There is new research published in the Journal Psychologicial Science in the Public Interest that says we should forget what we think we know about studying. The article says it has found proof that many of the study habits taught to children today are not effective.
The article brings together a number of studies which question some of the long held beliefs that students should concentrate on one subject at a time and should try to study in the same quiet place. The journal entry also questions whether individual students have different learning styles saying there is no scientific evidence to support that.
There is scientific evidence they say to support varying the study location and subject matter. The author of the article cites several studies where it was determined that students who went from location to location to study material did much better on tests than students who studied the same material in a single location. Researchers also discovered that when students studied more than one subject at a time they retained the information better. This could be beneficial to students in high education or using online learning like onlineeducation.com, these student typically take more than one course at a time.
It is not clear why varying study locations and subjects appears to be more effective but scientists believe it has to do with the ability of the brain to multi-task. The information may be retained better they say because the brain has to work harder when subjects are being shuffled up and there are more distractions.
The journal article also reports on studies that show testing can be an excellent learning tool. Researchers say that tests are not just for evaluating how a student is doing but can facilitate retention of material. Studies show that quizzes and practice tests are very effective teaching tools challenging the brain to remember the material you have been going over. A Washington University experiment found that studies who read a passage and took a test on the material scored higher on a subsequent test than students who read the material twice and then took the test.