Methods for Evaluating Student Study Techniques

For the last two months, I've been challenging myself to post consistently on a new Instagram account. I thought it might be a distraction from studying, especially trying to balance content creation during exam season, but it accidentally taught me three powerful study techniques! If you're a student, here's what I learned: 1. You Don't Understand a Topic Until You Can Explain It Simply To write a short, clear caption about any idea, I first have to have an in-depth understanding of exactly what I am talking about. The ability to turn understanding into a simple summary is the basis of a powerful study method known as the Feynman Technique: it’s one thing to read a chapter, but it’s another to be able to summarise it in 3 simple sentences. It immediately shows you what you don't understand. How can you use this? After a lecture, try to explain the main concept to a friend/study partner (or even just to your notes) in the simplest terms possible. If you can't, you've found the exact concept you need to revise. 2. Consistency Beats Cramming Having to post on a schedule helped me find ways of maintaining consistency. One system that I have found especially useful has been setting aside a small amount of time every day to focus on content creation, rather than 'batch producing' lots of content at once. This same logic can be applied to studying: swapping one-off, stressful cramming sessions for regular, focused study blocks improves concept retention. The information is stored in your long-term memory over time, not crammed into your short-term memory the night before! How can you use this? Create a simple, repeatable study schedule. 45 minutes of focused work on a subject each day is more effective than a 5-hour panic session once a week. 3. Feedback is Data, Not Judgment On social media, if a post doesn't do well, you look at the data to see why. I have started treating my academic feedback the same way: I stopped simply looking at the grade and began to spend more time analysing exactly where I was going wrong so I could address it in future. How can you use this: When you get a piece of marked work, turn your feedback into a checklist of things to focus on in your next assignment. Spend extra time working on those concepts you didn't quite understand previously, and think about any comments you may have received on style or structure. So, one of my biggest take-aways from posting study tips on Instagram has been that effective study techniques can be developed in the most unexpected places!

Studying in 2025 and beyond is not the same as when we were kids. Students today widely use research-driven techniques designed to improve retention, focus, and problem-solving. Here are some of the commonly used techniques: - Active Recall: Instead of rereading, students test themselves. Every question forces the brain to retrieve information, which strengthens memory. - Spaced Repetition: Instead of cramming, reviews happen at widening intervals such as after one day, three days, one week, and one month, bringing material back just before forgetting. This dramatically improves long-term retention. - Pomodoro: Short, intense work cycles paired with timed breaks keep students fresh and prevent burnout. Focus becomes a structured habit, not an accident. - Chunking: Students divide complex material into smaller, meaningful units. The brain handles organization, not overload. - Interleaving: Rather than studying one topic in isolation, students mix subjects and problem types. This teaches the brain to select the right approach in real situations and improves exam performance. Many of us may have used some of these approaches when we were kids, sometimes without knowing what they were called. But we never had access to software that could enforce consistency, automate the process, or measure results. These software tools make the techniques far more powerful and effective. On top of that, many of today's platforms have incorporated AI, which amplifies these methods even further. These modern study tools are turning PDFs into inquiry-based lessons. The system asks a question, the student answers, and it responds with what was correct and what was missed. It tracks weaknesses, repeats them later until mastery, and pushes accountability. It is the closest thing to having a personal coach whose only job is to make sure you are truly ready for the test. Some platforms even include an oral conversation mode that asks verbal questions and forces spoken explanations like a live tutor. Examples of such platforms include memo.cards and Studley AI. Reviewing tools like these is no longer optional. They accelerate learning, prevent wasted hours, and allow students to compete with peers who are already using them. In a world where efficiency matters, smart studying is becoming a prerequisite, not a luxury. While we may have warned against allowing AI to help students do the work, this is an exception because it does not complete the work for them. Instead, it tests them until they truly learn the material.

FACT CHECK: THE SECRET WHY HARVARD STUDENTS LEARN 10X FASTER The first time I saw @study.with.lauren’s post, my first thought was: Is this just motivational fluff or is it actually backed by science and the real-life study habits of elite students? Let’s break it down: 1. They Don’t CRAM — They SYSTEMIZE “They plan study sessions like a CEO runs a company.” ✅ Valid This aligns perfectly with Spaced Repetition and Deliberate Practice in cognitive psychology. Harvard (and other top universities) push structured learning methods, not last-minute all-nighters. Reference: Brown, Roediger & McDaniel – Make It Stick Harvard’s own Learning Centers recommend time-blocking and backward planning so students have a clear, progressive study system. 2. They Don’t Scroll Their Phones “No TikTok rabbit holes. Phone’s on airplane mode or in a lock.” ✅ Very Valid Smartphone distractions destroy working memory and cognitive control. A University of Texas study (Ward et al., 2017) found: Just having your phone on the desk significantly reduces cognitive performance. Many Harvard students use apps like Forest or Freedom, or literally lock their phones away to go into deep focus mode. 3. They Master Time Management “No ‘I’ll do it later.’ Daily schedules, strict deadlines.” ✅ Highly Valid Harvard students usually keep daily planners and use systems like Pomodoro, Eisenhower Matrix, or Time Blocking. They know how to prioritize high-leverage tasks and avoid multitasking. Reference: Cal Newport (Deep Work, Harvard graduate and Georgetown professor) teaches how to structure your time for maximum results. 4. They Learn to Understand, Not Memorize “They use active recall, teach the material out loud.” ✅ Scientifically Proven Active Recall and the Feynman Technique are two of the most powerful methods in learning science. Research by Roediger & Karpicke (2006) shows the testing effect (actively recalling) is far more effective than rereading. Harvard even recommends peer teaching and whiteboard sessions to re-explain concepts. 5. They Use AI to Assist Their Work “Tools like Plus AI in PowerPoint to build slides.” ⚠ Partially Valid AI is becoming more common on campus, including at Harvard. Tools like ChatGPT, Notion AI, Grammarly, Perplexity, and SlidesAI help with brainstorming, drafting, and outlining. But Harvard is very strict about plagiarism and AI usage. Clear boundaries are a must. Valid—if used for efficiency, not raw copy-paste. 6. They Constantly Test Themselves “They quiz, debate, and prepare like beasts.” ✅ 100% Backed by Research Self-testing is one of the most effective learning methods. In Make It Stick, retrieval practice beats rereading every time. Harvard students create flashcards, join study groups, and drill themselves before exams. Harvard students aren’t necessarily smarter — they just follow systems that are backed by solid cognitive science. Sam Ipoel Founder – Shankara Cipta AI

"I thought I knew this until you asked me to explain it without looking anything up." A colleague shared what one of her students said last week, and I haven't stopped thinking about it. The student had been getting A's all semester. Participating in discussions. Submitting solid work. Then came a 20-minute in-class exercise asking her to work through a novel problem. She couldn't do it. Not because she was unprepared. Because she'd never actually internalized what she thought she understood. Here's the pattern I'm seeing work: professors adding quick, low-stakes assessments that reveal what students actually know versus what they can produce with support. Not high-pressure exams. Not gotcha moments. Reality checks. A biology professor gives 20-minute in-class scenarios. Novel problem, diagram the process, explain your reasoning. Students discover quickly whether they've internalized the pathways or just produced good essays. A history professor does "it's 1848, you're advising a monarch" exercises. Students need events and causation internalized to construct plausible reasoning on the spot. A CS professor has live debugging sessions. Students find out fast whether they actually know data structures or just know how to look them up. These aren't replacing major projects. They're diagnostic. They help students see the difference between accessing information and truly understanding it. And they're surprisingly motivating. Students realize the gaps early, when there's still time to build foundations. They start studying differently. Some knowledge needs to be so internalized it becomes automatic. Not everything. But the core frameworks that let you think in a discipline. When we assess only final deliverables, we lose sight of whether that internalization is happening. These quick checks bring it back into focus. #HigherEducation #AIinEducation #AssessmentDesign Jason Gulya Michelle Kassorla, Ph.D. Mike Kentz Jessica Nguyen Frances Bushnell, MS France Q. Hoang