The smart way to study

As students progress through education, the decisions they make about when and how to study become more important. Indeed, they play an increasingly large part in determining the grades they will go on to achieve. A whole host of research has found that autonomy, ie being in control of one’s own decisions, can play a significant role in motivation.

But what if this autonomy comes at a cost? What if, given the choice, students end up choosing things they like, as opposed to what is best for them? Finding a balance between enough autonomy to enhance motivation while still giving enough of a guideline to work within can be a real challenge for educators.

Let’s explore some of the short-sighted choices students make when studying and discuss what teachers can do to help manage this.

Re-reading vs retrieval

Teachers can help students here by doing two things. The first is to explicitly teach them the benefits of retrieval practice. Second is to help them understand exactly what retrieval practice looks like. This could include flashcards, mind maps, multiple choice quizzes or even verbal questions and answers. If students know how to use these study techniques and recognise why they work, they are more likely to use them.

Listening to music vs silence while studying

Many students do their homework and study while listening to music, with most saying it helps them focus on the task at hand. Anecdotally, we hear that more than 75% of students report listening to music while studying. But what does the research actually say about this?

The study concluded that those who revised in silence remembered more and those who listened to music, regardless of whether they liked the lyrics or not, experienced a big degradation in learning. It seems the old adage of ‘silence is golden’ does ring true (though it is worth noting that those listening to music with no lyrics came a close second). As to the question of liking the lyrics or not, this is likely because music with lyrics requires more cognitive processing which, when combined with studying, may overwhelm a student’s cognitive load.

This can be a tricky one for teachers, as it often happens outside of school hours and at home. Perhaps the best strategy here is to educate parents about the potential cost of their child listening to music with lyrics while revising. By having both school and parents singing from the same hymn sheet, hopefully the message will resonate and be reinforced.

Procrastination vs planning

Procrastination is a widespread and serious issue among students, with research suggesting between 80% and 95% of students regularly procrastinate. Other studies show that around 70% of students finish their assignments later than they thought they would. This is known as the planning fallacy.

And yet, despite recognising this, many students still leave a lot of their work until the last minute. As well as being stressful, the other consequence of this is that it goes against one of the most well-researched concepts in learning and memory, which is the spacing effect.

 Too much choice and autonomy can be paralysing

The spacing effect teaches us that we forget more than we realise, so it is important to revisit material regularly. Research suggests students who do this perform between 10% and 30% better than students who cram their studies.

So how can teachers help overcome this? First, set students regular short deadlines, as this has been found to help overcome procrastination. Second, encourage students to start early (as the planning fallacy highlights how people often think they have more time to spare than they actually do). Third, set tasks that regularly revisit previous topics. Doing so can help tap into the spacing effect.

Supporting our students

Students often have the best intentions. They want to do well and they think they know what works best for them. Unfortunately, owing to common human biases, they often end up doing what they prefer, as opposed to what is optimal. We do want to give them freedom of choice in order to help motivate them. But too much choice and autonomy can be paralysing.

The good news is we are here to guide them. Evidence from years of psychological research can help us steer students in the right direction. This all starts by having a frank discussion about which strategies actually help or hinder them. In doing so, we give them the best chance of fulfilling their potential. And nothing is more motivating than that.