By Megan Smith & Cindy Wooldridge

We have written a lot about the 6 strategies for effective learning (spaced practice, interleaving, elaborative interrogation, concrete examples, dual coding, and retrieval practice). For example, in this piece Cindy discussed the powerful combination of spacing, retrieval practice, and sleep. In this guest post, Yana’s student tried out the 6 strategies on her own and documented her progress.

We have written so much about these strategies because decades of cognitive evidence suggest they are effective ways to learn (1). However, using these strategies does not automatically mean students will get an A. Evidence suggests they’re effective, but they’re not a magic learning pill. (A magic learning pill doesn’t exist, as much as we, as students, sometimes wished it did. Anyone who tells you otherwise is likely trying to sell you something to turn a profit. But, who knows, maybe someday.)

If using the strategies doesn’t mean an automatic A, then how should students use these strategies to produce learning? We have written about all of these things before, but this blog is intended to serve as a guide to give you the information you may need, along with plenty of links where you can find more information on each of these topics within our website. In this piece, we briefly review the 6 strategies for effective learning from cognitive psychology and suggest an order for utilizing them together. Then, I discuss other factors to consider in order to maximize learning.

6 Strategies for Effective Learning: Planning

The first two strategies, spacing and interleaving, involve planning. If you want your learning sessions to be maximally effective, then you need to use spacing and interleaving. However, this isn’t something you can do at the last minute.

Spacing involves planning your studying so that it is spread out over time. This is the opposite of cramming. The same amount of study time spaced out is much more effective than putting it all together into one study session. To read more about utilizing spacing, see this blog.

Interleaving involves switching among different topics while you’re studying. Switching between topics allows you to make connections among the different ideas you’re studying. To read more about utilizing interleaving, see this blog.

During the planning phase, you will want to block off chunks of time to study, making sure to spread out the chunks of time so that you’re studying regularly throughout the week. (Don’t just block off time before the exam, that is the same as cramming!) During each study session, make sure you are reviewing older material as well as newer material. Doing this will make sure you maximize spacing and interleaving.