Opinion Blog

Ask a Psychologist

Helping Students Thrive Now

Angela Duckworth and other behavioral-science experts offer advice to teachers based on scientific research. To submit questions, use this form or #helpstudentsthrive. Read more from this blog.

Teaching Opinion

Students Often Reread to Study. But That’s Not Effective

By Robert A. Bjork — March 23, 2022 2 min read
Why do students study by rereading their notes?
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

This is the last piece in a four-part series on learning. You can read the first one on the need to embrace desirable difficulties here, the second on a better way to practice here, and the third on the problem with cramming here.

Why do students study by rereading their notes and textbooks?

Rereading is accompanied by a sense of perceptual fluency, which students can then mistake for comprehension. Here’s something I wrote recently about the topic for Character Lab as a Tip of the Week:

Years ago, after watching a flight attendant demonstrate how to put on an inflatable life vest, I thought to myself, “Oh, man, how many times have I seen this demonstration—50 times? A hundred?”

Something made me wonder, though, “Do I really know how to do this?”

I closed my eyes and imagined the plane was down in the water, that some people were screaming and I could smell smoke. It seemed surprisingly real, and I started to feel panicky. Where was the vest? Under the seat, but was it just hanging there or in some kind of bag I had to open?

I imagined finding and unfolding the vest, then getting panicky again when I was unsure which side was the front. After getting the vest over my head and pulling on some straps to tighten it, I imagined inflating the vest. Only when I reached an exit row did I remember I was not supposed to inflate the vest until after getting through the exit window—and I imagined other panicky passengers trying to push me and my inflated vest through the window.

Research shows that watching someone else perform a skill isn’t the same as doing it yourself, just like rereading information doesn’t prepare you to actually recall information when it’s time to take a test.

The act of what scientists call retrieval practice—forcing yourself to recall previously learned material—is far more effective. When you test yourself and get things wrong, you’re not making a mistake. You are identifying what needs to be studied—or perhaps studied again.

That’s why, when giving a talk at the air traffic control center in Oklahoma City, I suggested that airports should have a room where passengers could practice putting on a life vest or oxygen mask. Doing the activity even once is worth more than dozens of passive observations of flight attendants’ demonstrations. After completing the exercise, you could get a little lapel pin saying, “Follow me! I know how to get out of the plane.”

Don’t think you can do something just because you’ve seen someone else do it. Watching a cooking show doesn’t make you a chef.

Do help young people recognize the benefits of retrieval practice. Students can create summaries as review sheets or get together with friends to quiz each other. As the old adage goes: “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

Related Tags:

The opinions expressed in Ask a Psychologist: Helping Students Thrive Now are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Mathematics Webinar
Pave the Path to Excellence in Math
Empower your students' math journey with Sue O'Connell, author of “Math in Practice” and “Navigating Numeracy.”
Content provided by hand2mind
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Recruitment & Retention Webinar
Combatting Teacher Shortages: Strategies for Classroom Balance and Learning Success
Learn from leaders in education as they share insights and strategies to support teachers and students.
Content provided by DreamBox Learning
Classroom Technology K-12 Essentials Forum Reading Instruction and AI: New Strategies for the Big Education Challenges of Our Time
Join the conversation as experts in the field explore these instructional pain points and offer game-changing guidance for K-12 leaders and educators.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Teaching Opinion Making Culturally Responsive Teaching Work: Zaretta Hammond Corrects 3 Big Misconceptions
The author and coach explains how to avoid several common mistakes in culturally responsive teaching.
10 min read
Images shows colorful speech bubbles that say "Q," "&," and "A."
iStock/Getty
Teaching Learning 'Acceleration' Is Hard to Do. These Districts Are Tackling the Challenge
Despite the buzz, acceleration hasn’t proved to be as popular as other learning-recovery strategies.
9 min read
EL teacher Katina Tibbetts looks at her computer during a 5th grade level Wit and Wisdom lesson at East Veterans Memorial Elementary in Gloucester, Mass., on Sept. 20, 2023.
Katina Tibbetts, a teacher who specializes in instruction for English learners, works with 5th-grade students during a lesson at East Veterans Memorial Elementary in Gloucester, Mass., on Sept. 20, 2023.
Libby O'Neill for Education Week
Teaching Spotlight Spotlight on Student Engagement & Motivation
This Spotlight will help you with insights into educators’ strategies for engagement, explore how podcasts are boosting engagement, and more.