How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips

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Today we're learning how to study for exams with scientifically-proven techniques. We start by talking about why rereading, highlighting and summarising are pretty inefficient, and then talk about the evidence behind Active Recall as the most efficient revision technique. We end with a few suggestions as to how to incorporate Active Recall into your study routine. Enjoy xx

🍿WATCH NEXT:

TIMESTAMPS:
1. 01:29 - Popular but inefficient technique #1 - Rereading
2. 03:29 - Popular but inefficient technique #2 - Highlighting
3. 04:51 - Popular but inefficient technique #3 - Summarising
4. 06:42 - Active Recall, and the evidence behind why it's the most effective revision strategy.
5. 09:18 - Study #1 - Spitzer 1939
6. 10:22 - Study #2 - Butler 2010
7. 11:16 - Study #3 - Karpicke & Blunt 2011
8. 13:41 - Specific, practical strategies for incorporating Active Recall into your revision / study routine.
9. 14:19 - Strategy #1 - Anki flashcards
10. 16:07 - Strategy #2 - Closed-book spider diagrams
11. 17:33 - Strategy #3 - Questions instead of notes, the Cornell note-taking system
12. 19:18 - Summary and closing remarks

LINKS:
If you’re actually interested in looking up these studies, the Dunlosky review paper (Link #1 below) is probably the best place to start. The references section there is full of useful links, all of which i cba to include in this video description :)

MY FAVOURITE TOOLS

MY KEY LINKS

PS: Some of the links in this description are affiliate links that I get a kickback from 😜

[tashanelly]

I just gotta say, I got my best ever mark on a science test by spending an hour explaining to my dog everything I knew about the topic the night before the test.

[HISANY]

Did you know that your video is actually being used by the University of Toronto as a guide on science-backed study approaches? I thought that was pretty cool.

[Belal-ncum]

Went from 45% to 95% in computer science. Thank you!

[fazlayrafique]

1.Active recall
2.Practice test
3.Making notes (with the books closed)
4.Writing Questions for yourself

[Uunidentifiedd]

If we are all honest ... rereading is just us READING BECAUSE WE NEVER PAID ATTENTION IN CLASS IN THE FIRST PLACE

[lithiumkwan]

His speaking speed perfectly explains a doctor's handwriting.

[ivyrose]

Update! I got 94%!! This is the highest grade in science I have ever received!
To be completely honest my exam was a couple of weeks away by the time I watched this video so unfortunately I had to cram a tiny bit, however I always kept in mind this principle of active recall and it worked! What I found was most effective was writing down everything you could remember from the top of your head and then adding to it. This worked SO much better than just copying notes because in this respect I was putting the concepts into my own words and so that demonstrated where my faults were so much easier. Anki also was an absolute gem for this. I recommend putting in terms as you go, but even cramming Anki worked extremely well instead of just watching videos. For chemistry I highly recommend Tyler Dewitt, every single video I watched from him was relevant for my exam.
I am thrilled by these results and will continue studying in this manner!

This will probably get drowned in the sea of comments but I'll put this here:
I have exams in a couple weeks and I am most concerned about my science exam. I am curious to see what happens when I use these study techniques. Guess I'll edit this after I get my results back!

1. Practise testing (!!!)
- Anki
2. Making notes with the book closed, then open book to see what you missed.
- Spider diagrams
3. Cornell note-taking method
- Write questions to actively answer them

Welp, here goes!

[RynL]

It is SO GOOD to hear a Cambridge Medical student say "I use pretty colours because it makes me feel good." I feel validated. I get absolutely demolished in STEM for my pretty notes but man if it isn't the most satisfying thing in the world to have a page full of perfect notes. What I had to learn the hard way though is that you cant get by on aesthetic notes alone - active recall is gold. Thank you!

[ejnn]

To anyone who is reading this comment, I wish you the best on your upcoming exam!
If you don't have an exam coming up, then good luck with whatever you're studying! It will all pay off someday,

[AnthonyTang]

i rate this video as having high utility.

[shezymessi]

PART 1: Popular But Inifeccient Study Methods
01:29 - ReReading does very little and is inefficient
03:29 - Highlighting is inefficient and is used as a safety blanket for students
04:51 - Summarizing and taking notes is generally inefficient, but can be good if you know how to effectively summarize and take notes (Falls around the middle of the pack in terms of study strategies)

PART 2: Active Recall - The Evidence Behind It
06:42 - Active Recall is King because it Involves Retrieving Information Out of Our Brains Instead of Putting Information Inside of Our Brains and can be done by practice testing (i.e. Answering Questions based on material learned); studies back this up
09:18 - Study #1 - Spitzer 1939: Proves that doing Practice Tests at the end of your study sessions dramatically improve your marks by 10% - 15%
10:22 - Study #2 - Butler 2010: Tested Students on Facts & Concepts and proves that Practice Tests at the end of your study sessions dramatically improve your marks on Facts & Concepts by 10% - 15%
11:16 - Study #3 - Karpicke & Blunt 2011: Shows that Trying to Acitvely Recall Information Once is better than ReReading Passively 4 TImes on Verbatim & Inference Tests

PART 3: Active Recall - Specific Strategies That You Can Use

14:19 - Strategy #1 - Anki flashcards: Anki is a Flashcard app that allows you to say if the flashcard was easy, medium, or hard, and depending on your answer, it calculates when to give you that flashcard again; Good for Memorizing Particular Facts AND Good for
16:07 - Strategy #2 - Closed-book spider diagrams: Making Notes with the book closed, writing everything you know about the topic, then opening up you're lecture/textbook to see what you've missed
17:33 - Strategy #3 - Questions instead of notes, the Cornell note-taking system: Write Questions for Yourself Based on the Material such that when you revise the material, you look at the questions and actively recall it

[khawlahalmohimeed]

I know this video is 4 years old, but I really enjoyed watching it and I liked that it is packed with evidence behind these efficient techniques along with your personal experience as well. Thank you ever so much.👍🏼

[aaliyahloanjoe]

the amount of times i came back to this video to remind myself how to study effectively because i went back to my old study habits is out of this world.

[obpwnxf]

FINALLY A REAL STUDY VIDEO....Im tired of seeing study vids of girls doing study with me vids with perfect handwriting and unnecessary long notes

[malakehhusisy]

I have a Bs degree in biology and medical science and today I’m a med student and let me tell you something - I’ve never knew how to study right. I’ve actually suffered, mentally and physically, from my choices of study. Thank god you’re here sharing your experience and showing us that there’s always another, better way to do things!
God bless.

[grooshume]

TIMESTAMPS:

1. 01:29 - Popular but inefficient technique #1 - Rereading
2. 03:29 - Popular but inefficient technique #2 - Highlighting
3. 04:51 - Popular but inefficient technique #3 - Summarising
4. 06:42 - Active Recall, and the evidence behind why it's the most effective revision strategy.
5. 09:18 - Study #1 - Spitzer 1939
6. 10:22 - Study #2 - Butler 2010
7. 11:16 - Study #3 - Karpicke & Blunt 2011
8. 13:41 - Specific, practical strategies for incorporating Active Recall into your revision / study routine.
9. 14:19 - Strategy #1 - Anki flashcards
10. 16:07 - Strategy #2 - Closed-book spider diagrams
11. 17:33 - Strategy #3 - Questions instead of notes, the Cornell note-taking system
12. 19:18 - Summary and closing remarks

[SihamabdiAbdi]

Me spending 6 hours of studying everyday and still getting bad grades, feeling anxiety exhaustion worthless. Somehow got this recommendations out of nowhere; it surprised me in a different way which I’m very thankful. Make sense why you are a doctor manshalaah. May Allah increase your intelligence even more

[elvore]

I don't consider highlighting and underlying as a study performance. It's just a preparation before learning and studying.

[zwink]

When I was in the navy one of the strategies we used to memorize a lot of information quickly was to write and rewrite from memory the text or diagrams we needed to learn. Most people had a white board that they would use so you could write it, erase, write it again, etc. It was very effective.

[Dr.Hiba]

I got 6 A grades in my 3rd year of medical school by applying active recall technique !
This stuff is life changing.