No matter how accomplished we may be, there are always things we need to learn. For many of us, this process can be quite painful. Fortunately, science is helping us understand the difference between effective methods and those that simply appear to be effective.
To me, the most surprising finding was that re-reading your notes is a highly inefficient way to study! While it was the most common method cited by most students, here is what the researchers actually found:
"On your first reading of something, you extract a lot of understanding. But when you do the second reading, you read with a sense of 'I know this, I know this.' So basically, you're not processing it deeply, or picking more out of it. Often, the re-reading is cursory — and it's insidious, because this gives you the illusion that you know the material very well, when in fact there are gaps."
The research found that it was much more effective to ask yourself questions or to link the information to other knowledge that you might have. Even flashcards were found to be more effective than re-reading notes.
Here is a link to the full article detailing ways to improve your studies: Re-reading is inefficient. Here are 8 tips for studying smarter. - Vox
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