Scientifically Proven Methods to Study Effectively, Reduce Forgetfulness and Increase Retention.

After my preliminary year of medical school, the huge volume of work that awaits me in my preclinical years scares the hell out of me and I felt the need to improve in my studying ability. This made me read some research article till I stumble upon a book, make it stick. I got a life-changing revelation from these and with great joy, I’m sharing what I have learnt and showing you how to apply this in your personal study life. You should read this article with an open mind because this is not something I cook up myself; they are work of thorough scientific research that span over years ago. These strategies are very practical and applicable; therefore, do not just read, but reflect upon it and implement it.

And more importantly, share with other students.

Table of content

· How learning occurs.

· Less effective but commonly used study strategies.

· Scientifically proven study strategies which are very effective and how to use them.

How Learning Occurs

Before I dive right into the three stages involved in the process of learning, I’ll briefly share an experience to make a point.

Some few years ago, my not-so-close friend opened up to me; he told me his academic struggle without me asking. We had just written an exam which, sadly, he failed despite having written the exam twice before. I could clearly sense the anger and frustration in his voice “see, I can’t learn no matter how hard I try. I forget everything I read. Even if it’s a single line, I’ll still forget it.”

I really didn’t know how to help him but I knew he was not stupid as he suggested. I knew he could learn, he just didn’t know how to and I also didn’t know how to make him know how to.

What is my point? Your academic struggle might also be as a result of you not knowing how to study effectively.

I believe you will agree with me that there is a place for the gift of genes, but to a great extent, our intellectual ability is within our own control.

3 Stages of Learning

1. Encoding:

This is the process where we convert sensory perceptions (from sight, touch, or hearing) into meaningful representation in the brain. It is the first stage in the process of learning and this is exactly what happens when we listen to our lecturers or when we sit to read words printed on pages, interpreting them into something meaningful. However, the memory traces formed from encoding stays in our short term memory and is soon forgotten.

2. Consolidation:

This the process where the brain moves the new knowledge or information from short term memory to long term memory. The learning is reorganized, solidified and connected to a prior, related knowledge. During this stage, the brain tries to make full sense of what has been learnt and enhances the connection between the new knowledge and other related knowledge we’ve had. This process takes a period of time (which is why spaced practice is more effective than massed practice. Will be discussed later) and sleep is known to greatly help memory consolidation.

3. Retrieval:

Retrieval is the only way we can keep learning in our long term memory. Let it be known that forgetting is a normal and natural phenomenon and also a part of learning. Human brain does a great work of SELECTIVELY storing relevant information, skills and knowledge into our long term memory, the irrelevant details only stay in the short term memory and is forgotten.

For a knowledge to be durable, it has to be thoroughly comprehended, of practical importance and of emotional weight to us. But, for it to be remembered for a lifetime, it has to be continually retrieved. Retrieval practice as a study technique will be discussed later in this post.

Less effective but commonly used study strategies

Student commonly favour the following study techniques because they are easier to use and feel productive. However, every empirical research that have been made show how ineffective they are. Student often don’t realize these methods store learning in short term memory and is easily forgotten.

1. Massed Practice/ cramming.

This is the repeating of something you are trying to learn continually in order to burn it into memory. Most students who study this way do not make attempt to understand the underlying principle behind what they are studying. At its best, cramming stores the information in your short term memory which is why student crash read into an exam. A better approach is active recall and spaced repetition which will be discussed later.

2. Rereading.

Rereading a whole textbook after it had been read once is some sort of labour in vain for three reasons: it is time-consuming, it does not result in a durable memory, and it is self-deceptive.

3. Blocked practice.

This is when you try to study only one single thing, at a time, until it is mastered. Then, you move on to the next and study it till mastery. Blocked practice is not as effective as interleaved practice. It is better to mix your practice of one subject with that of another subject. For example, when you have two different subjects to study in two days, you should study both on both days instead of studying one the first day and the other on the second. Interleaved practice helps increase your ability to discriminated and differentiate different problem easily and will also force you to give some time for consolidation of both knowledge. Although this practice feels a little more difficult and ineffective, it actually produces better results. It is backed by scientific research.

Effective studying techniques.

These techniques require more effort and they are far more effective and productive than the commonly favoured methods above. One thing you should always keep in mind which is also backed by research evidence is that: effective studies is effortful and the more the effort put in studying, the better the result. When next you meet challenges in your studies, embrace them because they are part of the learning process.

1. Elaboration

This is the process of giving new materials meaning by expressing it in your own words and connecting it with related knowledge you already have. Mindlessly reading of words without grasping the idea it communicates is far from effective. Imagine reading a list of ten words in a sentence which you don’t know the meaning of or how they relate, you forget them almost immediately. However, the approach most student use to remedy such a situation is also not the best choice — they try to repeat the sentence continually until they start having the illusion of mastery and fluency.

What should you do instead?

Try to know what idea the sentence actually communicates. Reading with a dictionary to check unknown words is not a bad idea. Explaining what you’ve learnt to someone else will also help.

You should also know that new learning depends largely upon prior learning. The more you learn, the more possible connection we create for further learning. That’s why it always seems like that smart guy has no difficulty at all in studying. Truly, he might be blessed with good genes but the prior knowledge he’d had helps him grasps the new knowledge quickly.

I’m sorry, I love stories and I got to share this one: I remember when I was in secondary school, a classmate said in amusement “guy, are you a witch? How do understand mathematics so easily?” Well, I’m not a witch nor a genius. It just happened that I quite understood the basics of mathematics, so the complex ones didn’t prove too difficult to me. Plus, I was hardworking (I think I was)

2. Active recall/ testing/quizzing

This is the retrieving of knowledge or skill from our memory without peering into a book or the source of the information. This is exactly what we do during exams; we are instructed to provide answers to questions adapted from our course material.

What we are taught and what we believe is that we learn by shoving and shoving information into our head. But quite contradictorily, learning takes place the other way round. We best learn by first putting in information to our brain, then retrieving it. Stop trying to put in information without an attempt of retrieving it.

Generally, students tend to avoid active retrieval because it requires mental exertion. We find every possible means to avoid retrieving information from our brain (no wonders, we hate exams.)

I almost failed a test in my preliminary year because I was too lazy to practice retrieval, so I stuck to rereading which is far less effective. The course was a little abstract and I decided to reread it multiple times till I master it. Though a friend advised me to practice some past questions, I… When test results were out I was just a little above average while my friend did excellently well. I immediately realized my mistakes and solve as many past questions as I could before the exams. Behold, there was a great difference in my performance.

One other benefit of active recall, self-testing or quizzing is that it helps you realize what part of the material you are yet to fully understand and helps you focus on it instead of rereading of the whole material. I can’t overstress the importance of retrieval practice in learning for long term. Since you will retrieve learning from your brain in exams, why don't you do that before the exam?

Why does active recall work?

Anytime we make an effort (even if we fail at it) to retrieve information from our memory, it strengthens, consolidates, and gives more meaning to the information — helping us find connection between the information and other related information. Active recall also increases our ability to recall such information in the future. ANYTHING YOU WANT TO BE REMEMBERED MUST BE PERIODICALLY RECALLED FROM MEMORY.

How can you use active recall in your personal studies?

When next you read, take occasional breaks and ask yourself what you’ve read so far; ask yourself what the underlying concept is… This might take a little more of your time because you are likely to realize you don’t know a part of what you’ve studied yet and will force you to go back to check. But the good part of it is that it saves you the future stress of rereading the whole material.

Also, you should write yourself questions as you study and answer them later, practice questions provided at the end of each topic in the textbooks, solve past question, join brainstorming group where you will be quizzed by a friend, and so on. The ultimate goal is not to rely on reading only (it can give you some illusion of knowing). As you put in information, you should put greater efforts to bring it out. So doing, the learning will be durable and retained.

Spaced repetition

Spaced repetition is spreading out of the study of a topic and returning to it periodically over time. Instead of massed practice or cramming, use spaced repetition.

Don’t be deceived! No one reads once and remember it for a lifetime. Even doctors, lawyers and other professionals forget most of what they learn in undergrad unless they keep getting to them (ask your doctor). Don’t feel stupid when you fail to remember something after reading it once. It’s normal and there’s a scientific explanation for it. Have you heard of the forgetting curve?

Not long after studying a new material, 70% of it is lost. The remaining 30% falls off more slowly.

Therefore, for us to keep information in memory and available for us when we need it, we have to get back to it again and again in a spaced interval. The best way to use spaced repetition is combining it with a retrieval practice. That is, when you want to review a topic you’ve learnt after studying it once, you try to recall it from memory then do correction afterwards in a spaced interval.

How does spaced repetition works?

Anytime we actively recall information after first studies, we interrupt the forgetting curve and make the rate of forgetting that particular thing less exponential. If we try to recall that same information on a later date after allowing a little forgetting, we further interrupt the forgetting curve and by so doing, we keep most of the information at hand and available to be recalled during exam or whenever we need it.

How to use spaced repetition

After studying a material, try to retrieve from your memory what you have learnt in a spaced interval. How much time should you leave before recalling what you’ve learnt? You should leave enough time to allow some forgetting but not too much time to forget all you’ve studied.

For example, if I study a topic in anatomy, I can review the topic again the next day, then a week later and maybe months later depending on the difficulty of the topic I’m studying. Once I feel I’ve mastered the particular topic, I’ll get back to it occasionally. The goal is to allow some forgetting and recall the information from my memory. Then, check out for the part of the topic I’m yet to fully comprehend and study it. There’s an app which uses spaced repetition and active recall algorithm, Anki. You can check it out. It is available for androids and iPhone.

You should note that the time interval above is not a standard for spaced repetition. If I’m trying to memorize something abstract like names of past presidents and the time they spent as president, I obviously have to review it in shorter intervals of time. Do you get my point?

Advice to students

1. Effective learning is somewhat difficult; you should embrace difficulties in studies.

2. Develop a habit of regular retrieval practice throughout the duration of your course instead of pulling all-nighters or crash reading into your exam.

3. Active recall, quizzing, and self-testing are all good retrieval practice you should use.

4. Rereading and cramming is easier and feels like the right thing to do but research shows it is not, instead use active recall and spaced repetition.

5. Construct your time table such that you mix your subjects. Instead of studying only physics on Monday and only chemistry on Tuesday, study half of both on Monday and Tuesday.

Are you going to try these out? Do you find this any helpful? Please share, someone else might need to see this.

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