How to Study Effectively in Grad School (and elsewhere)
Bright students everywhere struggle to study effectively. They spend too much time reading and re-reading textbooks and journal articles, fixating on unimportant details, or feeling so overwhelmed that they avoid studying altogether. This is especially true for students in Master’s programs and course-based doctoral programs, where systems that worked before fail due to the sheer volume of material. Learning how to study using effective study techniques is vital to a lower-stress graduate school experience.
As an aside, we at Grad Student Success work primarily with current and aspiring graduate students. However, if you’re an undergraduate or high school student, read on because the science of how to study is the same regardless of your academic level.
An Exceptionally Brief Intro to Memory
To study more effectively and efficiently, having a basic understanding of the key steps of learning helps. This is a grossly simplified description of the complex, energy-demanding process of memory and learning. To read more, check out: Raslau, et al. Memory part 1: overview. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2014 vol. 35(11).1
There are four key steps in information processing, storage, and retrieval:
Information Exposure
Information Encoding
Information Retention
Information Recall
Exposure: Your brain receives information from your senses. When we talk about studying, we usually mean our eyes and ears, but even smell has a role.2
Encoding: Next, your brain must either 1) hold the information in short-term memory (which lasts only minutes) or 2) process the information and encode it into long-term memory for later use. The process of encoding includes scaffolding, where your brain looks for related knowledge already in your memory (the scaffold). If it finds something relevant, then your brain tries to link the new information to the existing scaffold. If your brain doesn’t find something relevant, then it must build a new scaffold. This requires more energy than using an existing scaffold, which is why it’s easier to learn more about a topic you already know something about than to learn something from scratch.
Retention: After information has been encoded, the brain needs to retain it. You can think of your memory like a road map. The pieces of information are the buildings, while the paths to get to each piece of information are the roads. Your conscious brain is the car, while your subconscious brain is the maintenance department. The more you travel a road to a building, the more important the maintenance department thinks the road is, and the better they maintain it. Unmaintained roads break down over time until they are unusable. If a building has no other roads leading to it, then it weathers away until it’s forgotten.
Recall: The final step in learning is recall. That is the process of retrieving the information you encoded during your study session. Each retrieval is a trip down the road to reach your destination.
Our brains are powerful, but they are not perfect. Sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes they take shortcuts without our permission. The information you process and retain depends on factors like existing scaffolding, fatigue, stress, etc. Recall can also be situation dependent, which is why you might ‘draw a blank’ when put on the spot, but remember the information later. The building is still there, but the road is under repair. That’s one of the things that happens to those with significant test anxiety, where the student struggles to recall information during the test as anxiety hijacks the road.
If you want to know how to study more effectively, keep in mind those four steps and the concept of scaffolding as we discuss which study techniques work and which don’t.
The Most Common Study Technique is Also the Least Effective
When we ask our students how they study, the most common answer we get is rereading course materials, textbooks, and journal articles. Rereading is the technique most of us learned in the absence of formal instruction on how to study effectively. Ironically, this is the least effective study technique.
Rereading works just enough to make it seem effective, and most people aren’t taught differently. The problem is that our brains mistake familiarity with knowledge. When you read and reread a section, it feels like you are learning it, but you are instead becoming more familiar with it. This can lead to a false sense of mastery that can betray you.
We don’t mean to suggest that rereading is completely ineffective. It does improve test scores.3 However, it only works well under certain conditions, and in terms of efficiency, the time spent rereading could be better spent using more effective study techniques. If you are using rereading as your study strategy, you will get the most out of your second reading. More than two readings of the same text provide almost no benefit. Further, research suggests that spaced rereading within 2 to 4 days is more effective than rereading the text on the first day or waiting longer than four days.
How Not to Study – Other Techniques to Avoid
In a systematic review aimed at improving student achievement, Dunlosky and colleagues evaluated 10 study techniques for evidence of utility and effectiveness. Of these techniques, five had low utility (including rereading), meaning they were difficult to employ, worked only under very specific conditions, or were ineffective altogether. These included some of the most commonly used study techniques. Including:
Highlighting (or underlining) – This is another commonly reported study technique. Findings from Dunlosky’s review of the literature found that this technique wasn’t associated with improvement in any of the learning conditions.
Summarization – A fair amount of research has examined writing summaries of text materials to be learned. That is, identifying and writing up key points while excluding unimportant or repetitive information. First, summaries must be written well for this technique to work. This can be a problem if there is a mismatch between what the student identifies as important and what the professor does. Second, graduate students have a large amount of information to encode and retain, including details that may be unimportant at lower levels of education, but are vital when developing mastery in a subject. This can take time that would have been better spent on more effective techniques. Finally, studies show little improvement in test scores after using summarization, so even in simple circumstances, it’s ineffective.
Keyword Mnemonic – Mnemonics rely on linking existing knowledge to new information (intentional scaffolding). For example, using the letters in a word or phrase as a link for key concepts. For example,Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge is a mnemonic for the lines on the treble clef in music (EGBDF). For rote memorization, mnemonics work. Problems arise when you spend too much time developing a mnemonic instead of using a more effective technique. Moreover, mnemonics aren’t always aligned with the type of information you are trying to learn, especially in graduate school. Finally, there is limited evidence of long-term retention when using this study technique. That means you’re likely to forget it shortly after you take the test. For students working to master a subject matter, long-term retention is important.
Imagery – Imagery is visualizing what you’re reading about when you study. Like mnemonics, imagery works under limited conditions. The information has to be easily visualizable, which is often not the case for graduate school topics. Moreover, successful usage may be correlated with a student’s visual-spatial skills, making it ineffective for students with lower visual-spatial abilities. However, research examining imagery as a study technique has been conducted mostly in primary school students. If you find imagery helpful, don’t stop because of this blog, but consider whether a different technique might be even more effective.
How to Study Effectively
Now that we’ve covered the techniques that don’t work and why, let’s talk about effective and efficient study techniques. Five study techniques have moderate to high utility. In increasing order of utility, we have… drum roll please…
Interleaved Practice [Moderate Utility] – Interleaved practice is a study condition where students practice types of problems or review topics mixed together, instead of grouping practice problems or topics by type (blocked practice).
Interleaved practice can be somewhat hard to envision. Dunlosky and colleagues describe it this way: …after a given kind of problem (or topic) has been introduced, practice should first focus on that particular problem. After the next kind of problem is introduced (e.g., during another lecture or study session), that problem should first be practiced, but it should be followed by extra practice that involves interleaving the current type of problem with others introduced during previous sessions (p.44). Because interleaved practice is a study condition, it can be combined with other study methods to optimize effectiveness.
One qualifying note – interleaved practice has the least amount of research, which is why it’s the lowest on the list of effective techniques.
Self-explanation [Moderate Utility] – Self-explanation is when students are asked to explain logical connections between concepts instead of being given a detailed explanation. For example, a biology student might be told that the movement of sodium and potassium ions across a cell membrane leads to muscle contraction, then given the chance to reason and explain how that could work before receiving the full explanation. A math student might be asked to explain the logic behind how they are going to solve a complex equation.
Self-explanation can be applied to almost any topic and can be self-applied. For example, you’re reading a textbook, and the topic sentence gives you the basic concept. You take the time to self-explain the logic before finishing the paragraph (or section) and confirming or refining your understanding.
One major drawback of this method is that it increases the time it takes to work through the materials. However, the time spent initially may decrease the amount of time needed to study later. You’ll have to use your best judgment to know what materials to use this technique with, so some experimentation may be needed to determine if and when this study strategy is for you.
Elaborative Interrogation [Moderate Utility] – Highly related to self-explanation, elaborative interrogation involves prompting a student to think of an explanation for an explicitly stated fact. From Dunlosky and colleagues: “Why would this fact be true of this [X] and not some other [X]?” (p. 8)
These kinds of prompts promote scaffolding by explicitly asking students to connect new knowledge with information they already know, thereby improving encoding and retention.
This strategy is particularly useful in group or paired study sessions, although you don’t need a partner. You can always explain something to your dog, a pillow, or your goldfish.
Distributed Practice [High Utility] – Distributive practice is another study condition. Like interleaved practice, it focuses on the timing of practice rather than the specific method. Distributed practice means spreading study periods over time, rather than cramming them all together.
You’ve probably heard that cramming doesn’t work. Cramming the night before might help you pass a test, but it doesn’t lead to long-term retention. Plus, it’s stressful, and there’s a maximum amount of information you can process at once. The alternative is distributed practice.
Distributive practice relies on what’s known as ‘the forgetting curve.’ The forgetting curve maps the amount of information retained over time. People tend to forget most of the information they are exposed to very quickly after they are first exposed. By taking advantage of timing, you can reexpose yourself at the optimal time to promote faster encoding and retention.
You’re probably asking what the ideal timing is for reexposure. The answer is the same day. If you can’t do it the same day, then the very next day. When I work with students to develop study skills, my first recommendation is to write down everything they can remember from a lecture as soon as possible after the lecture.
Let’s say a student has a 10 AM lecture and a 2 PM lecture. Ideally, they would spend 10 to 15 minutes writing down everything they can remember right after they’re dismissed, using the lecture notes/slides as a quick refresher. If the two courses were back-to-back, then the student should spend 20 – 30 minutes writing down what they can remember from both lectures immediately after the second lecture.
Notably, a study of this phenomenon reviewed by Dunlosky and colleagues found that reexposure after 30 days yielded the highest long-term retention. Combining the same-day memory dump with reexposure a month later will maximize your retention.
Practice Testing [High Utility] – This brings us to the most effective study technique with the largest body of research: practice testing. If you think about how memory works, it’s not surprising that practice testing is the most effective study technique. You’re traveling the road twice as much, to the destination and back. This signals to the brain that it’s a really important destination, so it needs to remember the route. Practice testing can involve completing practice problems, using flashcards, or completing practice tests provided by the instructor.
Putting It Altogether
Studies on how to study demonstrate several techniques that may require more effort initially, but result in improved retention and less time studying in the long run. Not every study technique is going to work in every situation or for every student, so mix and match techniques and discard what doesn’t work for you. Keep in mind both the techniques and how your brain processes and stores information for the best results.
One last example: Before a lecture, I skim the lecture slides. This helps with scaffolding and reexposes me to the materials in a different format during the lecture. After the lecture, I take time to jot down everything I can remember from it. Between 15 and 30 days later, I create flashcards. Creating the cards myself counts as reexposure, and I can use them as a practice test later. Finally, in the weeks leading up to the exam, I practice my flashcards as a self-testing procedure.
There are many ways to create a study plan, and what works in one semester might not in the next one (different subjects, class schedule, or test schedule). At the beginning of each semester, create a new study plan and stay flexible to maximize your learning while being more efficient. Happy Studying!
Wishing You All the Best in Your Academic Success. –Dr. Cristie Glasheen, Your Graduate Student Success Coach.
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Garcia-Ruiz, et al. (2021). An Overview of Olfactory Displays in Education and Training. Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 5(10). https://doi.org/10.3390/mti5100064↩︎
