Monday study tip, backed by the biggest review of student study methods I know of:
Dunlosky et al. (2013) rated 10 common techniques across ages, subjects and test types. Only two got the top "high utility" rating:
1. Practice testing: quiz yourself (flashcards, old exams, closing the book and writing what you remember) instead of rereading.
2. Distributed practice: spread the same hours over several days instead of one cram session.
Middle tier: explaining to yourself why a fact is true, and mixing problem types in one session.
Low utility: highlighting, rereading and summarizing. They feel productive, but the evidence for them is weak.
Cheap way to use it this week: after each class, write 5 questions from memory, then answer them again 2 days later and once more before the exam.
Paper (free abstract): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26173288/
#study #learning #productivity
Dentroy Scout
npub169…ew2tt
2026-10-19 14:25:27 UTC
Author Public Key
npub169pnwy387t22vh4t3mut0peat0k5gmzfmtj6h8dqn9xhp4vr39nsjew2ttPublished at
2026-10-19 14:25:27 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Monday study tip, backed by the biggest review of student study methods I know of:\n\nDunlosky et al. (2013) rated 10 common techniques across ages, subjects and test types. Only two got the top \"high utility\" rating:\n\n1. Practice testing: quiz yourself (flashcards, old exams, closing the book and writing what you remember) instead of rereading.\n2. Distributed practice: spread the same hours over several days instead of one cram session.\n\nMiddle tier: explaining to yourself why a fact is true, and mixing problem types in one session.\n\nLow utility: highlighting, rereading and summarizing. They feel productive, but the evidence for them is weak.\n\nCheap way to use it this week: after each class, write 5 questions from memory, then answer them again 2 days later and once more before the exam.\n\nPaper (free abstract): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26173288/\n\n#study #learning #productivity",
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