Students are asked to summarize the main points of a text.

Rates as having low utility as summarization requires experience to do well, which many beginner students would not have. Therefore, it is not a generalizable study skill. There is also no evidence that summarization helps effectively boost “student’s learning, comprehension and retention of course material” (p.18).


Summerizing

Students underline or highlight important information in the text.

Rated as having low utility. Research shows that it does very little to boost academic performance. Moreover, it may cause students to remember the wrong information, as they often have to infer what is important within the text.


Highlighting and Underlining

A “technique based on interactive imagery that was developed by Atkinson and Raugh (1975)” (p.21).  For example, a student might imagine a goose eating a worm to remember the Spanish word for worm (gusano)

Rated as low utility due to little efficiency, and low efficacy, especially when tested for delayed retention.


Keyword Mnemonics

Imagery Use (For Text learning)

Students read through textbook material again before the exam. 65% of surveyed college students reported utilizing rereading as a study method for exams.

Rated as low utility. So far, the only research about rereading has been done on college-level students, so no conclusion can be made about whether or not it works for younger students. It is also considerably less effective for academic achievement than other study habits.


Rereading

Low utility learning strategies have limited benefits and performance is not consistently improved with these habits.
- Summarizing
- Highlighting and Underlining
- Keyword Mnemonics
- Imagery Use
- Rereading

Low utility learning strategies are not recommended for any students.

Concordia College - Moorhead

Learning strategies are essentially different methods of studying or various types of study habits. Dunlosky et al. categorized each study habit into one of three utilities based on generalizability and effectiveness (if it really improves learning): high, moderate and low.

Learning Strategies

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and Educational Psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doi-org.cordproxy.mnpals.net/10.1177/1529100612453266


Improving Students’ Learning With Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From Cognitive and  Educational Psychology

High utility learning strategies have generalization results, meaning that they benefit many students of different ages and abilities. Research has also shown they are effective in boosting academic performance
- Practice Testing
- Distributed Practice (Spacing)

High utility learning strategies are recommended for all students


High Utility Learning Strategies

Moderate utility learning strategies show some generalization across a few variables but the efficacy of boosting academic performance is limited.
- Elaborative Interrogation
- Self-Explanation
- Interleaved Practice

Recommended for certain students/learning situations

Moderate Utility Learning Strategies

Low Utility Learning Strategies

Photographs of students engaged in studying are often used as visual aids to illustrate the application of various learning strategies and study techniques.

Visual Representation of Studying

The effectiveness of any study strategy is highly individual. It is crucial for a learner to identify and apply techniques that are personally effective, as a method that is successful for one person may not be suitable for another.

Personalizing Study Strategies

A student is preparing for a major final exam. Their primary study method involves rereading their textbook and class notes multiple times over the two days leading up to the exam. While reading, they use a highlighter to mark passages they believe are important. The night before the exam, they plan to stay up late to review all the highlighted sections one last time.

Based on principles of effective learning, critique this student's approach. Identify two specific weaknesses in their plan and propose a more effective alternative for each weakness. Justify why your proposed alternatives would likely lead to better learning and long-term retention.

Learn Before

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Learn After