Even though highlighting is a widespread practice to help us learn and remember information, it actually does very little. It turns out that highlighting isn’t the only common strategy that doesn’t really help you learn. Others include underlining and rereading, which are popular study tools but are not effective. Recent journal articles and the book Make It Stick point us in the direction of effective learning strategies. Here are four of them.
Quiz yourself frequently on the material you read
Make flashcards of important topics you read. Generate questions and answers from the material and regularly quiz yourself. Keep retrieving knowledge from your memory. It will prevent forgetting and allow you to identify areas you do not know to focus future study.
Ask yourself questions while you are reading
These can include “Why?” questions. Why is this happening? Why does this make sense? Or why does this not make sense? Asking why will help you process the information you are reading and apply it in future situations.
Questions can also help you process and make meaning of the information you have just read. For example, you can ask yourself, “What new facts did I just learn?” after reading a paragraph.
Space out your studying and quizzes
Spread out when you quiz yourself by hours, days, weeks, and months. As you gain mastery over the material, keep spacing the quizzes further apart.
Quiz yourself on different topics in each study session
For example, if you are studying for a biology test, don’t just study the chapters in order. Mix in questions from different chapters as you study. Interleaving, or alternating topics, will improve your ability to remember and apply information in the future.
