Ever felt like studying is just a chore? It’s safe to say that most students struggle to keep up with the curricula and try to shove every last textbook page into their head just before exams. We’ve spotted an interesting discussion on Reddit that might shine some light on what you’ve been doing wrong while studying.
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Key Takeaways:
- Not every technique will work for you as well as it does for other students.
- Most effective techniques to try out are active recall and spaced repetition.
- The best method to know what works for you is to try things out.
With the overcrowded online space, many students constantly get “helpful tips” thrown at them. Everyone wants the easy road when it comes to remembering boring lectures, so people try out different learning methods which often lead to failure. But why is that?
Firstly, not everyone tries to follow the chosen technique to its full extent. Secondly, some methods just don’t work for people and that’s okay! The things that matters most is you shaping your study routine based on your goals and resources, because there is no universal advice for everybody, and that’s exactly the point some of the redditors brought up in the thread we’ll talk about today.
“It’s not about NOT doing what you’re doing, but trying out new techniques. And none of the supposed “effective” techniques are one-size-fits-all solutions.“
The original thread that was posted on Reddit went through some of the most popular study techniques, dividing them by effectiveness.
Let’s go through each of them to find out whether a certain method can be a good fit for you.
Most Effective Learning Techniques
Active Recall/Testing (Flashcards, Tests)
Active recall is all about pulling information out of your brain. Imagine using flashcards or self-quizzing. You ask a question, then answer it from memory. This technique rocks because it makes your brain work harder to retrieve information, which strengthens your memory. The more you practice this, the better you get at remembering things when it counts, like during an exam. By testing yourself regularly, you can identify gaps in your knowledge and focus on areas that need improvement.
“Active recall is basically what anki is based on along with spaced repetition. An example would be, Reading the textbook and finding questions, covering the answer in a textbook, thinking of the answer, checking and repeat if not memorized.“
Spaced Repetition (Opposite of Cramming)
Spaced repetition is a fancy term for spreading out your study sessions. Instead of cramming everything in one night, you review the material over several days or weeks. This method is a win because it takes advantage of the way our brains work, helping information stick for the long term. By revisiting the material periodically, you reinforce what you’ve learned and keep it fresh in your mind. This technique improves memory retention and also reduces stress and burnout.
“What helps me the most is writing it down over and over. Not even from memory. By the 2nd time it’s almost fully learned.”
Moderately Effective Techniques
Asking Why Questions
Curiosity might have killed the cat, but it sure helps students! Asking “why” questions about the material you’re studying helps deepen your understanding. This technique involves probing into the reasons behind facts and concepts, which can lead to a more profound grasp of the subject. It’s like being a detective in your own learning adventure, always digging deeper to understand the “why” behind things. This active engagement helps create connections in your brain, making the material easier to remember.
Explaining Concepts (Feynman Technique)
The Feynman Technique is named after the brilliant physicist Richard Feynman. The idea is simple: explain a concept in your own words as if you’re teaching it to someone else. If you can break it down clearly, you truly understand it. If you get stuck, it shows you where you need to improve. This method is great because teaching forces you to simplify and clarify your thoughts, making the material easier to recall. This technique turns complex ideas into simple ones, enhancing your grasp on the subject.
Studying Multiple Topics in One Session (Interleaving)
Interleaving involves mixing up different subjects or topics during a study session. Instead of focusing on one subject for an hour, you might spend 20 minutes on math, 20 minutes on history, and 20 minutes on science. This approach works well because it forces your brain to switch gears, which helps improve your ability to differentiate and apply concepts across different areas. This method encourages flexible thinking and helps in better understanding and retention of varied material.
Least Effective Techniques
This part of the list needs a bit of clearing up – this is not to say these methods are worthless, but instead highlight the fact that they might have been overplayed. If they help you, that’s great; for other students it might be better to try out something else.
Summarizing
Summarizing involves writing down the main points of what you’ve read or learned. While it can help organize information, it’s not the best for deep learning. The problem is, it often turns into mindlessly copying text without engaging with the material. You might end up with a neat summary but without a solid understanding. This method lacks the active processing needed for strong memory formation.
“Summarizing is important, and it should be a step before testing but it, by itself, isn’t as much effective as active recall. I used to study by summarizing too in college and while I got good grades (A and B), I now feel that I forget most of that stuff (which upsets me a lot).”
Imagining
Imagining the material is like daydreaming about it. You picture concepts and ideas in your mind. While visualization can sometimes aid understanding, on its own, it’s not a powerful technique. Without active engagement, the material can remain vague and hard to recall. This method might help in creating mental images but does little for detailed understanding and long-term retention.
Re-reading
Re-reading is simply going over the same text multiple times. It feels productive, but it’s one of the least effective methods. The issue is that it’s passive; you’re not challenging your brain to actively process or retrieve the information, which makes it less likely to stick. This method gives a false sense of familiarity without truly enhancing comprehension.
“Most students do not know how to read for study instead of leasure and i guess that most teachers do not know how to read for study either. [This] is a skill that requires someone to be able to recognize the important bits in a piece of text, e.g. recognizing the topic of a text + arguments and other related information.”
Highlighting
Highlighting can make your notes look colorful and important, but that’s about it. This method often leads to highlighting too much without really engaging with the content. It’s easy to get caught up in the act of highlighting rather than actually understanding and remembering the material. Highlighting alone does little to improve memory or understanding and is best used in combination with more active study techniques.
So, as you can see, there is a plethora of different study methods that can be used while learning to boost your memory. The only challenge here is to try them out properly and pick the option that works best for you!
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