Study Skills

What are effective study strategies?

Effective study strategies are those that require students to pull information out of their brain and are spaced over time rather than crammed studying. Typical study strategies that have been proven to be ineffective include rereading, highlighting, and inefficient use of flashcards.

Concrete Strategies:

Getting Started...

Retrieval:

• SQ5Rs: Reading strategy to study passages or notes. (McGuire, 2015)

  • • Survey the text (Look at the title, subheadings, bold words, or italicized words.)

    • Question (Create questions that you think the reading will answer.)

    • Read (one paragraph at a time)

    • Recite (Summarize each paragraph in your own words.)

    • Record or write (Annotate in the margins.)

    • Review (Summarize entire passage in your own words.)

    • Reflect (What questions do you still have? What might another view of the same material be?)

• Efficient use of flashcards: (Agarwal & Bain, 2019)

Emphasize to learner that learning takes place when (s)he is trying to recall the answer BEFORE flipping the flashcard over to see the answer. If a student doesn't immediately know an answer, encourage her or him to take at lease 1 minute to recall a response before looking at the answer. As students work through a set of flashcards, have them mark down or track correct responses for each card. After answering the same question correctly 3 times, remove that card from the pile until all flash cards have been removed.

Spacing:

• Encourage students to study for 10-20 minutes each night or every other night leading up to a quiz or test rather than cramming the night before. Studying should include self-quizzes and recalling information without looking at notes or the book. Only use these notes or textbook to check the accuracy of what you recall. *Students may need support in setting up reminders to help make these frequent study sessions a part of their schedule. (They might set a timer on their phone or complete it after an already established part of their daily routine.) *

Dual Coding:

• Students can draw visuals to summarize or associate with their notes, then practice looking at the visual and recalling the notes it represents.

Adding to your Toolbox...

Follow the Six Steps for Sparking Conversations about the Science of Learning (Agarwal & Bain, 2019)

• • Step 1: Empower students by sparking conversations.

  • Step 2: Empower students by modeling Power Tools (Retrieval, Spacing, Interleaving, Feedback- Driven Metacognition)

  • Step 3: Empower students by fostering an understanding of why Power Tools work.

  • Step 4: Empower students to harness Power Tools inside the classroom.

  • Step 5: Empower students to harness Power Tools outside the classroom.

  • Step 6: Empower students to plan, implement, and reflect on their Power Tools.

Teach students the Learning Scientists "6 Strategies for Effective Learning" (https://www.learningscientists.org)

How to Study Effectively for School or College (overview video of all 6 strategies)

• Start with a short overview of each of the strategies below. You can find a more detailed video for each strategy as well as downloads, including printable versions of the bookmarks below, at their website.

Additional Resources:

• Six Strategies for Effective Learning -Resources for Teachers and Students (The Learning Scientist)

• "Six Habits of Highly Successful Students" (Learning Scientist Video)

• "Psych Ninja" Study Skills for College Kids

• "How to Study Less and Learn More" (Watson, 2020)