ArticlesMany students study by re-reading notes and highlighting passages. It feels productive because the material looks familiar the second time. Familiarity, though, is not the same as being able to recall an idea when you need it on a test or at work. Education researchers and university learning centers point to two habits that do more: pulling information out of memory instead of only putting it in, and spreading study over several sessions instead of cramming. This article explains both, what the sources actually say about the strength of the evidence, and how to build them into a realistic study routine.
The problem with re-reading
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Learning Center is blunt about this. Simply reading and re-reading texts or notes is not actively engaging with the material, it says, and re-reading leads to quick forgetting. It describes reading as an important part of pre-studying, but says that learning requires active engagement, such as making connections, forming examples, and regulating your own learning. Highlighting, underlining, re-reading, and rote memorization may keep you engaged in a task, but the center says they are not considered active studying techniques and are only weakly related to improved learning [2].
This does not mean reading is useless. The point is the order of operations. Reading introduces the material; studying is what you do afterward to make it stick. If a study session consists only of looking at pages, there is no moment when you find out what you cannot yet recall.
What retrieval practice is
The site RetrievalPractice.org, created to share cognitive science findings with teachers and students, describes the idea this way: retrieval practice boosts learning by pulling information out of students' heads rather than cramming information into them. It compares the process to practicing an instrument: students need to practice their knowledge, not just receive it. The site also says that a significant amount of learning occurs when students pull information out, citing what it describes as more than 100 years of cognitive science research [3]. As an advocacy and teaching resource, it is best read as a summary of the research field rather than a primary study, which is why it is paired here with government and university sources.
In plain terms, retrieval practice means trying to recall something before checking the answer. Examples include answering a practice question, writing down everything you remember about a topic from a blank page, or using flashcards with the answer covered. The attempt itself, including the failed attempt, is part of the learning.
What the U.S. Department of Education research review says
The Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education, publishes a What Works Clearinghouse practice guide titled Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning. The guide was prepared by a panel of researchers and educators and applies to subjects with heavy content learning, such as social studies, science, and mathematics [1]. It rates each recommendation by the strength of the supporting evidence, which is useful because it separates well-supported advice from promising ideas.
On quizzing, the guide makes two distinct recommendations. It rates the use of quizzes to re-expose students to key content as having strong evidence. It rates the use of pre-questions to introduce a new topic as having minimal evidence [1]. That difference is worth noticing. Using quizzes to bring students back to material they have already met is the better-supported practice. Asking questions before teaching a topic may be worthwhile, but the guide does not put it in the same evidence category.
The guide also includes recommendations about helping students use study time efficiently. It rates as minimal evidence the advice to teach students to use delayed judgments of learning to identify content needing more study, and the advice to use tests and quizzes to identify content that needs to be learned [1]. In other words, quizzing is useful both as a way to practice and as a way to find gaps, but the second use has less research backing in the guide than the first. The guide also recommends instructional prompts that encourage students to pose and answer deep-level questions about course material, where answers involve explanations rather than recall of isolated facts [1].
Self-quizzing in practice
The UNC Learning Center recommends turning notes into questions. It suggests creating a study guide by topic, formulating questions and problems, and writing complete answers, then saying answers aloud. It advises identifying the questions you do not know and quizzing yourself on only those. For technical courses, it recommends working problems and explaining how you got from question to answer, and re-doing the ones that give you trouble [2].
A simple routine could look like this. After a class, close your notes and write three questions the lecture should have prepared you to answer. Answer them from memory the next day. Mark the ones you missed, check the notes, and try those again later in the week. A short cycle of attempt, feedback, and retry matches the quizzing approach in the guidance and keeps the time spent on material you already know to a minimum.
The UNC center also suggests becoming the teacher: explaining the material in your own words, aloud, with examples and connections between concepts. It says that this helps reveal where you are confused. At first you may need your notes, but eventually you should be able to explain without them [2]. This is a form of retrieval as well, because you are producing the explanation rather than rereading it.
Why spacing matters
The UNC Learning Center calls distributed practice one of the most impactful learning strategies: spacing study over several short periods across days and weeks rather than working in a few marathon sessions. It says the total time can be the same or less, but the material is learned more deeply and retained better over the long term. It adds that what matters is how you use your study time, not how long you study [2]. The example it gives is a few math problems each day rather than all of them the hour before class, or 15 to 20 minutes of active review of history notes daily [2].
For memorizing names, dates, or formulas, the center recommends making flashcards and reviewing them periodically throughout the day rather than in one long memorization session [2]. It also cautions that long study sessions can reduce concentration, and it suggests intense sessions of roughly 30 to 45 minutes that include active techniques such as self-testing, followed by a break [2]. Note that these are practical recommendations from a university learning center, supported there by citations to the authors it lists, rather than a controlled trial of its own.
Combining the two habits
Retrieval practice and spacing complement each other. Retrieval gives each study session a purpose: find out what you can and cannot recall. Spacing gives memory time to fade a little, so that the next retrieval attempt takes real effort. A study plan can therefore be organized around short, repeated quizzes rather than long, single reviews.
Here is an example for a course with a test in three weeks. In the first week, make question lists from each lecture within a day or two of attending. Each study day, spend 15 to 20 minutes on several topics, starting with a blank page or covered answers. In the second week, return to the questions you missed. In the third, mix topics together and work practice problems without notes. The structure is an illustration based on the sources' recommendations, not a prescription from them, so adjust it to your course and schedule.
Common mistakes and caveats
The first mistake is treating quizzing as a grade rather than a learning tool. Low-stakes practice where mistakes are expected is part of the point. The second is quizzing from open notes and never making an unaided attempt. The third is spending all the time on easy questions because they feel good. The UNC guidance to quiz yourself on the questions you do not know addresses that directly [2].
There are also limits. The What Works Clearinghouse guide shows that evidence strength varies by recommendation, and that some uses of quizzing have stronger support than others [1]. These methods will not replace understanding. Retrieval works best when there is something meaningful to retrieve, which is why the UNC center also recommends making connections, examples, and explanations rather than isolated memorization [2]. If a topic confuses you, ask your instructor or a tutor; no study technique substitutes for clarifying a misunderstanding.
A starting point
The most useful takeaway is small enough to try this week. Pick one subject, close the book, and write down what you can remember. Check your answers, note the gaps, and plan to try again in a few days. Doing that regularly, in short sessions, applies the two most consistently supported ideas in these sources: practice recalling, and give the practice time.
Sources
[1] Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse, Organizing Instruction and Study to Improve Student Learning - https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/PracticeGuide/1
[2] University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Learning Center, Studying 101: Study Smarter Not Harder - https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/studying-101-study-smarter-not-harder/
[3] RetrievalPractice.org, Why It Works - https://www.retrievalpractice.org/why-it-works