Building Strong Study Skills Series: Elaborative Interrogation

Note: This series details how to study smarter, not harder, to help students succeed in their academics. All information in this series draws upon principles from psychological research on learning and memory.

The other day, one of my high school students asked, “Where does wind come from?” My student had taken chemistry and physics already, so I helped him find the answer by asking him these questions:

“How does uneven heating of the earth create changes in air pressure? How do these changes in air pressure create wind?”

Together, we found that uneven heating patterns lead to high and low pressure patches of air around the globe. A rush of air, or wind, is created because air travels from high pressure to low pressure areas to reach equilibrium.

My student and I practiced elaborative interrogation, or using “how” and “why” questions to enhance memory and understanding of course material.

Proper Technique

Use “how” and “why” questions to study your course material. For example, say that you are learning about the greenhouse effect. A good question to ask is “How does the greenhouse effect cause global warming?” And you may answer, “Sunlight reflected from the earth’s surface is prevented by greenhouse gasses from leaving the atmosphere. This retained heat leads to warmer temperatures.”

Tips for Success

This technique works best for memorizing concepts related to processes, events, and people. Elaborative interrogation may be difficult or nonsensical to use for other topics.

Elaborative interrogation is only effective when the student has background knowledge on the subject to accurately answer their self-created questions. If a student creates incorrect answers, the point is lost.

Why It Works

Elaborative interrogation works by activating prior knowledge and connecting new knowledge to it. Think of your memory as a giant web of information. If a new piece of information fits nicely with an existing strand of knowledge, then it will stick better. But if your new knowledge has no strand to stick to, then it may get lost easily.

Summary

Elaborative interrogation is a helpful study technique, especially for memorizing and understanding information related to people, places, and processes. Students of all ages can use it. If you don’t have any prior knowledge on a subject, however, it may be difficult to answer questions or to come up with questions in the first place. It’s an easy method to use, so try it out for your next test!

Read Other Articles in The Building Strong Study Skills Series

Sources:

• Terry, W.S. (2018). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, Fifth Edition. New York, Routledge, a Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-13-864591-2.
• Rhodes, M.G., Cleary, A.M. and DeLosh, E.L. (2020). A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-021447-0 (pbk).

Building Strong Study Skills Series: Self-Explanation

Note: This series details how to study smarter, not harder, to help students succeed in their academics. All information in this series draws upon principles from psychological research on learning and memory.

How often do you teach material to yourself as if you are the teacher? Have you ever explained a concept to yourself to check your understanding? Have you ever presented a PowerPoint to yourself?

These techniques are considered self-explanation study skills. To define the term, self-explanation is when you explain course material to yourself.

Proper Technique

Study a topic or several topics in your course and then explain those topics to yourself. You may choose to explain the techniques verbally or through writing.

Pull up your teacher’s slides and present them to yourself as if you are the teacher. Or make an outline of all the headings and subheadings in a certain chapter in your textbook and use them as a guide to explain the textbook in your own words. Or explain a tricky concept to yourself after reading about it.

Beware

Self-explanation is not helpful if your explanations are coming straight from texts. Your explanation must come from your own brain and in your own words to be effective!

Why It Works

Self-explanation is a powerful and effective tool for several reasons.

This study skill helps students identify connections between ideas they have learned so far in their course. Drawing these connections is crucial to gaining a deeper understanding of the material.

Being able to explain a topic in your own words demonstrates a certain level of mastery. If you are able to explain a subject simply, clearly, and unscripted then you likely understand the material pretty well.

On the flipside, self-explanation is also a sure-fire way to identify gaps in knowledge or understanding. If you can’t explain a concept or if your explanation sounds “off,” then you will know instantly that you need to refer to your notes or textbook to improve your understanding.

Summary

Self-explanation is a powerful study technique that is easy to implement, but isn’t enough alone to ensure you are retaining material. It should be used in conjunction with interleaving and other helpful study techniques that will be detailed in coming installments of this series.

Keep up with our weekly Building Strong Study Skills series to learn the most effective study strategies and succeed in your academics. Schedule a session with one of our expert tutors today to receive all the information and guidance you need to gain a deeper understanding of your academics and perform better on your tests! Building effective study habits takes time, so the sooner you get help, the better prepared you will be by the time finals roll around.

Read Other Articles in The Building Strong Study Skills Series

Sources:

• Terry, W.S. (2018). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, Fifth Edition. New York, Routledge, a Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-13-864591-2.
• Rhodes, M.G., Cleary, A.M. and DeLosh, E.L. (2020). A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-021447-0 (pbk).

Building Strong Study Skills Series:
Interleaved Studying

Note: This series details how to study smarter, not harder, to help students succeed in their academics. All information in this series draws upon principles from psychological research on learning and memory.

How do you break up your studying when reviewing several different subjects? Do you study one subject for an hour and then switch to the next? Do you study for one subject on one day and another subject on a different day? This method is called blocked practice.

Now that we’ve gotten the worst study techniques out of the way, we will discuss effective study techniques. Today we talk about interleaved studying. Interleaving involves alternating between two or more subjects in a single study session. You can use interleaving for academics, music, and art!

Benefits of Interleaving

Compared to the blocked practice, you can retain information better with interleaving, acquire skills more effectively, and improve your abilities. These phenomena are part of the interleaving effect.

How to Interleave

To interleave your assigned readings, you may alternate between reading your physics book and your math book. Similarly, to interleave piano practice, you may switch between perfecting your performance piece, working on your technique workbook, and learning theory. To interleave illustration practice, you may rotate between using pen and ink, watercolor, and acrylics.

Interleave Properly

Everyone is different, so you have to practice interleaving to find what works best for you! But here are some general guidelines:

• Typically, interleaving works best when you study each topic  for about 15 minutes before switching to the next. But this number ranges from 10-30 minutes depending on the person and subject. And, interleaving various subjects may look different. For example, interleaving readings may work best when you spend 15 minutes on each, whereas interleaving math and physics problems may work best when you spend 10 minutes on each.

• Interleaving works best if you alternate between similar subjects, not identical ones, but also ones that aren’t too different. For example, it is more useful to interleave, say, math and chemistry than math and history. You could even interleave chemistry practice problems in thermodynamics and electrochemistry.

• Interleaving is usually best when alternating between 2-3 subjects, but not more than that.

Warning

Interleaving is challenging – especially at first. Many students give up because they think they learned less in interleaving practice than in their blocked practice. And they very well may have had less success when they were getting used to the new study skill. However, once students get the hang of interleaving, they are more likely to retain the material.

Summary

Although interleaving can be challenging for beginners, it is more effective for retaining material, mastering skills, and improving your abilities. Although interleaving is effective, it shouldn’t be your only study skill. It should be used in conjunction with other study techniques that will be detailed in coming installments of this series.

Keep up with our weekly Building Strong Study Skills series to learn the most effective study strategies and succeed in your academics. Schedule a session with one of our expert tutors today to receive all the information and guidance you need to gain a deeper understanding of your academics and perform better on your tests! Building effective study habits takes time, so the sooner you get help, the better prepared you will be by the time finals roll around.

Read Other Articles in The Building Strong Study Skills Series

Sources:

• Terry, W.S. (2018). Learning and Memory: Basic Principles, Processes, and Procedures, Fifth Edition. New York, Routledge, a Taylor and Francis Group. ISBN 978-1-13-864591-2.
• Rhodes, M.G., Cleary, A.M. and DeLosh, E.L. (2020). A Guide to Effective Studying and Learning: Practical Strategies from the Science of Learning. New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-021447-0 (pbk)