Learning Strategies
The research on how humans learn is clear: most of what students believe about effective studying is wrong. Re-reading notes, highlighting, and cramming feel productive but produce weak, short-lived memory. The strategies below are evidence-based — drawn from cognitive psychology and neuroscience — and they work.
How Learning Actually Works
Learning is not about accumulating information. Most of what enters our brain is forgotten. The goal of studying is to actively offset the forgetting process by doing things that force the brain to retrieve and reconstruct information.
When you learn, your brain changes through neuroplasticity — strengthening connections between neurons that fire together, and pruning connections that are no longer needed. These changes happen primarily during sleep, not during the study session itself. This is why sleep the night after learning is critical.
“Most of what we believe about the best ways to study are absolutely false.” — Dr. Andrew Huberman
The Six Evidence-Based Strategies
Based on research from The Learning Scientists, these six strategies consistently outperform passive study methods.
1. Spaced Practice
Distribute your studying over time rather than cramming into one session. Thirty minutes daily is more effective than three hours the night before an exam. Spacing allows your brain to consolidate memories between sessions — the “forgetting curve” works against you, but revisiting material before it fully fades builds stronger, longer-lasting retention.
How to use it: Plan ahead. Create a study schedule that revisits material across days and weeks. Use a calendar to space out review sessions before exams.
2. Retrieval Practice (Testing)
Testing yourself is not just a way to measure what you know — it is one of the most powerful tools for learning. A single self-test immediately after studying can reduce forgetting by 50%. The act of retrieving information from memory strengthens the neural pathways that store it.
Crucially, testing reveals what you don’t know — what Huberman calls the “gap effect.” Familiarity with material is not the same as mastery. Students who re-read feel more confident but perform worse than students who test themselves.
How to use it: - Right after class, before checking your phone, ask yourself: What were the three main concepts? Can I explain this to someone? - Use open-ended questions, not just multiple choice — they require active recall, not just recognition - Write down everything you remember without looking at your notes - Use flashcards, past exams, and self-generated questions
3. Interleaving
Instead of studying one topic completely before moving to the next, mix different topics or problem types within a single study session. Don’t finish all of Chapter 3 before starting Chapter 4 — alternate between them.
Interleaving feels harder and less satisfying than blocked studying, but that difficulty is the point. It forces your brain to distinguish between concepts and strengthens your ability to apply knowledge in unfamiliar contexts.
How to use it: Switch topics every 30–45 minutes. Mix old material in with new. In economics, practice problems from different chapters in the same session.
4. Elaboration
Ask yourself how and why questions about the material. Explain ideas in your own words. Connect new concepts to things you already know or have experienced. The more meaning you attach to information, the more pathways your brain builds to retrieve it.
How to use it: After reading a concept, ask: Why does this make sense? How would this work in real life? How does this connect to what I already know? Teach the material to a classmate — if you can explain it clearly, you understand it.
5. Concrete Examples
Abstract concepts are hard to remember. Real, specific examples are easy. When you encounter an abstract idea, find or create a concrete example that illustrates it. Use multiple diverse examples for each concept.
How to use it: Collect examples from lectures, readings, and your daily life. Create your own examples for each new concept. Think: Where have I seen this in the real world?
6. Dual Coding
Combine verbal information with visual representations — diagrams, flowcharts, timelines, concept maps, sketches. Using both verbal and visual channels creates two independent memory pathways, making retrieval easier and more reliable.
How to use it: Draw a diagram that represents a process. Create a timeline for a sequence of events. Use color-coding in your notes. The visual and verbal should complement each other, not just repeat the same information.
Study habits of highly effective students:
- Block out consistent, dedicated study time
- Study alone without distractions — phone away
- Test themselves frequently using open-ended questions
- Teach material to peers
- Avoid cramming; use spaced, shorter sessions
The Case for Handwriting
A large body of research suggests that taking notes by hand produces better learning outcomes than typing, even though typing is faster and produces more notes.
The reason is generative processing. When you type, you can transcribe lectures nearly verbatim, which requires almost no thinking. When you write by hand, you are forced to slow down, listen actively, and rephrase ideas in your own words. That compression and reformulation is itself a learning activity — it is elaboration in action.
The takeaway: take notes by hand when you can. Treat your notes as a starting draft — reorganize and rewrite them by hand when you study.
Why writing by hand beats typing for thinking and learning
The importance of handwriting is becoming better understood
Further Learning
Podcast
Huberman Lab — “Optimal Protocols for Studying & Learning” — Dr. Andrew Huberman
The episode behind the slides above. A comprehensive, research-grounded walkthrough of the neuroscience of memory and the most effective study protocols. About 3 hours — worth listening to in segments, or reading the transcript on the Huberman Lab website.
Huberman Lab — “How to Enhance Your Learning & Memory with Neuroplasticity”
An earlier episode focused on the biology of neuroplasticity and what it takes to trigger durable learning at the cellular level.
Books
Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning — Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, Mark A. McDaniel
The definitive accessible introduction to the science of learning. Covers retrieval practice, spaced practice, interleaving, and why intuitive study strategies fail. Written for general readers, grounded in decades of cognitive psychology research.
A Mind for Numbers — Barbara Oakley
A practical guide to learning math and science — and by extension, any hard subject. Covers focused vs. diffuse thinking, the role of sleep, procrastination, and how to build deep understanding rather than surface familiarity. Especially relevant if you find quantitative courses challenging.
How We Learn — Stanislas Dehaene
A neuroscientist’s account of the four pillars of learning: attention, active engagement, error feedback, and consolidation. Dense but rewarding for students who want to understand the biology behind the strategies.
Ultralearning — Scott Young
A framework for aggressive, self-directed learning. Young examines how exceptional learners structure their practice — directness, drill, retrieval, feedback, and experimentation. Motivating and practical.