Study Techniques That Improve Long-Term Retention

Studying for a test and actually learning material aren’t always the same thing.

A student might review a chapter several times the night before an exam, remember enough to get through the test, and then struggle to recall the same information a few weeks later. That approach might work in the short term, but it can create problems when classes become more cumulative and students need to build on what they learned earlier.

Effective studying should help students understand information, recall it when they need it, and connect new material to what they already know. Here are several techniques students can use to make that happen.

Practice Active Recall

One of the simplest ways to make studying more active is to stop looking at the material and try to remember it.

After reading a section of a textbook or reviewing class notes, close the book and ask yourself what you remember. Try writing down the main ideas without checking your notes, or explain a concept aloud as though you’re teaching it to someone else.

This is much different from simply rereading a chapter. Instead of recognizing information that’s already in front of you, you’re practicing retrieving it from memory. Explaining what you’ve learned in your own words can also help you think through the material and make connections that make sense to you. This can make it easier to recall and apply that information later on a quiz or exam.

You can also use active recall to identify what you don’t know. If you can easily explain three concepts but can’t remember a fourth, you know exactly where to spend more of your study time.

Space Out Your Studying

Think about how you might prepare for a vocabulary quiz on Friday. You could wait until Thursday night and spend an hour trying to memorize all 30 words. You might remember enough to do well the next morning, but how many of those words will you still remember a few weeks later?

Instead, spread that hour of studying across several days. Spend 15 minutes reviewing the words on Monday, revisit them on Tuesday or Wednesday, and quiz yourself again on Thursday. Each time you return to the material, you’re asking your brain to recall something you haven’t thought about for a little while.

You can use this approach for more than vocabulary. Briefly revisit your history notes a few days after class, work through a few older math problems each week, or review important science concepts throughout a unit instead of waiting until the test is approaching.

Spacing out your studying also makes test preparation less overwhelming. When exam week arrives, you aren’t seeing several weeks of material for what feels like the first time.

Consider Trying Interleaving

Another study technique you might experiment with is interleaving. Instead of spending an entire study session focused on one subject or type of material, interleaving involves alternating between two or more related areas of study.

For example, you might alternate between math and chemistry, or between different types of chemistry problems. The goal isn’t to jump randomly from one assignment to another. Instead, you intentionally change what you’re working on at regular intervals, which gives you practice recalling and applying different information rather than repeating the same process for a long period of time.

Interleaving can feel difficult at first, and it may take some experimentation to figure out how to use it effectively. This article explains why interleaving can help with retention, how long to spend on each topic, which subjects to combine, and how to get started.

Make Connections Between Ideas

Think about how difficult it can be to remember a random fact with nothing else attached to it. You might memorize that the stock market crashed in 1929 for a history test, for example. But if that’s the only information you remember, it’s easy for that date to disappear from your memory after the test is over.

Instead, connect the fact to the bigger story you’re learning. What was happening in the economy before the crash? What happened afterward? How did it affect people’s lives? How does it connect to the Great Depression? Now, 1929 isn’t just a date you’re trying to memorize; it’s part of a series of events and ideas that you understand.

You can use this approach in almost any subject. When you’re studying, ask yourself:

Why is this important?
What caused this to happen?
How does this connect to something we learned earlier?
How would I explain this in my own words?

You can also create diagrams or timelines to see how different ideas fit together. The goal is to understand how facts and ideas relate to each other so they’re easier to understand, recall, and use later.

Test Yourself Before the Real Test

You don’t have to wait until test day to find out what you actually know. Imagine you’ve spent 30 minutes reviewing your biology notes and feel pretty confident about the material. Put the notes away and try answering five questions from your study guide without looking anything up. You might discover that you can easily explain three concepts, you’re a little fuzzy on another, and you can’t remember the last one at all.

Now you know where to spend the next 20 minutes of your study time!

You can create questions based on your notes, redo problems from previous assignments, or ask someone else to quiz you. When you get something wrong, don’t simply memorize the correct answer. Figure out why you missed it.

Did you misunderstand the concept? Did you confuse two similar ideas? Did you know how to solve the problem but make a calculation error?

Testing yourself can help you find the areas that still need work while you have time to do something about them.

Find the Techniques That Work for You

You don’t need to start using every technique in this article at once. Start by choosing one or two and try them before your next test.

Maybe you’ll put your notes away and explain what you just learned out loud. Or you might start using practice questions to figure out which concepts you actually understand and which ones need more attention.

There isn’t one perfect study routine for every student or every subject. Preparing for a history exam may require different strategies than studying for calculus or learning Spanish vocabulary. The goal is to build a collection of study techniques you understand and can use when you need them.

Developing those habits takes practice. At Hodis Learning & Music, our tutors work one-on-one with students and tailor instruction to their individual strengths, challenges, and goals. Tutoring can help you strengthen the material you’re learning now while developing study skills you can continue using in future classes.

Call us at (626) 227-1149 or submit a contact form to learn more about academic tutoring with Hodis Learning & Music.