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The key takeaways that you will take away are a selection of effective learning strategies and the evaluation of the various strategies as less, medium, very helpful. We also give you valuable tips for faster learning with Learnboost AI.
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Hey, you've probably decided to read this blog article because you're running out of time before the next exam. That's why we're starting right away. All content listed here can be considered secure. The basis is the studies of psychology professor John Dunlosky and the Department of University Didactics at the University of Zwickau.
In order to quickly pay tribute to the author of this helpful compilation, a few words about John Dunlosky:
In a complex process, he and his team have evaluated over 700 studies and experiments on learning techniques. The focus was on suitability for everyday use, transferability to different learners and promoting understanding. The result was surprising: The most frequently used learning techniques were less effective, while effective techniques were often unknown. The authors conclude that teachers should be encouraged to explicitly include learning techniques in their teaching and learning objectives in order to offer students the greatest possible benefit. The related study can be found here: the complete study (engl.).
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“Repeatedly reading” a text is considered one of the most popular learning techniques among students. Although learning doesn't have a clear definition, reading is often considered synonymous with learning. Students who read immerse themselves in the content and therefore seem to be learning. However, research shows that the effectiveness of “repeated reading” is rather low, which is often not questioned by students and teachers. The poor learning effects of “repeated reading” can be explained by the fact that this technique is often not particularly exciting and there is no active engagement with the content. With demanding texts, the reader can quickly digress and thus get no benefit from reading. However, the learning effect can be improved by spending a longer period of time between initial and repeated reading. Special training for this technique is usually not necessary.
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It is common practice among students to mark important parts of the learning material. But the effectiveness of the “highlighting and underlining” learning technique is limited, as learning researchers have discovered. While highlighting relevant aspects by highlighting can be a helpful approach, other techniques should be used to gain a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
The technology can even become counterproductive if students have difficulty identifying the most important points of a text or marking too many places. Applied unilaterally, it also weakens the ability to draw conclusions from complex texts. However, if teachers make the markings or students are specifically trained to differentiate between relevant facts, the technology can have a positive effect on learning. However, such trainings require a lot of time and commitment.
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Summaries of the learning material should cover the most important points or the core of the subject matter. Here, excerpts (excerpts from a text) are differentiated from accounts (clear, appropriate summary). This technique is also widely used among students and has been proven to be not particularly effective in order to be able to keep everything in mind just after creating a summary. This means that summaries alone won't get you far.
However, a concise and good summary is the best basis for compressing a large amount of content and making it even learnable. Therefore, the summary cannot be seen as the best form for exam preparation if it stands alone. However, it is usually indispensable as a basis for the further learning process. Many students therefore rightly rely on their laborious and carefully prepared summary.
So that this process remains as helpful as before, but less exhausting and time-consuming, you can learn hereBoost Get involved and create smart summaries with AI at the push of a button. Find out more at www.learnboost.tech.
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Combining learning material with keywords is a time-honored technique of the late 19th century. You probably also know them under the name “mnemonics.” Students usually use the technique of keywords as a last resort when completing learning tasks where the application of other techniques failed.
The technology appears to be particularly suitable for retaining information for a short time. Research results not only show that sustainable learning with this technology remains unmatched. Technology is even encouraging people to forget learning content. It's interesting, isn't it? It is assumed that the combination of keyword learning material competes with other links to the keyword and is displaced in the long term. In addition, it is not possible to find a suitable keyword for every subject of learning. This technique is simply not suitable for learning tasks that go beyond simply memorizing facts. Of course, there may be individual preferences and deviations here.
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This is a technique in which students try to find mental images of described phenomena or processes while reading or listening to texts. The aim is to exploit the effect that remembering concrete images is easier than abstract facts. However, the results of learning research are sobering for this technology.
Of course, students have advantages for using this learning technique, which make it easy to find mental images for a subject matter. A certain passion for imagination and specific situations increases the benefits of this learning technique. Otherwise, finding analogies or pictorial ideas of described situations and effects must first be extensively practiced. But the learning content also determines the resulting learning effect. Visualization is therefore more suitable for “image-friendly” learning materials. In an academic context with frequent abstract content, the technology will only be appropriate in a few cases. It can still help you memorize learning content.
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With this technique, learners ask themselves why a fact or concept should be correct while dealing with the subject matter. For example, the subject matter can be discussed at regular intervals with the question: “Why should that be true? “be backed up. This promotes an active, profound engagement with the subject matter.
The positive learning effects of the “extended survey” are proven in studies at least over short periods of time. However, whether sustainable learning effects can also be promoted with this technology remains an open question. In addition, effectiveness depends heavily on other factors. Students with extensive previous knowledge benefit significantly more from this technology.
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With this technique, students try to make the learning material understandable for themselves or explain something to themselves. And although the self-explanations are not always technically correct or appropriate, studies show good memory and problem-solving skills through the use of technology.
Studies show that the learning effect of self-explanations is relatively independent of the complexity of the learning material, the level of cognitive processing requirements and the characteristics of learners. Self-explanations promote the understanding of a subject matter, regardless of whether students provide spontaneous self-explanations or whether they are stimulated by teachers.
Learning the technique takes only a little time. However, the application of the technology takes a lot of time. Students must find causal arguments, recognize implications, make analogies, make comparisons, search for examples, or activate previous knowledge. It's best to simply try out for yourself whether the time investment is worthwhile compared to your learning performance. A tip for that by the way: it's probably the most fun in a study group.
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As a rule, the various learning contents are learned one after the other. Textbooks and courses are structured accordingly. However, “nested practice” involves jumping between different content and problems during a learning phase. The learning effect compared to thematically separated learning is remarkable.
It is interesting that students who learn learning content separately show faster success while learning. “Nested practitioners” students also score significantly better in exams. This effect is explained by the improved ability to switch between different tasks. In addition, “nested practice” tends to have lasting effects. Important note: In studies, the technique appears to be particularly effective in math subjects and less for practicing a foreign language.
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For most students, exams are one of the undesired necessities of the education system. Like most students, you would probably rather take a few exams than more. However, this fact overshadows the positive effects of tests and exams on learning. In self-tests, students test themselves using flash cards, problem solutions or test exams — all within a protected framework. Learning researchers describe self-tests as “all-purpose technology.”
Studies show that the positive learning effect of technology is reflected in short and long-term tests and can be proven regardless of the ability level of the students.
In addition to feedback on test results, self-surveys work particularly well when students rely entirely on their memory during the test phases (no tools) and when the self-tests are repeated until a subject has been learned. This can also be fun and work well in a study group with the right learning partner.
At first glance, the additional time required for self-questioning represents a reduction in learning time, so instead of making your own multiple choice test or exam questions, the tip is to use old exams. However, brainstorming questions for a self-designed test exam can also be a learning technique...
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Most learning techniques answer the question: What to do? The following technique discusses WHEN. This is because many students are not only in favour of cramming just before the exam (learning bulimia). That's right, many do that... They also consider these units to be effectively designed learning.
The conviction that you can start practicing and training shortly before the probation situation is shown almost exclusively in connection with (university) school. In other contexts, such as research or even in connection with sports activities, stakeholders assume that skills must be developed through continuous efforts over longer periods of time. No athlete only starts training the week before the competition.
Even though cramming just before the exam is still better than not studying at all, learning in such short periods of time cannot keep up with learning the content over longer periods of time. Cramming is not effective learning. A situation recorded in this way is forgotten very quickly. By contrast, a distribution of learning units over a longer period of time leads to an extreme increase (“incredible boost”) in the learning effect - without having to invest more time overall in learning.
That's why with Learnboost, we help you summarize your learning materials at the push of a button and create mind maps and flashcards. This gives you more (or even) time to study instead of just having to do the work beforehand.
The interval between learning and retrieving the material is decisive for learning over a longer period of time. If knowledge is available in a week, for example, it is recommended that the learning sessions be separated by 12 to 24 hours. If something is still to be remembered in five years, the meetings should be 6 to 12 months apart. Furthermore, the sustainability of student learning is determined by how thoroughly the learning material is processed in the sessions. The effect of “learning over a longer period of time” is therefore also determined by the learning techniques used in the learning phases. The combination with “repeated reading” or “highlighting and underlining” inhibits potentials. In conjunction with effective techniques such as “nested practice” or “self-testing”, the effect of “learning over a longer period of time” is strengthened.
Although the technology is suitable for very different learning materials, the learning effect is lower when it comes to complex tasks such as flying airplanes. (Interesting...)
The bundling of topics in textbooks and courses makes it difficult for students to apply “learning over a longer period of time.” As a rule, topics are discussed once and not taken up again. In addition, students tend to postpone annoying tasks (procrastination). The postponement of study time until shortly before the exam is a result of this. It is therefore best to see for yourself how effective the techniques are. And as they always say: “Practice makes perfect”, sometimes it takes a bit for a learning technique to work well for you.
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With this in mind, good luck with your further learning and it is best to check for yourself which techniques work well for you and which don't. Sometimes trying out a new learning technique at the beginning can be more exhausting than saving time and work and making learning easier. It's best to use a long-term advantage in trying things out as motivation. It also certainly makes sense that not all learning techniques used at the same time are the measure of all things. Just use this collection as if it were a good toolbox and leave behind what you don't need. (You wouldn't hammer a nail into the wall with a screwdriver...)
If you want to save yourself even more time, we can use our study tool LearnBoost recommend (free testing is always possible). This allows you to create summaries, mind maps and flashcards with AI at the push of a button and can use them directly as a basis for applying the listed learning strategies. Incomprehension and questions can also be solved with Learn's AI tutorBoost clarify. Good luck!
“A toolbox that can save you before your next exam.”
