, & McDaniel, 2014), and why you should be utilising it in your own studies.
TECHNIQUE 4: TESTING EFFECT
Not surprisingly, the most dreaded study technique also (unfortunately) happens to be the most effective one. The ‘testing-effect’ refers to post-learning quizzing of new information and it has been shown to be super effective in boosting memory-related performance and long-term retention of information (Zaromb & Roediger, 2010).
Self-testing has been found to be especially strong when applied to academic-related material (Roediger & Karpicke, 2006), so although you might not like it, those weekly quizzes are doing wonders for your memory!
One thing to note is that self-testing tends to be most effective when students use material of medium-difficulty, receive feedback on their performance and repeat this process over an extended period of time (Pyc & Rawson, 2009; Wheeler, Ewers & Buonanno, 2003).
Material of easy-difficulty doesn’t stimulate your mind enough to make good progress, whereas material of hard-difficulty is much tougher to encode and understand. Similarly, the feedback that students receive (or the one you give yourself), needs to go beyond right or wrong — the key is to understand and improve.
Furthermore, an important tip to remember is that the testing effect works best when it resembles real testing conditions as closely as possible. For example, if you’re studying for an exam, the best way to test yourself would be at a desk with nothing but your practice paper (no music) and any materials you’d be allowed to take into the actual exam.
TECHNIQUE 5: SPACED REPETITION
Although cramming seems to be the preferred method of many students (I’ve been guilty myself at times), research shows that this technique only invokes feelings of familiarity, rather than actual recall.
Spaced repetition i.e. repeating the material over several shorter sessions, has been found to be a lot more effective than extensive over-night cramming largely due to its effects on neural activity and memory consolidation (Xue, Mei, Chen, Lu, Poldrack & Dong, 2011).
Spaced repetition forces you to recall the material over, and over again, strengthening your neural connections and establishing positive learning habits. It also allows you the necessary time to fully grasp and analyse the knowledge you’re trying to master.
It’s important to note that the study sessions don’t have to last long — one big advantage of this technique is that it allows you study more efficiently and therefore can be easily combined with many other techniques described in this blog post.
One of the easiest ways to incorporate this technique into your schedule, is to make use of flashcards. In one study for example, researchers found that 90% of individuals who studied word lists with flashcards and engaged in spaced repetition, achieved much better learning-results than those who made use of cramming (Kornell, 2009).
Make sure you’re smart about it though — if you’re trying to learn how to shoot a basketball, actually doing it would be a much better choice than simply reading flashcards about it (know your goal).
Happy Learning.
Rob
References:
Brown, P. C., Roediger III, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick. Harvard University Press.
Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology: The Official Journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition, 23(9), 1297–1317. DOI: 10.1002/acp.1537
Latimier, A., Riegert, A., Peyre, H., Ly, S. T., Casati, R., & Ramus, F. (2019). Does pre-testing promote better retention than post-testing?. NPJ science of learning, 4(1), 1–7.
Pan, S. C. (2015). The interleaving effect: mixing it up boosts learning. Scientific American, Mind Matters. Available at: http://www. scientificamerican. com/article/the-interleaving-effect-mixing-it-up-boostslearning.
Pyc, M. A., & Rawson, K. A. (2009). Testing the retrieval effort hypothesis: Does greater difficulty correctly recalling information lead to higher levels of memory?. Journal of Memory and Language, 60(4), 437–447. DOI: 10.1016/j.jml.2009.01.004
Richland, L. E., Kornell, N., & Kao, L. S. (2009). The pretesting effect: Do unsuccessful retrieval attempts enhance learning?. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 15(3), 243.
Rohrer, D., Dedrick, R. F., & Stershic, S. (2015). Interleaved practice improves mathematics learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 900.
Taylor, K., & Rohrer, D. (2010). The effects of interleaved practice. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 24(6), 837–848.
van Kesteren, M. T., Rijpkema, M., Ruiter, D. J., Morris, R. G., & Fernández, G. (2014). Building on prior knowledge: schema-dependent encoding processes relate to academic performance. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(10), 2250–2261.
Xue, G., Mei, L., Chen, C., Lu, Z. L., Poldrack, R., & Dong, Q. (2011). Spaced learning enhances subsequent recognition memory by reducing neural repetition suppression. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 23(7), 1624–1633. doi: 10.1162/jocn.2010.21532
Zaromb, F. M., & Roediger, H. L. (2010). The testing effect in free recall is associated with enhanced organizational processes. Memory & Cognition, 38(8), 995–1008. DOI: 10.3758/MC.38.8.995
