Author: Mike and Matty
In high school and college, my teachers often told me what to study, but not how to study. So I did what most students do: I copied what my friends were doing. The problem was, my friends weren’t taught how to study either. When I asked my teachers why we learn the way we do, I was told “that’s how everyone does it,” or “that’s how it’s always been done.”
Unfortunately, the strategies that got me through university began failing me when I got into medical school. At that point, I had to make a change or risk flunking out altogether. I had to spend extra time reading about study tips online, and this eventually lead me to discover all the wonderful science behind how our brains learn information. To my surprise, I learned that most of what I had been doing my entire life was either inefficient or ineffective.
I thought that the more times I reread my notes or reread my textbook, the more I would retain what I read. At the time, it sounded logical! Unfortunately, this was one of the worst strategies according to research. How much time had I wasted over the years, and how many fun memories did I miss out on?
Now that I have a better understanding of efficient study strategies, I want to pass the knowledge forward. Here are 3 terrible study strategies that I learned to quit:
1. Re-reading
You would think that the more times you read something, the better it sticks. Unfortunately, more of a bad thing isn’t better. Learning consists of 2 steps: 1) getting the information into your brain, and 2) retrieving that information when you need to use it (for solving problems or taking a test). To study effectively, you need to accomplish both steps. Reading and re-reading your notes only help get the information into your brain, but it doesn’t help you practice retrieving the knowledge.
2. Summarizing
A lot of students spend time rewriting their notes into summary sheets in an effort to condense. This often leads to the same problem as rereading because you are still just focused on the first step of the learning process. To get the most out of summarization, try doing it with closed notes and a closed book. Try to recall all the concepts from memory rather than just rewriting what’s already on the page.
3. Highlighting
Students love to highlight because it feels productive. It can also be addictive, especially when you use multiple colors and are obsessed with how aesthetic your notes look. There’s nothing wrong with highlighting your notes on your first pass through the material, as long as you are aware of the 2 pitfalls of highlighting: 1) highlighting encourages you to make multiple passes through your notes or text, and 2) highlighting encourages you to not learn important concepts thoroughly the first time because you feel that you can always come back later.
That’s enough about what doesn’t work. If you want to learn more about the best evidence-based study strategies to use instead, check out this video here.
