3 Ways You’re Wasting Your Study Time

When I was at university, I used to spend hours reading books or listening to lectures, but sometimes when I got to the exam, I felt like I couldn t remember anything, as if I d never studied at all!

Scientists use a special name for knowing how to study: it s called metacognition, from meta , meaning beyond , and cognition , which means thinking , so metacognition really means thinking beyond the moment. Stepping back, and working out what is the best way to learn.

A few years ago, there was a great study by Dunlosky and Willingham, who summarised some of the most important things we know about metacognition, in a study called Improving students learning with effective learning techniques . Dunlosky and Willingham looked at some of the most common techniques students use, and analysed how useful they are. Theirs is an academic study, so it s a lot to take in, but in this article I ll talk you through some of the key ideas.

These are the things you re probably doing which don t really work, and what to do instead:

1) Re-reading notes/textbooks/revision guides
It feels good. You recognise all of the knowledge:
There s that formula...
Ah! You remember that quote.
But it s not that useful.
Re-reading notes or a textbook once can remind you of the material, but after that you re better off taking another tack. Psychologists differentiate between two kinds of memory: recognition, and recall.
Recognition is when you - er - recognise the right information. This is what you feel when you are reading in a textbook.
It is rarely (if ever) used in exams.
Recall, on the other hand, is when you try to remember your phone number, or someone s birthday.
It s a lot harder. And it s what you need to do in exams.

What works: Test yourself.

Use quizzes. Use flashcards. (Only put one key fact on each, with a cue question on the other side, otherwise it will be too much to remember.) Instead of reading through the guide, get the workbook and answer questions. You might think you don t know enough yet, but the evidence is that even testing people before they ve learned the topic at all means they remember more later (because it helps them know what they need to learn). Testing will tell you what you know, and what you don t. Once you ve tested yourself, pat attention to what you don t know, and learn that. Look through the notes, and then test yourself again- on that topic!


2) Cramming (kind of)
This one needs a bit of breaking down. A small amount of cramming has worked for me, and I know others who swear by it. But.. and there s a big but... it only works if you already understand most of the material anyway. If you have been ignoring your study for months, and cram right before an exam, that just isn t going to cut it. If you have been paying attention in class and doing your homework, and in the days and weeks before the exam you memorise key formulae or quotes, that can help make a difference. You can t cram understanding.

What works: Spacing out your learning

I regret to inform you that your teacher is right about this one. Nothing will replace frequent, regular study. It doesn t have to be a lot at a time, but it has to be regular, and it has to be frequent. This can be daunting, so try to find a list of the things you need to know/understand, and each time you study, focus on one. If you find it s still too much, break it down into smaller bits, and just try to understand that one topic. If you get really stuck, move on, and then come back to it after a break. That s why spacing works- it gives you time to get your head around things.



3) Highlighting.
Okay, there s nothing wrong with highlighting per se. You can use it when you read through information to help you pick out the key points. But it is not a revision strategy. Highlighting feels good, because you re showing that you ve reviewed the material. What it doesn t do is tell you whether you can apply your knowledge to the questions you re actually going to be answering in the exam.

What works : Interleaved practice
Once you have learned a topic, it s tempting to think you re done with it, but there s a difference between being able to answer questions on a topic you ve just been revising, and being able to switch from a question on Shakespeare to a question on unseen poetry, or from graphs to area. In interleaved practice, you do questions on each of the different topics you need to know (e.g. by doing a past paper)
The research is out there. We know what works, and what doesn t. Take that knowledge and use it!