The Most Effective Study Techniques to Increase Student Learning

Source: “Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology,” by John Dunlosky, Daniel Willingham et al., Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013, Volume 14, number 1, pps. 4-58.

Simple study techniques can significantly improve learning and achievement, but:

1)Teachers aren’t being told about them

2) Many students don’t know about them or are not using them enough or well enough

Researchers did an exhaustive review of studies on learning techniques to identify the most effective ones

10 Popular Learning Techniques

Researchers reviewed the evidence to answer 2 questions:

What does the research say about the efficacy of each technique?

Which are least effective? Which are most effective?

High UtilityPractice TestingDistributed practice

Low UtilityHighlightingKeyword mnemonicRereadingSummarizationImagery use for text learning

Moderate UtilitySelf-explanationElaborative interrogationInterleaved practice

Techniques

Low-Utility Techniques

According to review ofresearch: HighlightingDistracting, most studentsdon’t use properly

SummarizationRequires training, lessuseful for youngerstudents

Low-Utility Techniques Cont’d.

Keyword mnemonicStudents often forget the word that is supposed to trigger memory

Imagery use for text learningLimited to image-friendly texts, only shown to be effective on memorytests

RereadingOnly studies are on college-age students, effects vary with studentcharacteristics

Elaborative interrogation

Solid evidence for short-termlearning, greatest benefits forstudents with low levels ofdomain knowledge. Takessome training, limited to

discrete factual statements

Moderate Utility Techniques

Interleaved practiceMore effective than practice focused on one topic at a time;

encourages organizational processing. Fewer studies on this technique

than others

Self-explanationFacilitates problem solving and helps overcome misconceptions.

Time-consuming and students need instruction to be successful with it

Moderate Utility Techniques Cont’d.

Practice Testing-Testing has been shown to

improve learning.

-Practice testing even more effective

if students receive feedback

Benefits:

-Not time consuming, little training needed

-Students can self-test

-Evidence that it improves comprehension

High Utility Techniques

Studying of material over several sessions improves retention

The longer the lags, the greater the retention

Students need to be educated about benefits

Frequent testing encourages distributed practice rather than cramming

Distributed Practice

Train students to use high-impact study techniques instead of ineffective ones

Teach study techniques beginning in the upper elementary grades

Integrate techniques in lesson plans, e.g. begin unit with a practice test

Include techniques in homework assignments

Implications of study

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