Study methods that actually work (and a few that do not) — add yours

Research on learning is surprisingly consistent about a few things:

Test yourself instead of rereading. Closing the book and trying to recall what you just read ("retrieval practice") beats rereading and highlighting by a wide margin. Flashcards, practice questions and explaining it out loud all count.

Spread it out. Three half-hour sessions across a week beat one ninety-minute session the night before ("spacing"). Forgetting a little between sessions is what makes the next one stick.

Mix problem types. Doing a mix of question types ("interleaving") feels harder than doing twenty of the same kind, and that difficulty is exactly why it works better on a test.

Sleep is part of studying. Memories are consolidated overnight; an all-nighter trades the thing you were trying to learn for an hour of reading it.

What works for you? Reply with your own method — and never post answers to a live test or assignment.