Proven study techniques to try now
When it comes to studying, effective and proven study techniques are your ticket to academic and exam success. Yet, many students use methods such as note-taking, highlighting, and re-reading that don't improve retention or understanding. Using proven, research-backed techniques is key to improving your learning goals. Here's what you need to know.
Technique one: Spaced repetition:
The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve is a concept discovered by German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus that shows how quickly we forget new information if we don't actively review it.
• Within 20 minutes, you forget approximately 40% of what you just learned
• After 1 day: You retain only about 33% of the information
• After 1 week: Memory drops to roughly 25
• After 1 month: You remember less than 20% without review
The spaced-repetition study technique combats the forgetting curve by prompting you to review information at optimal intervals strategically.
Each review then helps move the information deeper into long-term memory and extends the time before you forget it again. This is because multiple exposures over time create stronger neural connections and help with retention. Students using spaced repetition can retain up to 80% of material long-term.
How to use spaced repetition:
Day 1: Learn new material
Day 2: Quick review (15 min)
Day 7: Review again (longer 45 min
Day 10: Quick review (15 min)
Day 14: Final review
Technique two: Active Recall:
The active recall study method is supported by research in cognitive psychology and education. A recent systematic review of "active recall strategies" (e.g., flashcards, self-testing, retrieval practice) found that these strategies were positively associated with better academic achievement. Active retrieval works because when you actively try to recall information, you strengthen neural pathways, which helps memory retention.
To try active recall in your study routine:
After you read or study a passage/topic, close your notes and test yourself: write down what you remember, ask yourself questions or teach someone else what you have just learnt.
Use flashcards (question on one side, answer on the other) and attempt to retrieve the answer before flipping to see it.
Combine active recall with spaced repetition, as this yields greater study gains.
Though it works, remember active recall. It is not a magic bullet, as you need to make sure you understand the material before you try the retrieval process.
How to use the active recall process:
• Close the textbook and write down everything you remember
• Use flashcards (answer first, then check)
• Practice questions without looking at notes
• Teach someone else the material
• Contrast with highlighting and re-reading (passive methods)
Technique three: The Feynman Technique:
Named after physicist Richard Feynman, this proven study technique is designed to help you understand a topic — not just memorise it.
The method works because it engages active recall, explanation, and metacognition. It forces you to retrieve and rephrase information (active recall). You then process knowledge rather than passively re-reading (explanation). You spot what you don't know, so your study time targets weak areas (metacognition).
One study explored the Feynman Technique among students (Grades 4, 7, and 11) and found that the group that used the technique showed higher post-test scores and learning gains than the control group.
How to use the Feynman Technique:
• Pick a topic you want to understand
• Pretend you are teaching it to someone else, such as a child or a beginner.
• Write out the explanation in your own words as simply as possible (if you can't explain it, likely, you don't understand it entirely).
• Identify knowledge gaps. This is a sign that you need to review your notes, textbook, or other sources to clarify your understanding. Then rewrite your explanation more clearly.
Technique four: Interleaving practice
Interleaving is a study technique where you mix different topics during a single study session, rather than focusing on one subject at a time. So instead of completing all algebra problems before moving to geometry, for example, you would alternate between different types of math problems throughout the session. This method has been proven effective for improving long-term retention and understanding by forcing the brain to retrieve and compare concepts more frequently.
Using the interleaving techniques results in improved long-term retention. This is because continually switching between concepts deepens your understanding of how they relate to one another. Studying this way helps you become more adept at identifying the correct strategy for a given problem, a skill that transfers to other areas.
How to use the interleaving technique:
• Mix up your study topics: Alternate between several topics, or switch within a session.
• Build connections: Interleaving helps your brain draw comparisons and identify overlaps among concepts, leading to a stronger, more connected understanding.
• Discriminate between problems: In subjects like math, it forces you to figure out which problem-solving strategy to use for each new problem, rather than recognising a pattern and repeating the same solution.
• Revisit topics over time on different days or sessions. This adds spacing (time between practice sessions), which strengthens memory.