When You Read Once When You Read Twice

The style most students written report makes no sense.

That's the decision of Washington University in St. Louis psychologists Henry Roediger andMark McDaniel — who've spent a combined 80 years studying learning and memory, and recently distilled their findings with novelist Peter Brown in the bookBrand Information technology Stick: The Science of Successful Learning.

The majority of students written report by re-reading notes and textbooks — just the psychologists' research, both in lab experiments and of actual students in classes, shows this is a terrible way to acquire fabric. Using active learning strategies — similar flashcards, diagramming, and quizzing yourself — is much more than effective, equally is spacing out studying over fourth dimension and mixing different topics together.

McDaniel spoke with me well-nigh the 8 cardinal tips he'd share with students and teachers from his trunk of enquiry.

one) Don't just re-read your notes and readings

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"We know from surveys that a majority of students, when they study, they typically re-read assignments and notes. Most students say this is their number i go-to strategy.

"Nosotros know, however, from a lot of research, that this kind of repetitive recycling of information is not an especially practiced way to learn or create more permanent memories.Our studies of Washington University students, for case, show that when they re-read a textbook affiliate, they take absolutely no comeback in learning over those who just read it once.

"On your first reading of something, you excerpt a lot of understanding. But when you do the second reading, y'all read with a sense of 'I know this, I know this.' Then basically, you lot're not processing information technology deeply, or picking more out of information technology. Oftentimes, the re-reading is brief — and information technology's insidious, because this gives y'all the illusion that you know the textile very well, when in fact at that place are gaps."

ii) Ask yourself lots of questions

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"One practiced technique to use instead is to read one time, then quiz yourself, either using questions at the dorsum of a textbook chapter, or making upward your ain questions. Retrieving that information is what actually produces more robust learning and retentivity.

"And even when you tin can't retrieve it — when you become the questions wrong — information technology gives you an accurate diagnostic on what you lot don't know, and this tells you what yous should get dorsum and written report. This helps guide your studying more effectively.

"Request questions also helps yous understand more deeply.Say you're learning about globe history, and how aboriginal Rome and Greece were trading partners. End and ask yourself why they became trading partners. Why did they become shipbuilders, and larn to navigate the seas? It doesn't always accept to be why — you can ask how, or what.

"In request these questions, you're trying to explicate, and in doing this, y'all create a better understanding, which leads to better memory and learning. So instead of just reading and skimming, finish and inquire yourself things to brand yourself sympathize the material."

3) Connect new data to something you already know

"Another strategy is, during a second reading,to try relating the principles in the text to something you already know virtually. Relate new information to prior data for better learning.

"1 case is if you were learning nearly how the neuron transmits electricity. One of the things we know if that if yous have a fat sheath surroundings the neuron, called a myelin sheath, information technology helps the neuron transmit electricity more quickly.

"And then y'all could liken this, say, to water running through a hose. The water runs quickly through it, merely if you puncture the hose, it's going to leak, and you won't get the aforementioned flow. And that'southward substantially what happens when nosotros age — the myelin sheaths suspension down, and transmissions become slower."

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4) Depict out the information in a visual form

"A great strategy is making diagrams, or visual models, or flowcharts. In a showtime psychology course, you could diagram the flow of classical conditioning. Sure, yous can read about classical workout, but to truly empathise it and be able to write down and draw the different aspects of information technology on a test afterwards on — condition, stimulus, and then on — it'due south a good idea to see if yous tin put it in a flowchart.

"Annihilation that creates active learning — generating understanding on your own — is very effective in retention. It basically ways the learner needs to become more involved and more engaged, and less passive."

5) Use flashcards

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"Flashcards are some other good way of doing this. And one cardinal to using them is actually re-testing yourself on the ones y'all got correct.

"A lot of students will answer the question on a flashcard, and accept it out of the deck if they become it right. Only it turns out this isn't a skillful idea — repeating the act of memory retrieval is important. Studies show that keeping the correct detail in the deck and encountering it again is useful. You might desire to practice the incorrect items a fiddling more, simply repeated exposure to the ones you get right is important too.

"It's not that repetition equally a whole is bad. It'south that mindless repetition is bad."

six) Don't cram — space out your studying

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"A lot of students cram — they wait until the last minute, so in one evening, they echo the information again and again. But research shows this isn't good for long term memory. It may permit y'all to do okay on that test the next mean solar day, merely then on the terminal, you won't retain every bit much data, then the side by side year, when you need the data for the next level grade, it won't be in that location.

"This often happens in statistics. Students come dorsum for the next year, and it seems like they've forgotten everything, because they crammed for their tests.

"The meliorate idea is to infinite repetition. Practice a piffling bit i day, then put your flashcards away, then take them out the next day, then ii days later. Written report after study shows that spacing is really of import."

7) Teachers should space out and mix up their lessons likewise

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"Our book too has information for teachers. And our educational system tends to promote massed presentation of information also.

"In a typical higher course, y'all cover ane topic one 24-hour interval, then on the second twenty-four hour period, another topic, and then on the third day, another topic. This is massed presentation. You lot never become back and recycle or reconsider the textile.

"But the key, for teachers, is to put the cloth dorsum in front end of a educatee days or weeks later. In that location are several means they can exercise this. Here at Washington University, there are some instructors who give weekly quizzes, and used to just put material from that week's classes on the quiz. Now, they're bringing dorsum more cloth from 2 to three weeks ago. One psychology lecturer explicitly takes time, during each lecture, to bring dorsum material from days or weeks beforehand.

"This can be done in homework too. It'south typical, in statistics courses, to give homework in which all of the issues are all in the same category. After correlations are taught, astudent's homework, say, is trouble subsequently problem on correlation. And so the adjacent week, T tests are taught, and all the issues are on T tests. But we've found that sprinkling in questions on stuff that was covered two or three weeks ago is really good for retentivity.

"And this can be built into the content of lessons themselves. Let'southward say you're taking an fine art history class. When I took it, I learned about Gauguin, and then I saw lots of his paintings, then I moved on to Matisse, and saw lots of paintings by him. Students and instructors both call up that this is a good way of learning the painting styles of these different artists.

"But experimental studies show that's not the example at all. It's amend to give students an example of one creative person, then movement to another, and then another, then recycle dorsum around. That interspersing, or mixing, produces much better learning that tin can be transferred to paintings you haven't seen — letting students accurately identify the creators of paintings, say, on a test.

"And this works for all sorts of problems. Let'southward go back to statistics. In upper level classes, and the real earth, you're not going to be told what sort of statistical trouble you're encountering — you're going to have to effigy out the method you need to use. And you lot tin't learn how to practice that unless you have experience dealing with a mix of unlike types of problems, and diagnosing which requires which type of arroyo."

8) There's no such thing as a "math person"

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"There's some really interesting work by Carol Dweck, at Stanford. She's shown that students tend to take one of two mindsets most learning.

"One is a fixed learning model. It says, 'I have a certain amount of talent for this topic — say, chemical science or physics — and I'll do well until I striking that limit. By that, information technology'southward also hard for me, and I'thousand not going to do well.'The other mindset is a growth mindset. It says that learning involves using effective strategies, putting aside fourth dimension to practice the work, and engaging in the process, all of which assist y'all gradually increment your capacity for a topic.

"Information technology turns out that the mindsets predict how well students stop up doing. Students with growth mindsets tend to stick with it, tend to persevere in the face of difficulty, and tend to be successful in challenging classes. Students with the fixed mindset tend not to.

"So for teachers, the lesson is that if you can talk to students and suggest that a growth mindset really is the more accurate model — and information technology is — then students tend to be more open up to trying new strategies, and sticking with the class, and working in ways that are going to promote learning. Ability, intelligence, and learning take to do with how you approach it — working smarter, we similar to say."

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Source: https://www.vox.com/2014/6/24/5824192/study-smarter-learn-better-8-tips-from-memory-researchers

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