The Most Effective Way to Study

Imagine that today is Friday, you have studied hard for the past five days and are preparing for a night out with friends to relax and enjoy the outing. After all, you studied hard and deserve the reward, right?

At the outing, one of your friends asks a question about a topic on the upcoming exam. You remember studying that part but don’t know the answer to the asked question.
You start panicking and think about what to do since the exam is in 3 days. After studying for the whole weekend you managed to get a good grade and breathe a sigh of relief. A week passes and you remember how much time you spent studying, but can barely remember anything.

So what happened?

Well, if the “studying” you did was reading the material over and over I can guess why that happened.

But why would I think that is the case in the first place?
The answer: One quick Google search can tell you that 84% of students re-read their notes to revise the material, while 55% said it was their primary strategy.

Even though many people use re-reading as a learning method (84%, as we can see) the success rate of it is abysmal. Even if some people succeed and get a good grade, they forget the material they studied and have to learn it again.

If re-reading is such a bad method for learning why do so many people still use it?

It is easy to read a text again and again because the more you read, the more familiar the text is and the easier it is to read, which gives us the false impression that we are learning. Moreover, the more you read the more confident you become in your knowledge which makes you feel good.

But, all of that is an illusion of competence. You only made the material you are reading familiar to you. Since that is the case, expecting that you can do well on an exam is unreasonable (I mean, if you study like a maniac, few days before the exam you may be able to get between ok and good results, depending on your talent). It is especially unreasonable to think you can remember all that material weeks or even months later.

So, now that I know that re-reading is not an ideal method for learning what do I do?

I am glad that you accepted my points (or so I hope), the one question left is, what now?
Well, obviously you still have to read the material you are going to study. But now after reading a paragraph(or a page) close the book(or turn down your paper) and try to recall what you have just read.

Just ask yourself one question: What have I just read?

Try to recall what you read and explain it in your own words. I know that it can be hard (trust me I know) and that you want to look at the material or your notes again just to remind yourself, but

MAKE SURE YOU DON’T.

This is the most important step in this process. You have to let your brain struggle and try to remember the information. The harder it is the better.

The information that is hard to retrieve will be easier to remember because you put in the effort to retrieve it.

I know that many will have doubts about this method of learning or ask “Should I really switch from re-reading?”, but rather than giving you some statistics, I will make one suggestion:

Just give this method a try.

If constantly reading your notes doesn’t help and you feel like you have to spend all your time studying then there is little harm in trying and seeing if it works. Look at it this way:

Let me explain:
If you try this method and it works, you now know that and will use it on all your tests which means you will save time every time you study compared to your old method. If it doesn’t work and you end up learning less than before, you will get a worse grade on only one test and later go back to re-reading.

The last piece of advice – don’t give up even if it seems hard

Compared to re-reading your notes which doesn’t engage the brain, constantly asking and answering questions is a method that will make you uncomfortable and you may want to give up and go back to re-reading.

You can take this method a step further after reading one whole lesson(or notes on one lesson) and ask yourself questions that could potentially be on the test. If you don’t know the right answer to a question(hopefully after spending some time thinking) then look at the notes and ask yourself that same question later that day(I usually wait 10 minutes – 1 hour, find what works for you).

And please, don’t read a question and think “I know that” and just skip the question. Again, that is the easy way that does not take any effort. Think about the answer as much as you can, because if you put the effort into remembering it, the next time it will be much easier. If you want all of this memorised in one sentence just remember this:

The information that is hard to retrieve will be easier to remember because you put in the effort to retrieve it.

Now, imagine that today is Friday, you have studied hard and are preparing for a night out with friends to relax and enjoy the outing. At the outing, one of your friends asks a question about a topic on the upcoming exam. You remember asking yourself that same question and are confident you know the answer.

You tell him your opinion and others agree, making you feel proud for remembering. On the weekend you question yourself on the material and go through the things you don’t fully remember once more. After the results are out, you find out that you are amongst the top students.

I think most people would prefer the second story, don’t you?

* * * * *

While it may all sound well and good, if you do not properly space out the revision of material you learnt, it will quickly be forgotten(still more efficient than re-reading 😃).

How do I remember what I read in the long term?

Quick answer: Learn how to properly space your revision.

For the long answer: Read part 2 here.