I am getting out of my lane here: the question of how to study is a question in cognitive psychology, not philosophy. But my reading tells me that several widespread beliefs about studying are simply false. The links are mostly to the work of Daniel Willingham, a prominent researcher in the psychology of learning and education. He is the author of Why Don’t Students Like School? and other books on education.

Weekly routine

Probably many of us follow this routine:

1. Do the reading a day or two before lectures
2. Attend lectures, and take notes (see below on notetaking)

But there’s a third step that can boost understanding:

3. Reread the reading, connecting points in your notes with points in the reading.

For example, if the professor talks about some specific issue, label that in your notes as A, and find where that point is discussed in the reading. Write “A” in the margin. Read that bit carefully—the professor thought it’s important!

In other words: while (1) and (2) are important, there’s extra value in connecting the work you did in steps (1) and (2). You’ll remember the important parts better if you do this connecting.

Taking notes

Here you face a choice: hand-writing, or typing on a laptop? I suggest hand-writing, for several reasons.

• In a philosophy class it’s more about concepts and arguments than about masses of detailed information (which would require quick transcription, best done by typing)
• If you’re analyzing concepts and arguments then a lot of the work is making connections between claims, or between concepts. And this is most easily done simply by drawing lines or arrows! Which your word processor typically offers no way to do.
• Hand-writing is slower: it forces you to get out of “write all of what he is saying” mode and into “write his main point” mode, which is more useful. The points sink into your brain better if you pre-digest them in this way.

Reading vs self-testing

Belief: Reading (or rereading) more means remembering more.

Truth: Self-testing is far more effective. Willingham: “Trying to remember something can actually help cement things in memory more effectively than further study.” “Subjects better remember the new definitions of English words when they first guess at what the meaning is—no matter how wild the guess.”

Here’s a way to implement this. Imagine that you’re the professor and it’s up to you to write the quiz or exam questions. Write out a few questions! Then see how well you can answer them. Or get a study partner and ask each other questions.

Learning styles

Belief: Some people learn better from images than from text, etc.

Truth: There has never been any good evidence of this. Willingham: “Although it is technically true that the theory [of different learning modalities such as the above] hasn’t been (and will never be) disproved, we can say that the possible effects of matching instructional modality to a student’s modality strength have been extensively studied and have yielded no positive evidence. If there was an effect of any consequence, it is extremely likely that we would know it by now.”

Self-assessment

Belief: I can tell when I’m ready for a test.

Truth: We’re poor judges of this. This is another point in favour of self-testing. It’s a more objective way to judge your own readiness.

Multitasking

Belief: I am a multitasker.

Truth: You’re not. The human brain’s attentional resources are meagre. What makes this a problem is that we are deluded about this: “most of us are unaware of the limits of our attention.” What does this suggest about studying? Make your study time focused time.

Silence social media and alerts. Your brain will thank you.