There are different methods of learning, of studying a subject matter, and these methods vary in their effectiveness for the learning process. Some types of learning are more of a refresher and therefore have a low rating for internalising the subject matter, while other methods have been tried and tested for a long time and achieve the best effect in a relatively short time. However, every person is fundamentally different, so everyone should find out for themselves which learning method is individually most effective. 

Different learning methods

Elaborative interrogation

Elaborative interrogation means "extended questioning", i.e. a type of interrogation. It involves scrutinising the facts given and concentrating on why these facts are correct. The focus is therefore on the why and not on the what. 

To do this, you take the existing facts and ask why x=y. This forces the brain to deal with the topic on a higher level, because you can only answer the question of why if you have understood the material. 

This learning method is quite effective and is highly rated. However, it requires prior knowledge and is more suitable for older students.

Self-explanation

This method focuses on problem solving. When going through the material, the learner asks himself how he approaches the problem, which path he takes to solve the problem and why he chooses this path. Although this method is very time-consuming, it is very suitable for learners of kindergarten and primary school age. 

Summarise

A tried and tested method that is often used to test the material. It works best if you take notes for summarising while reading. This learning method is moderately effective and is mainly suitable for reproducing information and not for learning material where information is created by the student. For experienced students, summarising is very productive, but there are many people who do not achieve good results with it.

Underline

This learning method is also very common, but it has a low rating for effectiveness. It involves underlining or highlighting important facts in a text while reading. This method does not achieve good results because underlining a key word or a passage of text does not require a thought process, rather it is a mechanical process that is automated in the brain. In principle, learning is most effective when you engage mentally with the subject matter in order to achieve deep understanding. 

Mnemonic bridge

The well-known mnemonic bridge creates links between the facts and the associated associations. These associations can be the sound of the word or a memory that you associate with the topic. The mnemonic is very useful for short-term memory, i.e. when you only want to memorise certain things for a short time, but it has a low long-term value. Because a keyword is so important for linking and association, the effectiveness of the mnemonic rests on the fact that the keywords are easy to remember. If you go into deeper and more complicated facts, this method is not only of little value, it can even have a negative effect on learning behaviour in the long term.

Learning with pictures

For some people, association with images works relatively well, but this method is more effective for short and simple information. Longer text passages can be associated less effectively with a picture. This method also seems to work better if you hear the information but do not read it yourself. Overall, learning with pictures has a low rating.

Repeated reading

Although the effectiveness of this learning method is considered to be low, some people find it more effective to read a text twice, and more slowly the second time, than to summarise it after reading it once. It has proven to be better to spend more time the second time than to read the text three or four times quickly.

Practice test

Tests are often seen as a necessary evil because they assess the result. If you do badly, you have failed, and some people find this concept disadvantageous. However, it is often a test that motivates people to learn. That's why a practice test is a very effective learning method, because it gives the student the goal of passing an exam, even if it's just an exercise. A practice test is particularly effective if the learner creates the questions themselves.

Distributed learning

Most people tend to study intensively and in one go just before an exam. However, it has been shown that the best way to memorise information is to learn in smaller chunks over a longer period of time. The rule of thumb is to spend about 10-20% of the time you want to memorise the information. So if you want to retain the material well for a year, you should spread the learning over a period of one month. If you only need the material for a week, spread the learning over 12-24 hours.

A combination of distributed learning and practice tests has proved most effective.

Overlapping learning

The theory behind this learning method is to study several different subjects or topics at the same time, and only with half the intensity. So instead of throwing yourself into a single subject intensively, you only study it for half an hour or so and then switch to something else. This method is said to achieve good results for long-term knowledge.