Experts weigh-in on the most effective learning techniques. Add one or all of them to your study arsenal and accelerate your learning today.
Here's a quick look at what you'll learn in the post:
What's In this Article about Learning Techniques for Me?
This is the question you probably asked yourself as you stumbled onto this blog article about learning techniques. So let me explain. If you’re a student in high school, college, or the school of life (as we all are), then this article is for you!
Despite all the hours you’ve spent in school, you’ve probably never been taught how to learn. But that changes today. You're about to discover which learning techniques work, and which ones don't. Here are some of the ways you'll benefit from reading this:
But above all else, these learning techniques make studying more fun. Well, as fun as studying can be 😉 Ready to jump in? Great! Please keep reading.
Introduction to this Blog Article
Most fans of Test Prep Champions have already read my popular article How to Study Properly: 10 Highly Effective Study Techniques Everyone Should Know. Here's some of the feedback I've received:
I like what you said about how effective learning is when you transfer memories from immediate memory and short-term memory into long-term memory. I'm working on my degree and having trouble with studying around my kids, so I wanted to try some new techniques to see if they help. Thank you for the information about creating a mental association between what you know and what you want to memorize to help you move information between the different types of memory storage.
So, what makes this article on learning techniques different? In the other post, I focused on study techniques I’ve found effective from my own research and experience. This article is unique because the learning techniques were chosen by researchers from several top universities for a study.
In short, the content in this article is almost entirely different, but both are packed with valuable info to help you learn faster and remember longer. If you haven't read How to Study Properly: 10 Highly Effective Study Techniques Everyone Should Know yet, you might enjoy it.
I also want to share this awesome infographic from ValoreBooks before we jump into the article. They were generous enough to let me add it to the post. I love this infographic—It's a great compliment to what you're going to learn here and contains some powerful study tips.
Study Tips For Success was created by ValoreBooks
Who are the So-Called "Experts," and Which Study is this Blog Article Based On?
The study we’ll be examining in-depth is called Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology.
Distinguished professors from top universities conducted the study. They reviewed the literature available for each of 10 learning techniques extending from the early 20th century through more recent years. This is the most exhaustive and comprehensive publication on effective learning techniques I’ve ever seen.
Our team of experts who wrote the study consists of:
- 1John Dunlosky and Katherine A. Rawson from The Department of Psychology at Kent State University.
- 2Elizabeth J. Marsh of The Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University
- 3Mitchell J. Nathan of The Department of Educational Psychology, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, and Department of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
- 4Daniel T. Willingham of The Department of Psychology at the University of Virginia
How Was the Study on Learning Techniques Funded?
I find it’s a good practice to always check how a study was funded because this can be a clue to conflicts of interest.
Here, there’s no reason to think this is a concern. But in a study funded by a big pharma company, I might be more leary...
The investigators received support by an award through the James S. McDonnell Foundation’s 21st Century Science Initiative and declare no conflicts of interests.
How were the Learning Technique Ratings Determined?
The researchers evaluated the evidence for each learning technique’s effectiveness.
They were interested in seeing if each one had benefits that generalized to 4 categories of variables: earning conditions, student characteristics, materials, and criterion tasks.
While the criteria used in fascinating, I’m not going to go into it much here. If I were to explain every detail, this post would go on far longer than it already is.
I encourage you to look into it on your own if you want. But for our purposes, all you need to know is that each technique was rated as being of low, moderate, or high-utility.
Is this the Final Verdict on Which Learning Techniques you Should be Using?
No way! There are 2 main points to understand about how the researchers rated the learning techniques. Their ratings factored in both of these aspects:
- The number of contexts in which a learning technique was shown to work well
- The volume of research demonstrating a learning technique’s effectiveness.
In other words, a learning technique that’s highly effective for one specific task might still get a low rating if it can’t be applied in many other contexts.
Also, a learning technique that showed promise would still get a lower rating if there wasn’t enough evidence for its effectiveness available when the study was published.
So a low or moderate utility rating doesn’t necessarily mean a learning technique isn’t effective.
Also, please keep in mind that we all have different backgrounds and learning styles. If one of your go-to learning methods was given a low rating by the researchers, don't sweat it. If it works for you, stick with it! Always let your goal grades be your guiding metric.
Furthermore, feel free to agree or disagree with the researchers’ findings as you continue reading. The further you read, the more you’ll see the instances in which I disagree myself. But for the most part, I think their work is spot-on.
Learning Technique 1: Elaborative-Interrogation
The elaborative-interrogation learning technique can best be summarized as the practice of generating an equation for why a fact or concept makes sense.What is Elaborative-Interrogation?
Elaborative-interrogation means asking and answering questions such as why, why does this make sense, and why is A true in this case but not in other cases.
How did the Experts Rate Elaborative-Interrogation?
The research team rated elaborative-interrogation as having moderate-utility.
A Quote On Elaborative-Interrogation
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
Elaborative-interrogation effects have been shown across a relatively broad range of factual topics, although some concerns remain about the applicability of elaborative interrogation to material that is lengthier or more complex than fact lists.
My Take on Elaborative-Interrogation
I agree with the finding.
Part of my reasoning is because some of my friends at Ivy League schools told me that they use a similar method. Posing questions as you study helps you both gauge your understanding of the material and helps you dig deeper into the subject.
Even if you don’t come up with an answer, the search itself will still benefit you.
Mix elaborative-interrogation into your studying. It won’t add much extra time and will help you uncover blind spots in your understanding early.
When and How to Use Elaborative-Interrogation
The study suggests this learning technique works best when:
- 1Your elaborations are specific, not vague
- 2You have pre-existing knowledge on the topic
- 3When you make your own elaborations instead of being prompted
Learning Technique 2: Self-Explanation
Self-Explanation is a learning technique that involves explaining how old information relates to new information, or explaining the steps during problem-solving.
What is Self-Explanation?
Self-explanation means explaining the whole or a part a process during or after learning. For example, pausing to explain why you did a certain step while solving a calculus problem.
It can also include stating how new info is related to what you already know.
How the Experts Rated Self-Explanation
They rated self-explanation as having moderate-utility.
A Quote on Self-Explanation
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
Self-explanation effects have also been shown across an impressive age range, although further work is needed to explore the extent to which these effects depend on learners’ knowledge or ability level.
My Take on Self-Explanation
First, I want to mention that explaining the steps of a practice problem out loud as if teaching it has been a staple in my study repertoire for years.
An excellent way to test your understanding of a concept is to see if you can explain it to someone so that they can understand it.
From my interpretation, I consider this study method to fall under self-explanation. Assuming the researchers would agree with me on this, I’d say this technique is highly effective. It’s not practical for every learning task though. Most noteworthy, it's not the best to use for tasks that require a lot of memorization rather than seeing the big picture.
How and When to Use Self-Explanation
This learning technique is best used during or after problem-solving.
If possible, meet with a study partner. Take turns explaining concepts and practice problems. If not, just pretend you're teaching someone the topic. Don’t be afraid to talk out loud and to draw things out by hand. In fact, you’ll learn more if you do.
Learning Technique 3: Summarization
Summarization is a learning technique that involves creating summaries of key points.
What is Summarization?
Summarization means to capture the main points from a source while leaving out what’s unimportant and/or repetitive.
How the Experts Rated Summarization
The researchers rated summarization as having low-utility. Two of the main reasons were because it requires extensive training, and few studies show how to improve training.
A Quote on Summarization
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
It can be an effective learning strategy for learners who are already skilled at summarizing; however, many learners (including children, high school students, and even some undergraduates) will require extensive training, which makes this strategy less feasible. Our enthusiasm is further dampened by mixed findings regarding
My Take on Summarization
Summarization is beneficial if you know how to use it well.
The main weakness is that it’s hard to know what to include. Leave out a big idea and it’ll cost you on the test.
I often write my own summaries and “cheat sheets” while studying. I also do this when I find something interesting while reading for fun. I don’t see any harm if you combine it with higher-utility methods.
How and When to Use Summarization
Summarization can be used during or after reading, attending class, or doing practice problems.
The study indicates that rephrasing info in your own words is better than copying word for word. If you use summarization, check and see if your textbooks have their own summaries at the ends of chapters. Compare yours to make sure you didn’t leave out something important.
Learning Technique 4: Highlighting and Underlining
Highlighting and underlining are two of the most popular study methods. But are they effective?
What is Highlighting and Underlining?
Not much explanation should be needed. Most students do this daily. But to clarify: Highlighting and underlining means marking key items in the text.
How the Experts Rated Highlighting and Underlining
The experts rated highlighting and underlining as having low-utility.
The main reason is the lack of evidence that the practice boosts performance. They say some evidence suggests highlighting can even hurt scores on complex tasks.
A Quote On Highlighting and Underlining
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
It [Highlighting and/or underlining] may help when students have the knowledge needed to highlight more effectively, or when texts are difficult, but it may actually hurt performance on higher-level tasks that require inference making.
My Take on Highlighting and Underlining
I’m not surprised by their assessment. Just highlighting facts does little to store them in your memory.
Some evidence suggests highlighting gives you a slight memory boost compared to reading. But the more you highlight, the less effective it becomes. They say this could be because of the isolation effect.
The isolation effect theory was first developed by German doctor Hewig von Restorff in the 1930s. It predicts that when a few unique items are mixed with many similar items, the unique ones stand out. Based on this, it’s possible that text that gets highlighted in more easily remembered because it’s unique. As more text is highlighted, the less unique and thus the less memorable it becomes.
I hate writing in books. I never highlight or underline in mine. But I do highlight my notes sometimes. I have no problem with students highlighting. As long as you don’t expect what you highlight to magically stick in your memory without more studying, go ahead and do it!
How and When to Use Highlighting and Underlining
As with all low-utility learning techniques, highlight/underlining is fine when combined with other methods.
It’s best used when reading text for the first time. Marking out important sentences can save you time later. Rather than re-reading the whole chapter, you just have to re-read what you highlighted. This can be problematic if you miss key points.
Learning Technique 5: The Keyword Mnemonic
The keyword mnemonic study technique involves linking keywords and mental pictures to boost memory.
What is the Keyword Mnemonic?
When I think of mnemonic, I recall saying like Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. But keyword mnemonics are entirely different. This learning technique involves pairing keywords with a visual component to remember studied material.
How the Experts Rated the Keyword Mnemonic
The researchers gave this one a low-utility rating, but acknowledged that it can be effective in certain cases.
A Quote on Keyword Mnemonic
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
The overwhelming evidence that the keyword mnemonic can boost memory for many kinds of material and learners has made it a relatively popular technique. Despite the impressive outcomes, however, some aspects of these demonstrations imply limits to the utility of the keyword mnemonic.
My Take On Keyword Mnemonic
This technique is effective for some learning tasks. As I talk about in my other article on study techniques, studies show the brain remembers pictures much better than words. Memory championship competitors like Alex Mullen swear by a technique called the memory palace.
I’ve experiment with the memory palace method several times. I can vouch that it works well. But it takes practice to get good at using it. The middle of a semester when the stakes are high isn’t the best time to try it out.
If you have to memorize a lot of specific information within a short time frame, the memory palace is unbeatable if you use it right. I recall times when I was working full-time and studying neuroscience when I had to cram tons of facts into my memory fast.
Obviously cramming is bad and you should avoid it. I wasn’t cramming by choice. It was because my work schedule didn’t allow me enough time to review regularly. But anyway, the memory palace helped me put tons of facts about the nervous system into my memory for a test the next day. I aced the test, although I forgot most of what I learned soon after. In the short-term, the technique works.
But without frequent review, you’ll probably forget most of what you learned soon after.
How and When to Use Keyword Mnemonic
First, seek out some instruction on how to use this method properly.
A simple Google or YouTube search works. But there are great book out there too. I recommend a particular variation called the memory palace.
My advice: stick to the basics FIRST. If you’re looking for new study tactics to try, add in the high-utility techniques on this list before this one. If your professors are kind enough to give you practice tests and you’re more focused on building a memory palace than doing them, you’re probably on the wrong track.
Go ahead and experiment with this learning technique. See if and how it works for you. But keep in mind that it has limited application and can be hard to learn.
Learning Technique 6: Imagery Use for Text Learning
The imagery learning technique for text involves creating mental pictures of material while reading.
What is Imagery Use for Text Learning?
The technique involves creating mental pictures of material while reading.
How the Experts Rated Imagery Use
They rated imagery use for text learning as low-utility, but agreed that it shows promise.
A Quote on Imagery Use for Text Learning
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
...The benefits of imagery are largely constrained to imagery-friendly materials and to tests of memory, and further demonstrations of the effectiveness of the technique...are needed.
How and When to Use Imagery for Text Learning
Forming mental images can be done while reading or reviewing your notes.
All you have to do is find something specific that you want to remember, and visualize it clearly. The more detail you add in, the better. If you can add some kind of ridiculous association in, it should make it even easier to remember. If you’re not a very visual person, you might want to pass on this one altogether.
Learning Technique 7: Re-reading
The re-reading learning technique involves re-reading textbook and other course material multiple times.
What is Re-reading?
Re-reading is simply reading course materials multiple times to study for tests.
How the Experts Rated Re-Reading
They rated this one low-utility. When it came to testing students’ knowledge, re-reading proved less effective than other techniques.
A Quote on Re-Reading
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
The relative disadvantage of rereading to other techniques is the largest strike against rereading and is the factor that weighed most heavily in our decision to assign it a rating of low utility.
My Take on Re-Reading
For me, this one depends on the subject.
For some classes I’ve taken, re-reading was crucial for getting an A. These were mostly philosophy classes that required little memorization, but lots of comprehension. Don’t believe me? Try reading Plato’s Timeaus and making sense of it on your first reading. Go ahead. I’ll wait.
Don’t be afraid to dig into your readings as much as you need to. But I recommend being selective about what you re-read. Re-reading a chapter to try to memorize the information probably won’t help much. But re-reading sections you didn’t get the first time will.
When you have to memorize a lot of facts, just use flashcards or a strategy like that and save re-reading for more “big picture” stuff.
How and When to Use Re-Reading
Re-reading becomes more effective when you space out your reading sessions.
If you’re going to use re-reading, let some time pass in between readings (i.e. a day or two). The key is to let some forgetting occur in between sessions. This way, you’ll benefit from the spacing effect, which I talk about more below.
Learning Technique 8: Practice Testing
The practice testing learning technique involves testing yourself on material that you have to learn
What is Practice Testing?
Practice testing in the study was defined as testing one’s recall of material outside of class. Of course, taking a practice test is an example. But the researchers also counted any practice requiring recall of information such as:
- 1Flashcards
- 2Practice problems
- 3Questions at the ends of the chapter
How the Experts Rated Practice Testing
The experts gave practice tests a high-utility ranking.
Hooray! Our first high-utility learning technique on the list. The finding that testing boosts future performance is called the testing effect. A slew of research studies have demonstrated testing effects over the past century.
A Quote on Practice Testing
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
Since the seminal study by Abbott (1909), more than 100 years of research has yielded several hundred experiments showing that practice testing enhances learning and retention.
My Take on Practice Testing
I agree 150% with the researchers here. You must practice recalling the information you’ll be tested on. Whether you do this by taking practice tests, doing problems from the textbook, studying with flashcards, or something else, find a way to include this into your studying!
You can also make your own practice tests. I did this in a few classes I took. The only flaw with this is if you neglect to cover something important in your practice tests. You’ll get better than more you do it though.
For standardized test takers, this study method is even more vital. Sure, you have to spend some time reading prep books. But the majority of your study time should be spent on practice problems and practice tests. In the final weeks of your studying, I’d estimate 80% of your study time should be dedicated to practice, and the rest to review your notes.
Now of course this will all depend on your individual situation and test. But you’ll find that the more you practice, the faster you’ll reach your goals.
How and When to Use Practice Testing
There’s no right or wrong way to use practice testing, as long as you use it!
If your professors don’t offer practice tests, see if you can get tests from previous years from your friends (assuming you’re allowed to do this, don’t break the rules). If you can’t, remember that you can make your own practice tests.
To ensure that you cover all the material, strive to cover every point in your notes at least 1 - 3 times, each time in a different way. You can also add homework questions and questions from the textbook.
Learning Technique 9: Distributed Practice
The distributed practice learning technique involves spacing learning sessions out rather than massing them
What is Distributed Practice?
Distributed practice means distributing learning sessions over time rather than massing them in close succession.
For example, if you reviewed a set of flashcards once a day for three days, you’d be doing distributed practice. If you reviewed the same flashcard set three times in the same day with little to no breaks in between, you’d be doing massed practice.
Distributed practice is also known as spaced practice, or spaced-repetition. To learn more about it, see this article on the spacing effect written by yours truly 😉
How the Experts Rated Distributed Practice
Like practice testing, they rated distributed practice as being high-utility.
A Quote on Distributed Practice
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
On the basis of the available evidence, we rate distributed practice as having high utility: It works across students of different ages, with a wide variety of materials, on the majority of standard laboratory measures, and over long delays.
My Take on Distributed Practice
I’m a huge proponent of distributed practice.
I don’t have much else to say about this one other than that like practice testing, spacing your learning out is essential. Challenge yourself to review your material incrementally rather than cramming. Your grades will rise and your stress levels will drop.
How and When to Use Distributed Practice
In Make it Stick, Peter Brown says it’s best to let just enough time pass between study sessions that recall is challenging, but not frustrating.
When you let some forgetting occur, working to recall what you learned strengthen the memory for the future. But if you let so much forgetting occur that you can’t recall the material at all, you allowed too much time to pass. Ideally, you’ll time it so that you review the material just before total forgetting occurs.
This can be easier said than done, but with practice it gets easier.
Learning Technique 10: Interleaving
Interleaved practice is a learning technique that involves mixing up practice with different topics rather than just sticking to one.
What is Interleaved Practice?
Interleaved practice or interleaving means mixing various types of practice problems or learning material into a single study session.
For example, when I work with GED test takers, I incorporate interleaving into their sessions when they study fractions. I have them do a mix of addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication with fractions problems rather than doing the same type of problem multiple times in a row.
This helps them learn to discriminate between the different problem types faster than if I had them do 10 addition problems in a row, then 10 subtraction in a row, etc.
How the Experts Rated Interleaved Practice
They rated interleaving as moderate-utility. The biggest reason seems to be the lack of studies done on this technique at the time of publication.
A Quote on Interleaved Practice
From Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology
On the positive side, interleaved practice has been shown to have relatively dramatic effects on students’ learning and retention of mathematical skills, and teachers and students should consider adopting it in the appropriate contexts. Also, interleaving does help (and rarely hinders) other kinds of cognitive skills. On the negative side, the literature on interleaved practice is currently small, but it contains enough null effects to raise concern.
The researchers suggest that the null effects could be because the technique doesn’t work well in all contexts, or that it could come from lack of understanding of how best to apply interleaving. Hopefully studies investigating interleaved practice will continue to turn up new findings.
My Take on Interleaved Practice
Interleaving is amazing!
I predict that in the near-future, interleaving will become as well-recognized and as well-thought of as spacing and practice testing. Now, clearly I could be way off in this prediction. But I’d be surprised. Interleaving is the real deal--at least for problem-solving based subjects like math, physics, chemistry, etc.
How and When to Use Interleaved Practice
From the research, interleaved practice appears to work best for math. But I can testify it’s just as effective for physics and chemistry. And I’d bet you’d get the same benefits applying it to study for any problem-solving based class.
Most textbooks are setup like this: The chapter presents several related ideas. Then at the end, you’re given problems on each of the main concepts. For the first concept, you might get 10 - 25 problems in a row. Then for the second, another 10 - 25 problems of the same type in a row. And so on and so forth…
In contrast, you’ll never get 10 problems of the same type in a row on a test. You can expect to get a mix of all different kinds of problems at random. You must be able to switch gears fast between different strategies. Therefore, from this logic, can you see how mixing your problems up during study sessions is a closer representation of what you can expect on the test?
Work on a problem from one section of the book. Then rather than skipping to the second, go do the first problem in another section. After that, try a question from the third section. Eventually, go back to the first section and do the second problem. Keep repeating this way until you’ve done all the problems you need to.
Keep in mind that you’re still doing the same amount of practice problems. It’s just that you’re doing them in a different order. Interleaved practice requires more effort than massed practice. But it’s worth it. You don’t want to miss out on the benefits.
What's the Takeaway Here?
My learning techniques pyramid is setup with the high-utility methods at the bottom, and the low-utility methods at the top. There's a place for everything in your arsenal. Just try to spend most of your study time using ,moderate and high utility methods for best results.
The researchers rated practice tests and distributed practice the highest out of all of the learning techniques. Remember, practice testing doesn't have to be a formal practice test. Hence, testing yourself with flashcards or having a partner quiz you on your notes also counts.
I've arranged the learning techniques into a pyramid with the high-utility methods at the bottom and the low-utility methods at the top. What's important to note is that there's a place for every technique. Therefore, if you like to highlight, go ahead! That's fine some of the time.
But as a result of what you've learned here, don't just stick to highlighting. Be sure to spend the bulk of your study time using more effective methods, and your results should skyrocket.
