This guide is for a student, or the parent of one, who studies hard and still forgets material by exam week: a secondary school student facing a run of tests, a university student juggling five modules, an adult learner taking a professional certificate in the evenings. The usual approach of rereading notes and highlighting feels productive but produces disappointing results. Education research points to a few different habits that help material stick, and none of them takes more time.
Where the advice comes from
The US Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the Department of Education, publishes practice guides through its What Works Clearinghouse. Its guide Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning sets out recommendations drawn from research in cognitive science. Several translate directly into how a student can study:
- Space learning over time
- Interleave worked example solutions with problem-solving exercises
- Combine graphics with verbal descriptions
- Use quizzing to promote learning
- Ask deep explanatory questions
The guide was written for teachers, but each recommendation has a version a student can apply alone.
1. Space your study out
The first recommendation is to space learning over time. In practice, that means reviewing material several times, with gaps in between, rather than in one long session.
Why cramming disappoints
A single long session the night before can get you through a test the next morning, but much of the material fades quickly. Returning to it after a few days, and again after a week or two, makes memories more durable.
How to space
- After a lesson or lecture, review the notes briefly the same day or the next
- Review again a few days later
- Review again after a week or two
- Keep returning to older topics while learning new ones
A simple calendar or a flashcard app that schedules reviews for you makes this automatic.
2. Test yourself, do not just reread
The IES guide recommends using quizzing to promote learning and describes using quizzes with active retrieval at all phases of learning, because retrieval itself helps create long-lasting memories. It also recommends using tests and quizzes to identify content that still needs to be learned.
What self-testing looks like
- Close the book and write down everything you remember about a topic, then check
- Use flashcards with a question on one side and the answer on the other
- Answer the questions at the end of each chapter before looking at the answers
- Do past papers under timed conditions
- Explain a concept out loud to a friend, a parent or an empty room
Why it feels harder
Testing yourself is more effortful than rereading, and you will get things wrong. That effort and the mistakes are part of why it works. Rereading creates a feeling of familiarity that is easy to confuse with knowing.
Rereading feels like learning. Testing yourself is what actually builds memory.
3. Mix worked examples with practice problems
For maths, sciences, economics and other problem-based subjects, the guide recommends interleaving worked example solutions with problem-solving exercises.
How to apply it
1. Study a fully worked example, understanding why each step is taken.
2. Try a similar problem on your own.
3. Check your answer against a worked solution.
4. Alternate examples and problems, gradually relying less on examples.
Mixing different types of problems within a practice session, instead of doing twenty of the same type in a row, also forces you to choose the right method each time, which is what exams demand.
4. Combine words and pictures
The guide recommends combining graphics with verbal descriptions. Diagrams, timelines, flowcharts and labelled sketches, paired with a written or spoken explanation, help many learners understand and remember.
Ideas by subject
| Subject | Visual to pair with words |
|---|---|
| Biology | Labelled diagrams of processes such as photosynthesis |
| History | Timelines with causes and consequences annotated |
| Chemistry | Reaction diagrams with each step explained |
| Literature | Character maps with key quotations |
| Economics | Supply and demand graphs with a sentence on each shift |
| Languages | Picture flashcards with example sentences |
Drawing your own diagram from memory, then checking it, combines this method with self-testing.
5. Ask why and how
The guide recommends prompts that encourage students to pose and answer deep-level questions, the kind that call for explanations rather than single facts.
Questions to ask yourself
- Why does this happen?
- How does this connect to what I learned last week?
- What would happen if one condition changed?
- What is the evidence for this?
- How would I explain this to someone younger?
Answering these in writing, even briefly, turns passive notes into understanding.
Making flashcards that work
Flashcards combine self-testing and spacing, but only if they are made well.
- One idea per card. A card asking for a whole process is hard to grade; split it into steps.
- Write questions, not headings. “What does the mitochondrion do?” beats “Mitochondria”.
- Say the answer before flipping. Recognising the answer after you see it is not the same as recalling it.
- Sort by confidence. Cards you know go to a pile you review less often; cards you miss come back soon.
- Make them yourself. Writing the card is a first round of processing the material.
Common study traps
- Highlighting most of the page. If everything is highlighted, nothing stands out. Turn headings into questions instead.
- Rewriting notes neatly. Copying feels productive but involves little recall. Summarise from memory instead.
- Studying only what you like. Spend extra time on the weakest topics your mistakes list reveals.
- Leaving past papers to the end. Use them early to find gaps while there is time to fix them.
A weekly study plan
Here is a template combining the methods. Adjust times to your schedule.
| Day | Activity | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Review Monday’s classes; make flashcards | 30 min |
| Tuesday | Self-test on last week’s topics; review Tuesday’s classes | 40 min |
| Wednesday | Practice problems mixing topics | 40 min |
| Thursday | Draw diagrams from memory; check and correct | 30 min |
| Friday | Flashcard review of everything due | 20 min |
| Saturday | Timed past-paper questions on older topics | 60 min |
| Sunday | Rest, or a light review and planning for next week | 15 min |
The key features are short daily sessions, regular returns to older material and most time spent recalling, not rereading.
Habits that support good study
Protect sleep
Late-night cramming costs sleep, and sleep plays a role in consolidating memory. A consistent bedtime in exam season is part of the plan, not a luxury.
Remove distractions
Put your phone in another room during study blocks. Even a silent phone on the desk competes for attention.
Work in focused blocks
Try 25 to 50 minutes of focused work followed by a short break. Short, frequent sessions fit spacing naturally.
Keep a mistakes list
Write down every question you get wrong and the reason. Retest those first in your next session.
Studying in a group
Group study works best when it is built around retrieval: members take turns quizzing each other or explaining a topic without notes, and the group corrects mistakes together. Sessions that drift into rereading notes side by side add little.
Advice for parents
Parents can help without becoming tutors. Ask children to explain what they learned today, quiz them with their flashcards, and encourage short daily reviews instead of long weekend sessions. Praise effort and strategy, such as “you tested yourself on that”, rather than only results.
Study methods checklist
- Reviews scheduled after one day, a few days and a week or two
- Flashcards or a spaced-repetition app set up
- Self-testing used more than rereading
- Worked examples alternated with practice problems
- Problem types mixed within sessions
- Diagrams paired with written explanations
- “Why” and “how” questions answered in writing
- Mistakes list kept and retested
- Phone out of the room during study
- Regular sleep schedule protected
Takeaway
The IES practice guide points students towards a handful of methods: space study over time, quiz yourself, mix worked examples with practice, pair pictures with words and ask deeper questions. They feel harder than rereading and highlighting, which is a sign they are working. Short daily sessions built around recall will beat a long night of cramming.
