Here's the Best Way to Learn, for students and professionals
When it comes to studying, everyone has its own methods: flash cards, outlines, sticky notes, etc. But is there actually a method that works better to remember more and score higher on the bar and other important exams?
It turns out that there could be one. Ever heard of spaced repetition? According to the New England Journal of Medicine and the American Psychological Association, confirmed by hundreds of peer-reviewed, published studies, this could be the best way to learn.Â
Never heard of it? It’s maybe because it was never applied to legal education before. Medical students however, remember about three times as much information when preparing for their medical exams if they use space repetition.Â
So how does it work?Â
Spaced repetition: a hack to make your brain store information
Think of it as an update to the classic flashcards: use flashcards organized into a box. Set up a time for when you will review the cards – if you answer the card correctly then you put it into a section that you will revisit less frequently in the future, but if you get it wrong, then you move the card into a section scheduled for frequent visits.Â
You just need to do this for about 10 minutes a day. Make an habit out of it! The result is that while the average user would be expected to remember less than 25% of what they studied a week after reviewing it, it turns out that students using spaced repetition remember 92%
When compared to cramming, spaced repetition takes far less time. Totally a good deal.
Understanding the brain
It’s difficult to describe the brain but we could likely say that it works like a computer. Computers store whatever information they are told to store, but it’s not that easy to tell your brain what to remember. Also on quantity, studies have shown that we can only remember five to seven new pieces of information at a time.Â
Hacking the brain
So if the brain cannot effectively store and recall a lot of information, then “cramming” is not the right solution.Â
We also know that the brain retains information it deems to be important. It strengthens your memory to review regularly and frequently those important information. And that’s where spaced repetition makes sense – revisiting information regularly at set intervals over time.Â
Applied to law school
There’s no secret: it is not how hard you study, it is about how smart you are. You can try this technique on your own: make your own flash cards while you have time – which is already a way to remember the information – and then store it into a box.Â
Then instead of “massing” all of a subject over a day, consider reviewing your flash-cards for a few minutes/hours and, then review it again two days later. The more exposure the more retention.Â
Let us know about your experience with the spaced repetition method!Â
