Use ‘Distributed Practice’ to Better Retain What You Study

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One of the best ways to maintain knowledge during the study for a test is to maintain a particularly strict study calendar. The technique is called “distributed practice”, and I will not claim that it is easy to install, but it is much more effective than trying to pile up. Here is what to do so that you really remember what you are supposed to learn.

What is distributed practice?

The practice distributed, like a number of the most common study techniques you can try, has its roots in the work of Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist who studied memory. Over 100 years ago, he studied absurd syllables over and over again to find the best way to make them stick in his memory. He found that the frequency with which he studied them, as well as the order in which he studied them, had an impact on the way he kept them. Currently, we review the value of the frequency, but if you are interested in order to help you remember what you are studying, read this.

In the end, its results have led to the development of what we now know under the name of distributed practice, which is just a sophisticated name for the spacing of study sessions in a specific way and study the same thing each time. Essentially, it is the opposite of the “massive practice”, which is more commonly known as tissue. Instead of studying everything in a block before your test, you study it in smaller gusts leading to the test.

How do you distribute the practice?

The trick here is to decide the frequency to the space of your study sessions. Ideally, book study time every day, like an hour, and leave a day to rest. (The breaks are crucial for productivity overall.) What you are studying at the time will largely depend on the tests you have occurred and when they are.

Look in your programs and mark all test dates in your planner. According to a study, your best bet for maximum retention is to study the same subject every 10% at 30% of the time you will have to keep it. This means that if you have a 10 -day test, you will study every one to three days until now.

This is where the practice of recovery comes into play. During your first study sessions, you simply study normally, using a technique like SQ3R or KWL to engage in active reading. After that, however, you should use active recall strategies to recover the information you already know during the study sessions. The best way to do so is to use flashcards, in particular by following the leitner system to consult the content you already know over spaced intervals that depend on how you have mastered it.

The most important part of the distributed practice, however, is to pass several times on the content of a fixed schedule. Even if it simply means connecting and seeing it every four days, it will be more beneficial than the stuffing. It might be useful to download an application, such as my study life, create a calendar for yourself, so it is easier to stick. This part comes down to the will, but you can do it.