Contents

Slide 1 – Science of Learning.......................................................................................................................2

Slide 2 – Unit 1: Introduction.......................................................................................................................3

Slide 3 – Many popular study strategies will fail over the long term...........................................................4

Slide 4 – The real goal is efficient, long-lasting learning..............................................................................5

Slide 5 – We’ll discuss where, when, and how to study efficiently over the long term...............................6

Slide 6 – If you really understand the module, you should be able to explain:...........................................7

Slide 7 – Unit 2: Where to Study..................................................................................................................8

Slide 8 – Poll 1..............................................................................................................................................9

Slide 9 – Because of bustling environments, people claim to be good multi-taskers................................10

Slide 10 – Multi-tasking is really just task switching..................................................................................11

Slide 11 – Activity 1: Task Switching..........................................................................................................12

Slide 12 – Task switching impairs driving—even when just having a conversation...................................13

Slide 13 –The Pomodoro technique combines bouts of work with planned breaks..................................14

Slide 14 – Checkpoint 1.............................................................................................................................15

Slide 15 – Cultivate an environment where you can proactively suppress distractions............................17

Slide 16 – Unit 3: When to Study...............................................................................................................18

Slide 17 – Poll 2..........................................................................................................................................19

Slide 18 – What does your ideal schedule look like?.................................................................................20

Slide 19 – Cramming leaves little time to think and seek clarification.......................................................21

Slide 20 – Spacing out learning directly enhances content retention........................................................22

Slide 21 – Spacing is especially useful for learning terms and definitions.................................................23

Slide 22 – Spacing is also thought to be beneficial for more complex forms of learning...........................24

Slide 23 – You probably take advantage of the spacing effect more than you think.................................25

Slide 24 – Checkpoint 2.............................................................................................................................26

Slide 25 – Activity 2: Planning Ahead.........................................................................................................27

Slide 26 – Spacing out your studying of a topic in time promotes efficient, long-lasting learning.............28

Slide 27 – Unit 4: How to Study.................................................................................................................29

Slide 28 – Aside from spacing, what study methods are most likely to boost efficiency?.........................30

Slide 29 – Poll 3.........................................................................................................................................31

Slide 30 – Repeated exposure to material tends not to work well............................................................32

Slide 31 – Repeated exposure methods can be viewed as involving mostly input....................................33

Slide 32 – Many students report using repeated exposure strategies.......................................................34

Slide 33 – Repeated exposure fools us into thinking we’re studying efficiently........................................35

Slide 34 – The best strategies involve output combined with input..........................................................36

Slide 35 – Practice testing enhances long-term retention of content........................................................37

Slide 36 – The key to practice testing is being forced to retrieve content from memory..........................38

Slide 37 – Retrieval practice becomes more efficient when combined with the spacing effect................39

Slide 38 – Interleaved practice results in a better performance compared to blocked practice...............40

Slide 39 – Interleaved practice is an especially potent tool for efficient learning......................................41

Slide 40 – Checkpoint 3.............................................................................................................................42

Slide 41 – The most efficient study strategies involve active output combined with input.......................43

Slide 42 – Unit 5: Desirable Difficulty.........................................................................................................44

Slide 45 – Some study techniques are better than others.........................................................................45

Slide 44 – Study methods that seem arduous & slow often elicit the most efficient, long-lasting learning
..................................................................................................................................................................46

Slide 48 – Comprehensive Review.............................................................................................................47

Slide 46 – Poll 4.........................................................................................................................................50

Slide 47 – Feedback...................................................................................................................................51
Slide 1 – Science of Learning

Slide Visual:
MacIntroPsych logo appears and the module title “Science of Learning”, followed by a fun fact about Joe
Kim: “I direct the Education & Cognition Lab, which studies how students can best learn.” Portrait of Joe
Kim appears.
Slide 2 – Unit 1: Introduction
Slide 3 – Many popular study strategies will fail over the long term

Unit 1: Introduction
Subtopic 1: Short-sighted learning

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Michelle Cadieux talking to the viewer.

Narration:
Most students know this feeling all too well: The test is tomorrow and you’ve barely had time to study.
So bring on the snacks and adrenaline, because tonight’s the night. Maybe with a hint of caffeine and
existential panic?

Imagine a student named Ava who crammed for courses the night before her tests all throughout her
first two years of her undergrad. Like clockwork, her friends would watch her emerge from the depths of
her bedroom at 4am, eyes bloodshot, hair dishevelled. Her friends secretly envied her because she got
high grades despite her procrastination.

Then everything changed in her third year. When she started taking seminar courses and more advanced
theory, she hardly remembered the prerequisite content. This meant a lot of time revisiting old content
from prior courses, usually through frantic cramming. And because of all the catching up, she was also
short on time, and couldn’t fit everything into her schedule. Both her grades and her social life suffered
as a result.
Slide 4 – The real goal is efficient, long-lasting learning

Unit 1: Introduction
Subtopic 2: Efficient, long-lasting learning

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Joe Kim speaking to the viewer.

Narration:
Inadvertently, courses can implicitly encourage this type of last-minute cramming, meaning that students
like Ava who tend to cram can still pull off good grades, especially for memorization-oriented courses.

But, like Ava, when you cram you'll inevitably forget most of the material after a few days. You’ll have
spent your valuable time studying something that you won’t retain, and therefore can’t build upon in
your future studies.

This is just plain inefficient. You may end up spending, say, 25 hours of studying to get an A in a course by
cramming when really you could have learned the same amount with 10 hours of efficient studying. And
that’s 15 hours you could have spent on other courses or socializing!
Slide 5 – We’ll discuss where, when, and how to study efficiently over the long
term

Unit 1: Introduction
Subtopic 3: Where, When, How

Slide Visual:
A student sitting at a desk with textbooks on her head, eyes closed and hands up in meditating position.
The text: “Where”, “When”, and “How” appear above her right hand, head, and left hand, respectively.

Narration:
I hope that you’re convinced that the name of the game is really efficient, long-term learning; in other
words, getting the most “bang for your buck” by retaining the most information in the least amount of
study time. It’s also crucial for maintaining work–life balance.

Our goal here is to cover some basic principles that cognitive psychologists have suggested to make your
learning more efficient and long-lasting. Specifically, we’ll discuss ‘where’, ‘when’, and ‘how’ to study.
Slide 6 – If you really understand the module, you should be able to explain:

Unit 1: Introduction
Subtopic 4: Learning Objectives

Slide Visual:
A chart of the narrated text.

Narration:
If you understand this module, you should be able to explain these key points to a peer: Where: Why
you should be mindful of distractions in your environment and proactively suppress them. When: Why
it's more efficient to distribute your studying over time and across multiple sessions. How: Why practice
testing and self-explanation are better than rereading, highlighting, or copying notes verbatim. Desirable
Difficulties: Why strategies that initially slow down learning can actually be most efficient in the long
run.
Slide 7 – Video Skit “Tomato Timer – Part 1”
Slide 8 – Unit 2: Where to Study
Slide 9 – Poll 1

How often do you think you check your texts, emails, or social media while studying?

A) Never!
B) Every 30-60 minutes
C) Every 20-30 minutes
D) Every 10-15 minutes
E) Dude, I’m a high-key influencer, so like every 5 minutes. Don’t harsh my vibes bruh.
Slide 10 – Because of bustling environments, people claim to be good multi-
taskers

Unit 2: Where to Study

Subtopic 1: Busy Study Environments

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Joe Kim talking to the viewer.

Narration:
Survey your environment right now. Go ahead, I’ll wait... How many devices are nearby? How many
flashing screens or ambient sounds are there? What other sources of distraction are competing for your
focused attention that this web module deserves?

How long has it been since you last checked social media? How often do you check for messages or
emails that you respond to immediately even though they’re not urgent?

Now, more than ever, we’re bombarded with these distractions that compete for our attention. In
response, it’s common to hear things like “Well, it's just a matter of efficient multitasking”, or “It’s
important to take breaks”.

In this first section on “Where to study”, let’s take a closer look at these claims as they relate to your
study environment.
Slide 11 – Multi-tasking is really just task switching

Unit 2: Where to Study

Subtopic 2: Multitasking

Slide Visual:
Tamir looking deep in thought at a paper on a clip board he’s holding, on the left, and Tamir typing a
message on his cellphone, on the right. Arrows appear between the two Tamirs pointing in opposite
directions. The text “Task-switching decreases performance!” appears between the arrows.

Narration:
In everyday language, multitasking refers to the simultaneous completion of two or more tasks.
Sometimes this is unavoidable, and other times you have some say. Many of us think that we are pretty
good at multitasking. Yet psychologists suggest that our brains are not wired to do two tasks at once—
especially when one is a mentally taxing, like studying. Try walking at a brisk pace while solving the
problem of 23 times 14. You’ll probably find yourself slowing down your pace. Instead of processing in
parallel, we seem to quickly switch between the tasks. And there is a cost to this task switching in the
form of decreased performance.
Slide 12 – Activity 1: Task Switching

Unit 2: Where to Study

Subtopic 3: Activity 1: Task Switching

Slide Visual:
A hand holding a stopwatch. Two horizontal lines appear. The text “Task switching is easy” appears above
the top line, and the numbers 1 to 20 appear above the bottom line. The text “Group 1 sequentially”
appears in a circle and a horizontal line is drawn above “Task switching is easy” followed by a horizontal
arrow above the numbers 1 to 20. These arrows disappear and the text “versus” appears beside “Group
1” along with a circle with the text “Group 2 switching”. Arrows are drawn down from the letter “T” to
the number “1”, up from “1” to “a”, down from “a” to “2” and up from “2” to “s”. A checkmark appears
beside “Group 1 sequentially” and an “X” appears beside “Group 2 switching”.

Narration:
Consider the following example. Two people are asked to draw two horizontal lines, one above the other.
Their two goals are to write “Task switching is easy” on the top line, and the numbers 1 through 20 on
the bottom line.

One group is told to first do the entire top line first and then the entire bottom line. A second “task
switching” group is told to alternate between writing a letter on the top line and a number on the
bottom line. The first group does better than the second, task switching group. Don’t believe me and
think you are the exception? Go ahead and try this out for yourself with a timer. I’ll wait.

Although this is a simplified example, it conveys an important point: much like a student repeatedly
switching between studying and social media, it’s less efficient to complete a challenging task when
you’re attention is switching back and forth with another task.
Slide 13 – Task switching impairs driving—even when just having a conversation

Unit 2: Where to Study

Subtopic 4: Task Switching and Driving

Slide Visual:
A person sitting in driving simulator wearing virtual reality goggles is shown, duplicated 3 times. The
labels appear from left to right above each instance of the person: “Control”, “Intoxicated” with an image
of three beers in pint glass, and “cellphone use” with an image of an incoming call on cellphone. A
greater than sign appears between “control” and “intoxicated” and an equals sign appears between
“intoxicated” and “cellphone use”. The text “handheld” equals “hands free” appears below “cellphone
use”.

Narration:
Let’s apply the costs of task switching to a more realistic scenario. In one study, three groups of people
were put into a driving simulator: one group drove normally, one group drove after drinking alcohol, and
one group drove while talking on a cell phone, either with a handheld device or hands-free.

Much like the drunk drivers, talking on a cell phone led to more risky driving than the normal drivers.
Further, handheld and hands-off devices led to similar impairments, suggesting it was the conversation
and not necessarily holding the phone that was to blame.

The researchers suggested cell phone use while driving can be as detrimental as driving intoxicated. This
serves a powerful reminder that switching between any two tasks, even relatively automatic ones like
driving and conversation, can drastically impair task performance.
Slide 14 –The Pomodoro technique combines bouts of work with planned
breaks

Unit 2: Where to Study

Subtopic 5: The Pomodoro Technique

Slide Visual:
A timer in shape of a tomato. Overtop of it appears the text: “on task 25 minutes”. Beside it appears the
text “Break 5 to10 minutes”. An arrow leads back to the tomato. An arrow leads back to “5 to 10 minute
break” and the text “3 to 4 times” appears between the arrows. An arrow leads from “Break 5 to 10
minutes” to “Break 30 minutes”.

Narration:
The Pomodoro Technique is one great method that was created to prevent task switching.

Start by setting a timer for 25 minutes. Your goal for these 25 minutes goal is to completely zone in; to
block out all distractions and focus deeply on the task at hand. Then, when the time is up, treat yourself
to a 5 to 10 minute break. Talk to friends, answer texts or emails, social media, meditate. Whatever you
find helps you mentally “reset”.

But then go back to another 25 min of focus. After you’ve repeated this cycle three or four times, take a
longer 30 minute break instead of the shorter break. Of course, you can specify timings based on your
preference. Just remember the true goal is to have sustained periods of work without task switching, and
with regular planned breaks to prevent yourself from burning out.
Slide 15 – Checkpoint 1

Question 1: Your friend insists they study better when they read their textbook by taking a quick 1-
minute texting break whenever they get a text, which is roughly every 5-10 minutes depending on the
day. What’s probably going on here?

A) Your friend is taking advantage of the Pomodoro technique by taking regular breaks to mentally
"reset".
B) Your friend is multitasking, which can be done well by people who can focus and who take effective
breaks.
C) Your friend is studying inefficiently because they are sporadically shifting their attention away from
studying.
D) Your friend is studying inefficiently because they are wasting precious study time by taking
unnecessary breaks.

The correct answer is C): “Your friend is studying inefficiently because they are sporadically shifting their
attention away from studying.” Correct! This study strategy sounds a lot like task switching, especially
because the so-called "breaks" are spontaneous and erratic, drawing attention away from studying in a
disruptive way.

A is incorrect. Incorrect. In this case the breaks are irregular and sporadic, these types of breaks are not
strategically placed in a studying period, and so are more likely to promote task switching. Hint: Consider
that when taking a break, the goal is to momentarily disengage from studying and regain your focus.

B is incorrect. Incorrect. Researchers avoid the word multitasking because it implies that people are
doing two tasks simultaneously, when really they are probably switching between tasks. Hint: Consider
that when taking a break, the goal is to momentarily disengage from studying and regain your focus.

D is incorrect. Incorrect. Breaks are important for maintaining efficiency! Especially in the context of the
Pomodoro technique, which strongly advocates a mental "reset" through strategically placed breaks.
Hint: Consider that when taking a break, the goal is to momentarily disengage from studying and regain
your focus.
Slide 16 – Cultivate an environment where you can proactively suppress
distractions

Unit 2: Where to Study

Subtopic 6: Suppress Distractions

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Michelle Cadieux talking to the viewer.

Narration:
The take-home message for this section is that task switching will reduce your studying efficiency, even if
it doesn’t feel that way, and so you should seek out a study environment where you can take proactive
measures to suppress task switching.

Find a quiet location where people or ambient sounds are unlikely to disrupt you. Try to explicitly set
aside time when you should be studying, interspersed with regular breaks. Also set your phone to silent
to ensure your attention is not drawn to it every time you receive a message or email. (For you wannabe
influencers, there’s also some free software to block social media for specified periods of time.)
Slide 17 – Video Skit “Tomato Timer – Part 2”
Slide 18 – Unit 3: When to Study
Slide 19 – Poll 2

How often do you end up cramming most or all of your studying the day before an evaluation?

A) Almost never. How dare you question my time management!

B) About 25% of the time or less.
C) About 25–50% of the time.
D) About 50–75% of the time.
E) My blood is basically caffeine, and all-nighters my dark ritual. I live for cramming. (Don’t judge me.)
Slide 20 – What does your ideal schedule look like?

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 1: The Perfect Schedule

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Joe Kim talking to the viewer.

Narration:
If you’re anything like me, you’ve fantasized about planning the perfect schedule where you get the most
out of every hour of your time, while leaving some spontaneous moments to ask the big questions in
life.

That is, a schedule where you ensure every hour of work is deliberate and directed toward some final
goal, but also striking a good work–life balance. In this next section on “When to study”, we’ll discuss
ways to move you closer toward this elusive perfect schedule.
Slide 21 – Cramming leaves little time to think and seek clarification

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 2: Cramming

Slide Visual:
A calendar with the second and fourth Friday of the month highlighted and labeled “Test”. The text
“Study!” appears on the Thursday before each test.

Narration:
Imagine that, in addition to your regular workload, you have two major tests scheduled this month: one
on the second Friday of the month, and one on the fourth Friday of the month.

But, hey, you’re busy, I get it, and so it’s probably tempting to cram just before each test, am I right?

You might realize that this plan is not ideal. Unforeseen events could come up interfering with your last-
minute study, or you might get stuck on concepts you don't understand, leaving you little time to seek
clarification. But there’s more: have you ever wondered if there’s a more direct cost associated with this
cramming schedule? Even if you didn’t, let me explain.
Slide 22 – Spacing out learning directly enhances content retention

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 3: Spacing Effect

Slide Visual:
A black and white photo of Hermann Ebbinghaus. A speech bubble appears with the text “zip, tol, dal…”.
A four by three table, with columns labeled from left to right “Study on Day 1?”, “Study on Day 2?”,
“Study on Day 3?”, “Restudy Attempts”. In the row below the titles appears an “X”, an “X”, a checkmark,
and “68”, respectively. In the row below that appear three checkmarks and “38”, respectively. An outline
appears highlighting the last row representing the schedule of the spacing effect.

Narration:
Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneer of memory research, asked himself this same question back in 1885.
Using himself as a subject, he memorized lists of 12 random nonsense syllables (e.g., zip, tol, dal) by
listing as many as he could recall and then restudying the list.

When he crammed all of his studying into one day, it took about 68 restudy attempts in total to recite
the full list perfectly a day later. In contrast, when he distributed his studying over three days, he only
required about 38 restudy attempts in total.

So, simply by distributing learning across time, he was learning the same amount in less total study time.
This is a robust finding called the spacing effect. Amazingly, over a century after Ebbinghaus, the spacing
effect is still a hot topic today, reliably shown in humans and nonhuman animals with many different
learning tasks.
Slide 23 – Spacing is especially useful for learning terms and definitions

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 4: Spacing and Flash Cards

Slide Visual:
The left side of the slide is labelled “Method” and the right side “Results”. A stack of flash cards appears,
followed by the word “abrogate” on the top card. A flipped over card appears with the word “abolish”. A
table depicting the experimental setup with columns labeled “Day 1”, “Day 2”, “Day 3”, “Day 4”, “Total”,
and two rows labeled “Cramming” and “Spacing”. The following values appear in the first row beside
“Cramming”: “null”, “null”, “null”, and “8” under Day 1 to 4, respectively. The following values appear in
the second row beside “Spacing”: “2”, “2”, “2”, and “2” for Day 1 to 4, respectively. The number “8”
appears in the last column under “Total” for both rows. A graph appears on the right side of the slide
labeled “% Correct” on the y-axis from 1 to 60. Two bars appear above the x-axis labels “Cramming” and
“Spacing” at ~36% height and ~54% height, respectively.

Narration:
Because Ebbinghaus used artificial learning materials and only himself as a subject, let’s discuss a more
recent and compelling demonstration.

In one study, participants were asked to study a stack of flashcards. On the front of each card was a rare
word (example: abrogate), and on the back was a more common synonym (example: abolish). In the
cramming condition, the whole stack of flashcards was studied eight times in one day. Conversely, in the
spacing condition, a stack of flashcards was studied twice per day, spread out across four days. Note that
each flashcard was studied exactly eight times in both conditions.

24 hours after the final session, they returned to have their memory tested. Those in the spacing
condition retained about 20% more definitions than those in the cramming condition. These results
make sense given that students who use the spacing effect can retain information in the long
term, however, students who cram tend to display exceptional performance if immediately
evaluated following their study session.
Slide 24 – Spacing is also thought to be beneficial for more complex forms of
learning

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 5: Spacing for Complex Learning

Slide Visual:
An image of a student studying. A table appears with a single row of 5 columns labeled with the days of
the week from Monday to Friday. The image of the student studying appears in the “Monday” column
labelled “Read article 1”. An image of the same student appears in the “Wednesday” column labelled
“Read article 2”, seen studying in different clothes in a different setting using their laptop instead of a
textbook. An image of that same student appears in the “Friday” column seen wearing different clothes
in a different setting discussing something on a tablet with three of their peers.

Narration:
It’s also critical to note that the spacing effect isn’t restricted to cases where you’re memorizing isolated
pieces of information for a test. This is often just how psychologists study the spacing effect in the lab
because it’s convenient.

For instance, the spacing effect is also likely to hold true if you’re studying complex concepts for a
seminar course where you are tasked with understanding several scholarly articles that share a common
theme. Let’s say you’re required to read two articles each week, then engage in a final class discussion.

Rather than taking notes on the two articles in the same day, you’re better off reading one article and
letting the ideas incubate before you revisit similar ideas in the second article—maybe spaced one or
two days apart. There’s a good chance that this will lead to better understanding of the two articles,
more connections being made between them, and thus a richer contribution to the final discussion.
Slide 25 – You probably take advantage of the spacing effect more than you
think

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 6: Spacing is Intuitive

Slide Visual:
Three people are depicted engaging in their hobbies: Tamir holding a tennis racquet, Edwin hunched
over a laptop wearing a gaming headset, and Dr. Flitch blowing into a trombone. Four polaroid images of
the same girl playing soccer wearing different outfits captured at different times of day with different
people labelled “June 1”, “June 9”, “June, 15”, “June 25”. Followed by two more polaroids of the same girl
playing soccer in different seasons (in the fall and in the winter indoors) labelled “September” and
“January”, respectively. Followed by two more polaroids of the same girl playing soccer at two younger
ages in her teens and as a child labelled “Age 13” and “Age 8”, respectively.

Narration:
The truth is you probably have a more intuitive understanding of the spacing effect than you think. Put it
this way: what’s your favourite pastime or hobby? Maybe it's a sport, a video game, or playing music.

If you were to map all the hours you've spent on a hobby, what would it look like? Chances are that it
would be spread out in relatively thin time slots over weeks and months and even years. I’m willing to
bet that most coaches or teachers would prefer this distributed approach over a “massed” approach
where many consecutive hours of practice are all jammed into one setting.

This distributed approach to practicing harnesses the spacing effect and allows for more learning per
unit time, much like a student spacing out their study sessions.
Slide 26 – Checkpoint 2

Question 1: Jack and Jill use different study strategies. Jack prefers to space out his study sessions, while
Jill prefers to choose one day to get all her studying done. Imagine both these students were busy and
could not study for three days prior to their assessment. What could you predict about their
performance?

A) Jack will perform worse than Jill because he took advantage of the spacing effect.
B) Jack and Jill will perform similar despite using different study strategies.
C) Jack will perform better than Jill because he took advantage of the spacing effect.
D) Jill will perform better than Jack because she took advantage of cramming.

The correct answer is C):”Jack will perform better than Jill because he took advantage of the spacing
effect.” Correct! Jack would perform better than Jill because the spacing effect promotes long-term
learning that is resistant to a delay between studying and an assessment.

A is incorrect. Incorrect. In this case, the delay in assessment following the last study session would
hinder Jill's performance because cramming does not promote long-term learning. Hint: Consider how
the spacing effects enhances long-term understanding.

B is incorrect. Incorrect. The spacing effect and cramming offer different benefits based on the interval
between studying and assessment. Hint: Consider how the spacing effects enhances long-term
understanding.

D is incorrect. Incorrect. The delay in assessment following the last study session would hinder Jill's
performance because cramming does not promote long-term learning, and so Jill is likely to forget the
content for the assessment. Hint: Consider how the spacing effects enhances long-term understanding.
Slide 27 – Activity 2: Planning Ahead

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 7: Activity 2: Planning Ahead

Slide Visual:
A person holding a calendar marked. The word “Test” and an outline appears around the last Friday of
the month, on the 29th. A star appears on each of the four Mondays of the month. A different coloured
star appears on the 21st of the month, a Thursday, and the 27th of the month, a Wednesday.

Narration:
Let's put what we have learned about the spacing effect to practice. Think about your calendar right
now and pick one big upcoming test or evaluation you have this semester. Preferably one that you’re
most worried about.

Allot some study times and space the sessions out. For example, if you have a final exam one month
from now, you could allot 30 min to review the material after each new lecture. Then, starting roughly
two weeks before the exam, set aside two 1-hour timeslots each week to study, spaced out by at least a
few days.

This may seem like a lot to plan, but you'll save yourself time in the long run. You’ll also thank yourself
when exams roll around and you still have time for a social life!
Slide 28 – Spacing out your studying of a topic in time promotes efficient, long-
lasting learning

Unit 3: When to Study

Subtopic 8: Mind the Gap

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Michelle Cadieux talking to the viewer.

Narration:
We can now confidently say that the cramming strategy is indirectly harmful because it leaves little time
to clarify weak spots. It is also directly harmful because you would have learned a lot more per unit of
study time if you had planned ahead and spaced out your studying.

The take-home message for this section is that if you want more “bang for your buck”, you have to mind
the gap; that is, plan ahead and distribute your study sessions for a particular topic over time. Same time
commitment, more learning.
Slide 29 – Video Skit “Tomato Timer – Part 3”
Slide 30 – Unit 4: How to Study
Slide 31 – Aside from spacing, what study methods are most likely to boost
efficiency?

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 1: What Works Best?

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Michelle Cadieux talking to the viewer.

Narration:
The unfortunate truth is that many students study a great deal yet still do poorly on evaluations. This is
in part because students rarely receive formal lessons on how to learn efficiently, but also because many
poor study strategies may actually feel effective in the moment.

In this final section on “How to study”, we’ll tackle this problem, discussing methods that you should
avoid, but also looking at methods that psychologists endorse based on scientific evidence.

But before we start, I’d like you to answer this next poll question as honestly as possible.
Slide 32 – Poll 3

When studying for tests, what’s the strategy that you find yourself using most of the time?

A) Diligently rewriting textbook chapters or lecture notes, sometimes word-for-word.

B) Explaining the material out loud to myself.
C) Using flashcards or practice questions.
D) Highlighting or underlining lecture notes or textbook chapters, then rereading them later.
Slide 33 – Repeated exposure to material tends not to work well

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 2: Repeated Exposure

Slide Visual:
A student holding up a book in front of their face, a yellow highlighter, and a hand holding a pencil as if
writing notes. “X”s appear over each of the three scenarios. The labels “rereading”, “highlighting”, and
“verbatim copying notes” appear above the images, respectively.

Narration:
Let’s start with some popular methods that researchers suggest are not so efficient.

Persistent rereading, highlighting, and verbatim copying of notes all fall under the umbrella of “repeated
exposure”. They're so named because the learner is basically exposed to the material in its raw form
over and over until they're confident they'll remember it. Studies done with children, undergraduates,
and even real-world professionals all suggest that these repeated exposure methods are ineffective
Slide 34 – Repeated exposure methods can be viewed as involving mostly input

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 3: Mostly Input

Slide Visual:
A three-dimensional Illustration of a brain with five arrows pointing to it and one arrow pointing out of
it.

Narration:
One way to look at this is to consider what the brain is doing during repeated exposure; it's basically a
one-way street. There’s a lot of input, but usually very little output. So when it comes to the assessment
time, which involves a lot more output than input, the shortcomings of repeated exposure are more
apparent.
Slide 35 – Many students report using repeated exposure strategies

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 4: Repeated Exposure is Popular

Slide Visual:
A student holding up a book in front of their face with the labels “re-reading” on the left and “number 1
go-to method” on the right. Below “re-reading” appears the text “84 percent” appears along with 20
people icons with 16 filled and four unfilled. Below “number 1 go-to method” appears the text “55
percent” appears along with 20 people icons where 11 are filled and 9 unfilled. Three questions marks
appear over the student rereading the textbook.

Narration:
One study by Karpicke and colleagues (2009) found that 84% of undergrads listed re-reading notes or
their textbook as a study method that they used regularly. Of those, 55% rated it as their number one
“go-to” method.

This raises the question: why are these repeated exposure methods so popular if they’re so ineffective?
Slide 36 – Repeated exposure fools us into thinking we’re studying efficiently

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 5: Why is Repeated Exposure so Popular?

Slide Visual:
Dr. Cadieux motioning her hands in a cautioning way, with speech bubble saying: “Don’t be fooled.”. The
text “Why you might be fooled:” appears, followed by numbered bullet points “1) Rapid short-term
learning”, “2) Intuitive and endorsed”, and “3) Effect of Fluency”.

Narration:
First, repeated exposure can lead to rapid learning in the short-term, and may even result in a good
grade if an assessment is primarily testing recall and recognition.

Second, it's an intuitive way to study. Many students are unaware of efficient study methods and may
erroneously rely on poor strategies.

Third, it makes us feel like we're learning when we continually expose ourselves to the same information
in a rote manner. A learner can be seduced into thinking: “All this material seems so familiar when I read
it over. Surely I’ll remember it". This is what researchers call fluency, and it can be harmful because it
can mistaken for a solid grasp of the material when really we just feel fluency because the material is
conveniently right in front of us.
Slide 37 – The best strategies involve output combined with input

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 6: Combining Input and Output

Slide Visual:
A diagram with two rows. On the top row is a textbook icon labelled “input” followed by arrow pointing
to an “X” mark. On the bottom row appears a textbook icon labelled “input” followed by an arrow
pointing to a student holding a textbook and speaking aloud, labelled “output”, followed by an arrow
pointing to a textbook icon labelled “input”, and an arrow pointing to a checkmark.

Narration:
Instead of reducing studying into purely input, researchers suggest the most efficient learning occurs
when output is combined with input. Put another way, outputting the material helps you organize it
based on your prior knowledge, in turn making what you study become more memorable.
Slide 38 – Practice testing enhances long-term retention of content

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 7: Practice Testing for Residents

Slide Visual:
Medical students sitting listening to a lecture. On the left, the label Group 1 appears, and on the right
the label “Group 2”. An icon of a sheet of paper with lines of writing appears under “Group 1” labelled
“Read Review Sheet”. An icon of a pencil appears under “Group 2”labelled “Answer Practice Questions”.
Arrows appear below the icons pointing to a piece of paper icon under each. The greater than symbol
appears for the “Answer Practice Questions” side. The letter grade “B” appears on the “Read Review
Sheet” test paper, and the letter grade “A” appears on the “Answer Practice Questions” test paper.

Narration:
Along these lines, arguably the most promising study method to date is practice testing. Consider a
study done with medical residents.

Residents were lectured on two topics. Afterward, depending on the resident, one topic was studied by
reading over a review sheet with all the information, and another topic was studied by taking a practice
short answer test for about 10 minutes and then comparing answers with the answer sheet. The test or
restudy process repeated for the same topics twice more at two-week intervals.

Residents then wrote a final test on both topics 6 months later. Critically, they remembered
approximately 15% more for topics they were tested on than topics they only studied using the answer
sheets, enough to jump from a B to an A grade!
Slide 39 – The key to practice testing is being forced to retrieve content from
memory

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 8: Retrieval Practice

Slide Visual:
Shown in a row is a textbook icon labelled “input” followed by an arrow pointing to a student holding a
textbook and speaking aloud labelled “output”, followed by an arrow pointing to a textbook icon
labelled “input”, and an arrow pointing to a checkmark. Two images of Charlie wearing different outfits
appear, both talking on the phone. A speech bubble beside one of the Charlie’s says “Hey me, I’m here
to explain a concept.”, and a speech bubble beside the other Charlie says “Thanks me, I totally get the
concept now!”.

Narration:
This is a reliable finding that researchers call the retrieval practice effect because people are practicing
retrieving some information from memory. Similar to the spacing effect, it has been studied for over a
century, and is still a hot topic today.

Note that this process entails a combination of output—that is retrieval of information from memory—
as well as input.

Though we focus on the retrieval practice effect here, it’s important to note that other output-focused
methods can be used as well. For example, there is considerable evidence for the effectiveness of self-
explanation—that is, periodically stopping to explain information aloud as if teaching yourself the
information. A key component of output-focused methods is that you are actively engaged with the
learning material, rather than a passive recipient of information.
Slide 40 – Retrieval practice becomes more efficient when combined with the
spacing effect

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 9: Retrieval Practice and Spacing

Slide Visual:
A calendar with four Mondays circled and “x3”, “x1”, “x1”, “x1” written inside from top to bottom. The
definition of “3 by 3 Rule”: A method where you successfully recall the material 3 times in one initial
study session, then recall the same material on 3 subsequent sessions with each session spaced roughly
one week apart.

Narration:
You can enhance your retrieval practice by pairing it with the spacing effect.

Consider a study where researchers had introductory psychology students learn course content via
retrieval practice. Their goal was to try to find a schedule that led to the most learning in the least
amount of study time.

They came to the following conclusion regarding a “3 by 3” rule of thumb: when initially studying
material, don’t stop until you can successfully recall the information from memory at least three
separate times within the same study session. Later, practice retrieving the same material three more
times, with each session spaced about one week apart. This scheduling was found to be highly efficient
while also leading to the most durable, long-lasting learning.
Slide 41 – Interleaved practice results in a better performance compared to
blocked practice

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 10: Retrieval Practice and Mixed Topics

Slide Visual:
A diagram with two columns separated by a vertical dotted line arrow and the text “vs” labelled
“Blocked Practice” on the left and “Interleaved Practice” on the right. Underneath “Blocked Practice”
appears: “Lesson on Topic 1”, followed by “4 practice questions on Topic 1”, followed by “Lesson on
Topic 2”, followed by “4 practice questions on Topic 2”, followed by “Lesson on Topic 3”, followed by “4
practice on Topic 3”. Underneath “Interleaved Practice” appears: “Lesson on Topic 1”, followed by
“Lesson on Topic 2”, followed by “Lesson on Topic 3”, followed by “12 mixed practice questions on
Topics 1, 2, 3”

Narration:
You can further enhance your retrieval practice by doing something counterintuitive. Namely, mixing up
the topics or units that you test yourself on. This study technique is called interleaved practice.

Consider a study that investigated the strategies that medical students can use to learn
electrocardiogram, or ECG—a test that doctors use to measure electrical activity in the heart.

Students were assigned to one of two tutorial sessions. In the “blocked practice” tutorial, the instructor
explained one diagnosis, then gave four relevant problems related to that diagnosis, explained the next
diagnosis, gave four problems related to that diagnosis, and so on. In the “interleaved practice” tutorial,
the same instructor explained all diagnoses upfront, then gave students the problems for all diagnoses
in a random order.

Students were later asked to diagnose new ECG problems, and the interleaved practice tutorial
outperformed the blocked practice tutorial by about 20 percent.
Slide 42 – Interleaved practice is an especially potent tool for efficient learning

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 11: Interleaved Practice Testing

Slide Visual:
The titles “Blocked” versus “interleaved” as shown on either side of the slide. Below “Blocked” appear
16 sticky notes labelled 1 through 4 horizontally and 1 through d vertically in sequential order. An “x”
appears beside “blocked. Below “Interleaved” appear the same 16 sticky notes but arranged randomly.
A checkmark appears beside “Interleaved”.

Narration:
Let’s make this a little more concrete. In the later stages of learning, once you have a decent grasp of the
material, try to combine both interleaved and retrieval practice.

For instance, if you're studying for a final exam and have 25 practice questions for each unit of the
course, don't do all the questions from one unit consecutively and then move on to the next. This makes
it trivial to determine what unit applies to each question, which is half the battle when it comes to a real
exam.

Instead, mix your practice questions up from all the units up in a random fashion and answer them that
way. You’ll hopefully notice that this requires you to decide which unit applies to a given question,
thereby helping you piece together the central theme of each unit.
Slide 43 – Checkpoint 3

Question 1: Which of the following explains the approach to follow when studying for an assessment?

A) Students should focus more on remembering the course material.

B) Students should use output-focused methods that are based on the input of course material.
C) Students should dedicate more time to re-reading and highlighting their notes.
D) Students should write course notes verbatim to understand the material.

The correct answer is B):” Students should use output-focused methods that are based on the input of
course material.” Correct! As stated on the previous slides, research suggest that efficient learning
occurs when students focus on the output of information based on the input course material.

A is incorrect. Incorrect. While retention of the course material is important, students often focus on the
input of material and fail to consider when and how to output the information for an assessment. Hint:
Consider how an assessment tests a student's ability to communicate their understanding of course
material.
C is incorrect. Incorrect. Re-reading and highlighting notes can be classified as "repeated exposure"
methods. While students feel these methods are most beneficial, they instead produce a false sense of
understanding and hinder long-term learning. Hint: Consider how an assessment tests a student's ability
to communicate their understanding of course material.
D is incorrect. Incorrect. Writing notes verbatim can be classified as a "repeated exposure" method.
Writing notes verbatim may seem beneficial, but instead produces a false sense of understanding and
hinders long-term learning. Hint: Consider how an assessment tests a student's ability to communicate
their understanding of course material.
Slide 44 – The most efficient study strategies involve active output combined
with input

Unit 4: How to Study

Subtopic 12: Focus on Output

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Michelle Cadieux talking to the viewer.

Narration:
The take-home message of this section is that repeated exposure may be a good place to start, but it
shouldn't be your end-game.

Wiser options include retrieval practice, or other approaches that combine output with input. Note that
retrieval practice takes on many forms, including flashcards, forming groups and quizzing one another,
or even periodically explaining the material out loud to yourself.

Research shows that these output-oriented strategies are your best bet for achieving efficient, long-
lasting learning.
Slide 45 – Video Skit “Tomato Timer – Part 4”
Slide 46 – Unit 5: Desirable Difficulty
Slide 47 – Some study techniques are better than others

Unit 5: Desirable Difficulty

Subtopic 1: Desirable Difficulty

Slide Visual:
“Practice testing and active recall”, and “distributed practice” are shown on the left side of the slide,
followed by “Elaborative interrogation”, “Self-explanation”, and “Interleaved practice” in the middle,
followed by “Highlight”, “Rereading notes of textbook”, “Keyword mnemonic”, “Summarization”, and
“Imagery use for text learning” on the right. An image of a trophy with the label “Gold Standard”
appears on the left. A ribbon and the label “Runner up” appear in the middle, and the label “Low utility”
appears on the right. The term “Desirable Difficulties” appears between the “Gold Standard” list and the
“Runner Up” list.

Narration:
We’ve covered many techniques students use to study, and while there is no one-size fits all approach
to studying, there are some techniques that continually come out on top when it comes to durable
learning. In your own studies, it may be beneficial to focus on the techniques with moderate to high
utility and avoid the techniques with lower utility.

Even though the high-end strategies discussed in this module will make your learning more efficient,
there’s a critical ingredient: your active participation in something that may seem difficult at first. In fact,
researchers have a special name for methods that slow down learning at first but ultimately improve
understanding over longer periods of time. They call these “desirable difficulties”. The slow build up may
feel difficult at first, but long-term benefits of durable learning are the desirable outcome that will move
you toward your academic goals as a life-long learner.
Slide 48 – Study methods that seem arduous & slow often elicit the most
efficient, long-lasting learning

Unit 5: Desirable Difficulty

Subtopic 1: Desirable Difficulty

Slide Visual:
Video of Dr. Joe Kim talking to the viewer.

Narration:
Think about the classic fable of "The Tortoise and the Hare". Like Ava, some of your peers—the hares—
will get by with strategies like cramming that might work in the short term. And if they get good grades,
it’ll be easy to feel frustrated or jealous. But rest assured that the principles we discussed here will help
you tackle those desirable difficulties, learning more efficiently for the long term.

So this one goes out to you, oh tired-and-stressed-out student, studying for hours on end, feeling like it
will take you forever to complete your studying. Challenging study conditions may be discouraging at
first, but they’re an integral part of efficient learning. For tackling these challenges head-on, your future
self will surely thank you.
Slide 49 – Video Skit “Tomato Timer – Part 5”
Slide 50 – Comprehensive Review

Question 1: What does "desirable difficulty" mean in context of studying?

A) Students should be mindful of distractions and proactively suppress them while studying.
B) Study strategies that help you learn information at a deeper level often seem ineffective in the short
term.
C) Study strategies that are difficult may be tempting for a hard-working student, but are usually
inefficient in the long run.
D) Students should study in noisy, distracting environments to better prepare for assessments.

The correct answer is B): “Study strategies that help you learn information at a deeper level often seem
ineffective in the short term.” Correct! The term desirable difficulty is used to describe when a strategy
may initially seem burdensome and difficult, but ultimately leads to better long-term performance.

A is incorrect. Incorrect. This was one of the points in the previous slide, but it does not relate directly to
the term desirable difficulty. Hint: Consider how it may be "desirable" to engage in "difficult" study
strategies.

C is incorrect. Incorrect. This was not one of the points on the previous slide, and there is no supporting
literature. Hint: Consider how it may be "desirable" to engage in "difficult" study strategies.

D is incorrect. Incorrect. This was not one of the points on the previous slide, nor does it capture the
definition of desirable difficulty. Hint: Consider how it may be "desirable" to engage in "difficult" study
strategies.

Question 2: In one of the previous slides, a "3 x 3" rule of thumb was discussed. What does this rule of
thumb imply?

A) You should recall material 3 times in the first study session, then 3 more times, widely spaced apart in
time.
B) You should study material for at least 3 hours, exactly 3 days prior to your assessment, with no need
to test yourself via retrieval practice.
C) You should study each topic 3 times a week, every 3 weeks, to avoid feelings of fluency that fool us
into thinking we understand the material.

The correct answer is A): “You should recall material 3 times in the first study session, then 3 more
times, widely spaced apart in time.” Correct! This rule of thumb is based on a study showing a form of
retrieval practice that led to the best long-term retention with the least study time. Specifically, it's a
method where you successfully recall the material 3 times in one initial study session, then recall the
same material on 3 subsequent sessions with each session spaced roughly one week apart.

B is incorrect. Incorrect. This does not describe the 3 x 3 rule of thumb. The 3 x 3 rule of thumb takes
advantage of retrieval practice, which has no set guidelines on the number of hours needed to study for
a course. Hint: Consider how the rule offers guidelines on how many times to successfully recall
information and how often the information should be recalled.

C is incorrect. Incorrect. While this rule does help reduce the feelings of fluency, it is not what was
discussed in the 3 x 3 rule of thumb. Hint: Consider how the rule offers guidelines on how many times to
successfully recall information and how often the information should be recalled.

Question 3: This module listed evidence-based strategies for studying. What are the three key
principles?

A) 1. Do not take breaks 2. Make sure to cram the night before 3. Repeated exposure produces the best
results
B) 1. Task-switching promotes long-term learning 2. Make sure to cram at least one week prior to an
assessment 3. Retention of course material is more important than its output.
C) 1. Use your time wisely 2. Distribute your study sessions over time 3. Focus on studying strategies
that combine both output and input
The correct answer is C): “1. Use your time wisely 2. Distribute your study sessions over time 3. Focus on
studying strategies that combine both output and input.” Correct! These three principles have been
shown to help students effectively learn course material, and promote long-term retention. Make sure
to put these principles to practice!

A is incorrect. Incorrect. All the principles listed are incorrect because they encourage rigid and input-
focused strategies; these principles may result in success for an assessment, but fail to promote long-
term learning. Hint: Consider the research findings detailing where, when, and how to study.

B is incorrect. Incorrect. All the principles listed are incorrect because they encourage distracted and
disorganized studying; the benefit of studying comes from a flexible, yet structured approach evidenced
by researched strategies. Hint: Consider the research findings detailing where, when, and how to study.
Slide 51 – Poll 4

What do you think about the just completed web module?

A) Put it six feet under.

B) It needs some elbow grease.
C) I like it, but I don’t like, like it.
D) I think my life just got a little bit better.
E) Is there a Nobel prize for web modules?
Slide 52 – Feedback

Slide Visual:
“Here’s your opportunity to voice your opinion! Once every term we will draw a name from the list of
feedback responses for a $250 gift certificate to the Campus Store.”

Narration:
Want to help us learn how to make these web modules better learning tools for you? It’s not that
difficult. Just complete the feedback form!