Blog Fifteen - Analysis of Different Study Methods: Highlighting
Many approaches can be taken when it comes to studying. Methods range from re-reading notes to more complex ones, such as the Feynman Technique. Generally, each of these methods would have a specific goal in mind and an area of focus they would like to target. For example, short-term recall methods are precisely what the name implies: they are meant to store information for a shorter time, likely before a test or exam. These can be useful since not all information learned in school needs to be prioritized for long-term absorption. Other methods that require more active recall are more suited for long-term retention and are designed to allow information to stay in one’s memory for a long time. Frequently, students use a mix of some of the most popular techniques of each of these types, which will be explored in more detail below.
One of the most popular methods worldwide is re-reading and highlighting notes. Highlighting notes means that a student’s brain is engaged, as they are actively sorting information into two main categories: important and not important. This engagement of the brain is enhanced with color coding, as now, these categories can become more specific to the subject material. For example, if students are studying a historical event and its impacts, color-coding gives them the freedom to choose how they want to organize the material. They can pick out the causes and effects, or they can categorize each effect as a certain type of impact, such as an economic impact, political impact, etc. Choosing which categories to place information into means that the students are actively analyzing the information and using this to determine an overall theme that interconnects the events, deepening their understanding. Additionally, it gives students an easy way to review later, as it “[draws] attention to important information in a text,” as written in Elftmann Student Success Center’s article, “A Guide on How To: Use Highlighting.” Highlighting is a good balance of convenient and engaging since it requires the students to be actively focused when they are reading, and it also provides a quick snapshot of whatever they are reading so they can always come back to it before an exam.
On the other hand, it can be argued that simply dividing information into categories may engage the brain, but it does not foster understanding. In other words, it is not the “correct” type of focus, and the student’s focus should be directed to the analysis and fundamental understanding of these concepts instead. In Manchester University’s student newspaper, a writer points out how highlighting shifts the focus of memorization to simply memorizing facts rather than concepts and doesn’t do much to encourage true understanding of the concept. This is because it does not require the student to actively conclude much about the information besides what is and isn’t important, so they do not have practice using and applying it.
If a student chooses to, there are a few general rules to follow when highlighting, since any study method is rendered less effective when not used properly. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill points out how the primary purpose of highlighting is to “pinpoint key concepts.” Since this is the fundamental purpose of highlighting, all of a student’s highlighting practices should fall under this goal. To emphasize key points is the general rule of highlighting. More specifically, students should avoid highlighting too much, as selective highlighting promotes three things. First, it makes the student think actively about which concepts are the most important. This, again, keeps the brain engaged during learning. Two, it allows for easy review rather than having to read an entire block of text that the student highlighted prior. And three, it prevents students from overloading their memory with information that may be irrelevant or less significant for their study goals. Also, they would benefit from making sure that all the words they highlight make sense when standing alone, so they do not have to go back and read the sentence because their highlighted words do not make sense.
Even the most minor habits that students make, such as choosing how to study, can have a substantial impact on shaping their work ethics in the future if done consistently. The most important thing is that students are encouraged by their peers and teachers to choose the methods that are most useful for them and that they have a good general knowledge of the different options they have available to them. Learning how to learn is a skill that should be developed young, especially in school. Regardless of which methods they pick, it is crucial that students know how to study practically and are given a comprehensive toolkit of techniques to use in the future.
