Course Catalog / BMU 001 / Lesson 3 of 5

BMU 001

Halfway review

1. What is a when and where plan?

See the answer

A plan that names the day, time, and place you will study.

2. Name one way to pick your first course.

See the answer

Name a life goal, find the skill it needs, then pick the course that teaches it.

3. Your phone buzzes during study time. What can you do?

See the answer

Put it on quiet or turn off alerts for 15 minutes.

Why this matters

Many people study by reading the same page again and again. It feels like it works. The page starts to look familiar. But familiar is not the same as remembered.

Researchers have tested study methods for many years. A large review rated quizzing yourself and spacing out your study as two of the most useful methods. Rereading was rated low (Dunlosky and others, 2013).

Start with what you already do

You already quiz yourself. When you check that you have your keys, phone, and wallet before you leave, you pull facts from memory.

Common belief: People learn best in their own learning style, like seeing or hearing.

What is actually true: Researchers found little good evidence that matching lessons to a learning style helps (Pashler and others, 2008). Everyone learns more from methods that make the brain work, like quizzing and spacing.

Key words

quiz yourself

Close the book and try to say or write what you learned.

space it out

Study a little on several days instead of a lot on one day.

mix it up

Practice different kinds of problems in one session.

Trick 1: Quiz yourself

After you read part of a lesson, close it. Ask yourself: What were the main points? Say them out loud or write them down. Then check. Each time you pull a fact from memory, it gets easier to pull it out again.

In one study, students who practiced recalling a passage remembered more a week later than students who reread it (Roediger and Karpicke, 2006).

Trick 2: Space it out

Study a topic a little today, then again in two or three days, then again next week. A review of hundreds of studies found that spaced study beats one long session for remembering (Cepeda and others, 2006). Your three 15 minute times from Lesson 2 already do this.

Trick 3: Mix it up

When you practice, mix kinds of problems. For math, do a percent problem, then a unit price problem, then another percent problem. A 2019 review found mixing helps on average, most of all when things look alike and are easy to confuse (Brunmair and Richter, 2019).

Text version of this figure

Three study tricks that work. Use them in place of rereading.

1. Red flag: reread only: The page feels familiar, but you may not remember it next week.
2. Step 1, Quiz yourself: Close the lesson. Say or write the main points. Then check.
3. Step 2, Space it out: Study a little on three days, not a lot on one day.
4. Step 3, Mix it up: Practice different kinds of problems together.
5. Result: You remember more, for longer.

Source: Dunlosky and others (2013); Roediger and Karpicke (2006); Cepeda and others (2006); Brunmair and Richter (2019).

It may feel harder, and that is good

Quizzing yourself can feel slow and messy. You will forget things. That struggle is part of how memory gets stronger. Rereading feels easy, which is why it fools us.

Worked example: Lena studies her bus route test

Lena is learning 20 bus stops for a new driving job.

• Old way: she reads the list five times on Sunday night.
• New way: Monday, she reads it once, covers it, and writes all the stops she can. She checks and circles the ones she missed.
• Wednesday, she tries again from memory. She misses only four.
• Saturday, she tries again. She gets them all.

She studied for less time in all, and she remembered more. Lena is a made up example.

Worked example 2: Omar mixes his practice

Omar is taking 020 Everyday Math. His old way: ten percent problems in a row, then ten unit price problems. By the fifth one he was not thinking, just repeating.

His new way: he mixes them. A percent problem, then a unit price problem, then a tax problem. Each time he must first decide which method fits. That is the part a real store asks of him. It feels slower. A week later, he gets more right on a quiz.

Omar is a made up example.

Practice: Pick the trick

Each made up person has a study habit. Name the trick that would help most: quiz yourself, space it out, or mix it up.

1. Jo reads her notes over and over the night before a quiz.
2. Ben studies for two hours every Sunday and not at all during the week.
3. Lia does ten tip problems, then ten tax problems, always in that order.

Check your practice: feedback

1. Quiz yourself. She should close her notes, write what she remembers, then check.
2. Space it out. Three 15 minute times on different days beat one long session.
3. Mix it up. Put tip and tax problems in a mixed order so she has to pick the method each time.

Common mistakes

• Rereading and highlighting only. Close the page and quiz yourself.
• Cramming the night before. Spread it over several days.
• Checking the answer too fast. Try hard to remember first, then check.

Check your understanding

Take it as many times as you like. Pick an answer, then open the feedback.

1. You read a page twice and it feels easy. What is the best next step?

1. Read it a third time to be sure.
2. Close it and write the main points from memory.
3. Highlight the key words in yellow.

See the answer and feedback

B is correct. Yes. Quizzing yourself shows what you really remember.

A: Familiar is not the same as remembered. Review Trick 1: Quiz yourself.

C: Highlighting is rated low for learning. Review Trick 1: Quiz yourself.

2. You have a test in one week. Which plan is best?

1. Three hours the night before the test.
2. Study only if you feel ready.
3. Short times on three or four different days.

See the answer and feedback

C is correct. Yes. Spacing helps you remember longer.

A: Cramming fades fast. Review Trick 2: Space it out.

B: Plans work better than feelings. Review Lesson 2.

3. Why does quizzing yourself beat rereading?

1. Pulling facts from memory makes them easier to pull out later.
2. It takes less effort than reading.
3. It matches your learning style.

See the answer and feedback

A is correct. Yes. Practice recalling builds memory.

B: It often takes more effort. Review It may feel harder.

C: Learning styles have little evidence. Review Start with what you already do.

Next up

Next you will make your phone read to you, make text bigger, and turn on captions. Go to Lesson 4: Make the screen work for you.

Stuck or have a question? Ask BMU Learner Support.

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