📚 Learning Strategies
How you spend your time studying can be just as important as how much time you spend studying.
In this section:
Self-testing
Self-Explanation
Spacing
Self-testing
Previous research has shown that while many students choose to study by rereading their books or class notes, testing yourself actually leads to better memory of the material. This is because by testing yourself, you are engaging in retrieval practice.
Retrieval Practice
Retrieval practice forces us to get information out by bringing it to mind. This process has been shown to strengthen our memory for that information and decrease the chances of us forgetting that information.
Hundreds of studies have replicated this effect in various contexts - when participants either reread a passage or test themselves on that passage, those who tested themselves outperform those who reread. These differences are also long lasting, showing differences weeks after.
Previous research has also shown that repeated testing, or retrieval, is even more effective than just one.
The following graph shows results from a study that showed students who had repeated retrieval practice through testing outperformed students who only had one retrieval practice. Both groups had the same amount of “studying”, only testing was different.
When you’re studying, rather than rereading class materials or highlighting class notes, try testing yourself! You can do so through flashcards, practice problems, and practice quizzes/tests from your course.
Try these self-testing strategies:
Practice without referencing the book or notes
Use flash cards
Take practice quizzes/tests from your instructor or in Achieve
Self-explanation
It’s important to remember course material, but it’s also important to fully understand and be able to apply the material in order to be successful in college courses. One strategy in order to accomplish this is self-explanation.
Learning requires us to incorporate new information into what we already know. Being able to self-explain by generating explanations of how new information is connected to what we already know helps this process.
There is a wealth of research that has shown self-explanation helps students more deeply learn concepts and be able to transfer that learning to course performance outcomes.
When you’re reading or studying, try to explain key concepts out loud to yourself (or even better, to a friend!). After reading, summarize the main points. Try creating an outline or concept map to help understand relationships between concepts or topics.
Try these self-explanation strategies:
Explain concepts out loud or to a friend
Create concept maps that show relationships
Create outlines of concepts
Spacing
Not only is it important to challenge yourself during study sessions by testing yourself, it’s also important to space out your study sessions. “Cramming” for an exam by studying for long periods of time only days in advance of an exam is highly ineffective, especially if you want to remember that material in the long-term.
This is another heavily researched and replicated effect - studies have shown that spreading out study sessions over weeks rather than days helps performance on exams as well as long-term memory retention.
We all are prone to forgetting over time. In fact, there is a well known phenomenon, “The Forgetting Curve”, which has shown how we forget information over time.
However, by spacing out your study sessions, you can reduce this forgetting curve and strengthen your memory of the material.
Keeping a calendar of important course dates and planning out your study sessions will help ensure you’re not waiting until the last minute. Try reviewing material before class, summarizing main points from class materials, and setting reminders for upcoming assignments and exams.
The Forgetting Curve with Spaced Repetition
Try these spacing strategies:
Keep a calendar
Review material before class
Set reminders
By spacing out your repeated self-testing, you’ll be maximizing both strategies!