1.

SQ3R Method: The SQ3R method is a reading comprehension technique that helps
students identify important facts and retain information within their textbook. SQ3R (or
SQRRR) is an acronym that stands for the five steps of the reading comprehension
process. Try these steps for a more efficient and effective study session:
a. Survey: Instead of reading the entire book, start by skimming the first chapter and
taking notes on any headings, subheadings, images, or other standout features like
charts.
b. Question: Formulate questions around the chapter’s content, such as, What is this
chapter about? What do I already know about this subject?
c. Read: Begin reading the full chapter and look for answers to the questions you
formulated.
d. Recite: After reading a section, summarize in your own words what you just read. Try
recalling and identifying major points and answering any questions from the second
step.
e. Review: Once you have finished the chapter, it’s important to review the material to
fully understand it. Quiz yourself on the questions you created and re-read any
portions you need to.
2. Retrieval Practice: Retrieval practice is based on the concept of remembering at a later
time. Recalling an answer to a question improves learning more than looking for the
answer in your textbook. And, remembering and writing down the answer to a flashcard
is a lot more effective than thinking you know the answer and flipping the card over
early. If you practice retrieval, you are more likely to remember the information later on.
Below are some ways you can implement the retrieval process into your study routine.
a. Utilize practice tests: Use practice tests or questions to quiz yourself, without looking
at your book or notes.
b. Make your own questions: Be your own teacher and create questions you think would
be on a test. If you’re in a study group, encourage others to do the same, and trade
questions.
c. Use flashcards: Create flashcards, but make sure to practice your retrieval technique.
Instead of flipping a card over prematurely, write the answer down and then check.
3. Spaced practice: It (also known as “distributed practice”) encourages students to study
over a longer period of time instead of cramming the night before. When our brains
almost forget something, they work harder to recall that information. Spacing out your
studying allows your mind to make connections between ideas and build upon the
knowledge that can be easily recalled later.
To try this technique, review your material in spaced intervals similar to the schedule
below:
a. Day 1: Learn the material in class.
b. Day 2: Revisit and review.
c. Day 3: Revisit and review.
d. After one week: Revisit and review.
 e. After two weeks: Revisit and review.
4. PQ4R Method: This method takes an active approach to learning that improves
memorization and understanding of the topic. Similar to the SQ3R method above, PQ4R
is an acronym that stands for the six steps in the process.
a. Preview: Preview the information before you start reading to get an idea of the
subject. Skim the material and read only the headers, subheadings, and highlighted
text.
b. Question: Ask yourself questions related to the topic, such as, What do I expect to
learn? What do I already know about this topic?
c. Read: Read the information one section at a time and try to identify answers to your
questions.
d. Reflect: Did you answer all of your questions? If not, go back and see if you can find
the answer.
e. Recite: In your own words, either speak or write down a summary of the information
you just read.
f. Review: Look over the material one more time and answer any questions that have
not yet been answered.
5. Feynman Technique: The Feynman Technique is an efficient method of learning a
concept quickly by explaining it in plain and simple terms. It’s based on the idea, “If you
want to understand something well, try to explain it simply.” What that means is, by
attempting to explain a concept in our own words, we are likely to understand it a lot
faster.
a. Write the subject/concept you are studying at the top of a sheet of paper.
b. Then, explain it in your own words as if you were teaching someone else.
c. Review what you wrote and identify any areas where you were wrong. Once you
have identified them, go back to your notes or reading material and figure out the
correct answer.
d. Lastly, if there are any areas in your writing where you used technical terms or
complex language, go back and rewrite these sections in simpler terms for someone
who doesn’t have the educational background you have.
6. Leitner System: The Leitner System is a learning technique based on flashcards. Ideally,
you keep your cards in several different boxes to track when you need to study each set.
Every card starts in Box 1. If you get a card right, you move it to the next box. If you get
a card wrong, you either move it down a box or keep it in Box 1 (if it’s already there).
Each box determines how much you will study each set of cards, similar to the following
schedule:
a. Every day — Box 1
b. Every two days — Box 2
c. Every four days — Box 3
d. Every nine days — Box 4
e. Every 14 days — Box 5
7. Color-Coded Notes: Messy notes can make it hard to recall the important points of a
lecture. Writing in color is a dynamic way to organize the information you’re learning. It
also helps you review and prioritize the most important ideas.
A recent study found that color can improve a person’s memory performance. That same
study found that warm colors (red and yellow) “can create a learning environment that is
positive and motivating that can help learners not only to have a positive perception
toward the content but also to engage and interact more with the learning materials.” It
also reported that warmer colors “increase attention and elicit excitement and
information.”
Writing in color may seem like a no-brainer, but keep these tips in mind:
a. Write down key points in red.
b. Highlight important information in yellow.
c. Organize topics by color.
d. Don’t color everything—just the most important information.
8. Mind Mapping: If you’re a visual learner, try mind mapping, a technique that allows you
to visually organize information in a diagram. First, you write a word in the center of a
blank page. From there, you write major ideas and keywords and connect them directly to
the central concept. Other related ideas will continue to branch out.
The structure of a mind map is related to how our brains store and retrieve information.
Mind mapping your notes instead of just writing them down can improve your reading
comprehension. It also enables you to see the big picture by communicating the hierarchy
and relationships between concepts and ideas.
So, how do you do it?
a. Grab a blank sheet of paper (or use a tool online) and write your study topic in the
center, such as “child development.”
b. Connect one of your main ideas (i.e., a chapter of your book or notes) to the main
topic, such as “developmental stages.”
c. Connect sub-branches of supporting ideas to your main branch. This is the association
of ideas. For example, “Sensorimotor,” “Preoperational,” “Concrete operational,” and
“Formal operational.”
d. TIP: Use different colors for each branch and draw pictures if it helps.
9. Exercise Before Studying: Not only does exercise fight fatigue, but it can also increase
energy levels. If you’re struggling to find the motivation to study, consider adding an
exercise routine to your day. It doesn’t have to be a full hour at the gym. It can be a 20-
minute workout at home or a brisk walk around your neighborhood. Anything to get your
heart rate pumping. Exercising before you study:
a. Kickstarts brain function and can help improve memory and cognitive performance.
b. Releases endorphins, which can improve your mood and reduce stress levels.
10. Study Before Bed: Sleep is crucial for brain function, memory formation, and learning.
Studying before you sleep, whether it is reviewing flashcards or notes, can help improve
recall. According to Scott Cairney, a researcher from the University of York in the United
 Kingdom, “When you are awake you learn new things, but when you are asleep you
refine them, making it easier to retrieve them and apply them correctly when you need
them most. This is important for how we learn but also for how we might help retain
healthy brain functions.”
When you’re asleep, the brain organizes your memories. Instead of pulling an all-nighter,
study a few hours before bed and then review the information in the morning.
No one wants to spend more time studying than they need to. Learning effective study
techniques can ensure you are fully prepared for your exams and will help curve any
looming test anxiety. Hopefully, with the techniques above, you can avoid cramming the
night before and make your study time more effective. For more tips, download the
infographic below.
11. Interleaving practice: Students may rely on blocked practice, studying a set of problems
—such as multiplication problems—as a group until they feel mastery. A more effective
method of studying is to work on a set of problems that are related but not all of the same
kind—for example, a set of math word problems that call for addition, subtraction,
multiplication, or division. The consecutive problems cannot be solved with the same
strategy. This is more effective than doing one multiplication problem after another.
12. Pomodoro Technique: The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method that has
been proven to boost productivity and improve study habits. But where did the name
“Pomodoro” come from? The technique was developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late
1980s, and he named it after the Italian word for tomato. This is because Cirillo used a
tomato-shaped kitchen timer to track his work intervals, and the name “Pomodoro” has
stuck ever since. With the traditional Pomodoro technique, one work interval is 25
minutes long and is followed by a 5 to 10-minute break. You use these 25 minutes for
pure, undistracted work where you stay 100% committed to the task at hand. And once
your 25 minutes are up, you take your 5 to 10-minute break. You then repeat this about
four times, and after that, you take a much longer break (here is when you can do some
exercise, meditate, walk your dog, or take a nap).
13. Dual Coding: Dual coding is the process of combining verbal materials with visual
materials. There are many ways to visually represent material, such as with infographics,
timelines, cartoon strips, diagrams, and graphic organizers.
When you have the same information in two formats - words and visuals - it gives you
two ways of remembering the information later on. Combining these visuals with words
is an effective way to study.
When you are looking over your class materials, find visuals that go along with the
information and compare the visuals directly to the words. Ask yourself, how are the
words describing what is in the visuals? How do the visuals represent what is described
in the text? Now, look at only the visuals and explain what they mean in your own words.
Then, take the words from your class materials and draw your own visuals to go along
with them! Certain types of visuals work very well with certain types of materials. For
example, a timeline may work well for remembering history, and a diagram may work
 very well with biology. But, get creative while drawing the visuals. You do not need to
reproduce the exact visuals you see in your class materials. Just make sure the visual
depicts what you are seeing in words from your class materials. After you have compared
visuals and words describing the idea you are trying to learn, it’s time to start retrieving
the information on your own. Work your way up to the point where you can put away
your class materials and both write out the ideas in words and draw pictures, diagrams, or
other graphics to go along with them. Check out this post for more on retrieval practice.
14. Elaborative Interrogation: It involves the student in generating an explanation for why an
explicitly stated fact or concept is true. Elaborative interrogation (EI) resembles self-
explanation in that both are based on integrating new information with prior knowledge.
However, the focus of EI is prompting students to generate an explanation for an
explicitly stated fact by questions like, “Why is this true?”, “Why does it make sense that
… ?”, “Why would this fact be true of this [X] and not some other [X]?” EI involves
discerning both similarities and differences or distinctiveness between concepts.
Examples
a. Use reading quizzes that embed EI prompts. Embed EI prompts in articles and
chapters that students read for class. These can be given as low-stakes quizzes.
b. Embed EI prompts in screencasts. Screencasts can be an effective way to present
material outside of class. It is possible with some screencast tools to insert questions.
c. Include EI questions as part of class discussion and small group work.
15. Mnemonics strategy:
a. Keyword Mnemonics: Studying a second (or third or fourth) language? Using the
keyword mnemonic method improves learning and recall, especially in the area of
foreign language.
Here's how the keyword method works:
(i) First, you choose a keyword that somehow cues you to think of the foreign
word.
(ii) Then, you imagine that keyword connected with the meaning of the word
you're trying to learn.
(iii) The visualization and association should trigger the recall of the correct
word.1
For example, if you're trying to learn the Spanish word for cat, which is gato, first
think of a gate and then imagine the cat sitting on top of the gate. Even though the "a"
sound in gato is short and the "a" sound in gate is long, the beginnings are similar
enough to help you remember the association between gate and cat and to recall the
meaning of gato.
b. Chunking as a Mnemonic Strategy: Chunking or grouping information is a mnemonic
strategy that works by organizing information into more easily learned groups,
phrases, words, or numbers. Phone numbers, Social Security, and credit cards are
organized using chunking. For example, memorizing the following number:
47895328463 will likely take a fair amount of effort. However, if it is chunked like
 this: 4789 532 8463, it becomes easier to remember. Interestingly, chunking is one of
several mnemonic strategies that have been studied in people with mild Alzheimer's
disease. Results from these studies concluded that chunking can be helpful in
improving verbal working memory in the early stages of dementia.
c. Musical Mnemonics: One way to successfully encode the information into your brain
is to use music. A well-known example is the "A-B-C" song, but there's no end to
what you can learn when it's set to music. You can learn the names of the countries of
Africa, science cycles, memory verses, math equations, and more. If you search
online, you'll find that there are some songs already created specifically to help teach
certain information, and for others, you'll have to make up your own. And no, you
don't have to be able to carry a tune or write the music out correctly for this
mnemonic method to work. Music can be a helpful memory tool for people with mild
cognitive impairment.
d. Letter and Word Mnemonic Strategies: Acronyms and acrostics are typically the most
familiar type of mnemonic strategies. Acronyms use a simple formula of a letter to
represent each word or phrase that needs to be remembered. For example, think of the
NBA, which stands for the National Basketball Association. Or, if you're trying to
memorize four different types of dementia, you might use this acronym: FLAV, which
would represent frontotemporal, Lewy body, Alzheimer's, and vascular. Notice that I
ordered the list in such a way to more easily form a "word," which you would not do
if the list you need to memorize is ordered. An acrostic uses the same concept as the
acronym except that instead of forming a new "word," it generates a sentence that
helps you remember the information. An often-used acrostic in math class is: Please
Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. This acrostic mnemonic represents the order of
operations in algebra and stands for parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division,
addition, and subtraction.
e. Rhymes as Mnemonic Strategies:
"Hey diddle diddle. The cat and the fiddle..." Can you finish the rest of this nursery
rhyme? The ability to memorize and remember nursery rhymes is often due in part to
repetition and in part to rhyming. Rhyming words can be used as a mnemonic to help
us learn and recall information. Sometimes, you can rearrange words or substitute a
different word with the same meaning to make them rhyme. Take the familiar spelling
rule: "i" before "e," except after "c," or in sounding like "ay" as in "neighbor" or
"weigh." This phrase sticks in our memories because we've heard it multiple times but
also because of the rhyming within it.
f. Making Connections as a Mnemonic Method: One mnemonic strategy that helps
encode new information is to connect it with something else that you already are
familiar with or know. This gives it meaning and makes it easier to remember.
Making connections is a type of elaborative rehearsal and can be applied to almost
any subject or type of information.
 For example, imagine that you are just introduced to someone named Jeffery. Rather
than mentally zipping past his name, pay attention and think about how you can
remember it.
Perhaps you notice that Jeffery is very energetic, so you can imagine him jumping
around his work and connect Jeffrey with jumping. The next time you see him. you'll
think, "There's 'Jumping Jeffery,' and you can say hello by name." (Don't forget to
leave the word "jumping" off his name when you greet him.)
g. Method of Loci Mnemonic Strategy: The method of loci (pronounced low-sigh) is
arguably the earliest identified mnemonic in history. It is first attributed to Simonides
of Ceos, a Greek poet, in 477 BC. It's also one of the most researched mnemonics,
demonstrating strong success across a wide spectrum of academic subjects and life
situations.
How does it work?
a. The learner visualizes a room or a familiar path through a building.
b. The learner mentally associates facts or information with specific locations or
objects along the way.
c. In order to recall what they learned, they re-visualize moving through that room
or along that path, and each stop along the way triggers another piece of
information.
This method is also called the journey method, creating a "memory palace" or the
mental walk strategy. Research ranging from medical students learning about diabetes
to college students remembering grocery lists shows significant improvements when
the method of loci is used.
h. Peg Method Mnemonics: The peg method is an especially useful mnemonic for
remembering sequenced information. If first requires that you memorize the
following list in help you order the facts:
 one = bun
 two = shoe
 three= tree
 four = door
 five = hive
 six = sticks
 seven = heaven
 eight = gate
 nine = vine
 ten = hen

After memorizing this list, look over the new information that you are trying to
learn. Then, connect the first word to "bun," the second word to "shoe," the third
word to "tree," etc. The goal is to make a memorable connection with each new
 piece of information you need to memorize. For example, let's imagine you need
to learn the scientific classification system - Kingdom; Phylum or Division; Class;
Order; Family; Genus; Species. Using the peg system, you'll first think of a
kingdom placed on a hamburger bun. Then, you'll imagine the mathematical
division sign inside a shoe. Next, you'll picture a classroom perched on a tree
branch. And so on. This method allows you to recall both the specific piece of
information and the correct order in which it needs to be placed.
i. The Mnemonic Linking System (Stories or Images): The mnemonic linking method
(also called "chaining") consists of developing a story or image that connects together
pieces of information you need to remember. Each item leads you to recall the next
item. For example, imagine that you need to remember to bring the following things
with you to school in the morning: homework papers, glasses, gym shoes, wallet,
lunch money, and keys. Using the linking system, you can think of the following
short story to help you: Jack's homework papers put on their glasses and gym shoes
and ran over to his wallet where his hungry keys were eating his lunch money. If you
add interesting details or humor, it often makes the information easier to remember.