The Hidden Secret to Studying

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"It's a common but mistaken belief that you can burn something into memory through sheer repetition. Lots of practice works, but only if it's spaced." -Make It Stick

Sometimes we have to really imagine what it is we are reading. Have you ever caught yourself reading a book and visualizing every little detail? A fairy tale for instance, creates the vision of a majestic castle, with details down to intricate carvings on a wooden drawbridge... With every paragraph, your brain conjures a magnificent visual of what you are reading. Now, imagine how colorful your learning would be if you applied this to your academic studies! Practicing creativity like this with course material could aid us in better understanding the essentials of a topic.

Let's get outside of the box, and get personal with the information...

Can you Prevent Forgetting?

Retrieval practice is the act of coming back to material after a pause in learning. In an article titled Metacognitive Control and Strategy Selection, Jeffrey Karpicke ponders whether retrieval practice is the most effective strategy for learning, and if students are even utilizing it.

"Study time does not equal learning- it is what strategies students use to learn particular materials in a certain context"(Karpicke)

Students from different specializations were asked how to simplify the amount of study material they had, while still being able to absorb it. Some insisted that picking out important details and slowing down to understand the subject was key. Others suggested that anticipating test questions, reviewing study guides, and defining vocabulary was important.

Chizuko Izawa coined the term potentiating effect in 1969. Izawa conducted a significant research study which found that inserting tests throughout the learning phase proved more efficient than repeated studying without testing. Essentially, any learner could be saving valuable time and energy just by differentiating their studying techniques.

In the graph below, final exam scores were highest after using retrieval practice. Hours and hours of repetitive studying, re-reading the same material, or "cramming" could all be deduced by coming back to the material after time. Though it may not feel natural for a learner to abruptly leave material and come back to it, the numbers prove otherwise. As our comfort levels are challenged, so are our brains.




Frequent insertion of testing is a tool that would benefit every classroom. There are curriculum endeavors I have seen in the K-12 arena which includes direction to review and revisit information throughout. Personally, I find that short and verbal quiz-like questions throughout the lesson helps learners keep up.

...Now, if we could only explain to our students that testing does not have to be intimidating! Let's reverse the stigma, and give kudos to low-stakes quizzing.






Brown, P. C., Roediger III, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make It Stick, The Science of Successful Learning. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Karpicke, J.D. (2009). Metacognitive Control and Strategy Selection: Deciding to Practice Retrieval During Learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. American Psychological Association, 138 (4), 469–486






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