{"id":44,"date":"2020-07-03T05:06:33","date_gmt":"2020-07-03T05:06:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/learning-hacks\/?post_type=chapter&p=44"},"modified":"2020-07-03T05:28:43","modified_gmt":"2020-07-03T05:28:43","slug":"dont-bother-highlighting","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/learning-hacks\/chapter\/dont-bother-highlighting\/","title":{"raw":"Don't Bother Highlighting","rendered":"Don’t Bother Highlighting"},"content":{"raw":"
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The Hack<\/h3>\r\nHighlighting or underlining potentially important parts of a text is not a very effective study technique.\r\n\r\nYou would be better off spending your time on a more effective study technique, like taking practice tests.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\"open<\/h3>\r\n

The Story<\/h3>\r\nYou\u2019ve probably bought a used textbook that looked like the one above \u2013 marked up endlessly with various colors of highlighters.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ve even created one like this yourself! You would think that highlighting the important parts of what you\u2019re reading would help emphasize to your brain that these are the things it should pay attention to.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this turns out not to be the case.\r\n

The Research<\/h3>\r\nA group of researchers looked at highlighting along with several other study techniques to see which were most useful. In their research, they looked at studies of many kinds of students - from children to college students to Air Force trainees. They looked at research where students were studying texts about many different topics, including science, history, psychology, and geography. They looked at studies focused on highlighting short texts and studies focused on highlighting long texts. They looked at research where students were tested right after highlighting texts, and research where students weren\u2019t tested until long after they had highlighted texts. After reviewing all this research, the authors summarized their findings by saying, \u201cIn most situations that have been examined and with most participants, highlighting does little to boost performance\u201d (Dunlosky, p. 21).\r\n\r\nAs often happens in studies, the researchers found the occasional exception to this rule. For example, if students are explicitly taught how to highlight and are assigned highlighting practice and then given feedback on the quality of their highlighting, highlighting can improve learning. But they also found situations where highlighting actually hurts students\u2019 learning. For example, highlighting has been shown to harm students\u2019 performance on higher-level thinking problems, like questions that require students to make inferences.\r\n\r\nIn the end, the researchers rated highlighting as having \u201clow utility\u201d and recommended that students use their limited study time on study techniques that are more effective, like taking practice tests (which, after reviewing the research, they rated as \u201chigh utility\u201d). So be sure to use the Show What You Know, Practice, and Self Check opportunities throughout this course!\r\n

The Source<\/h3>\r\nDunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving Students\u2019 Learning With Effective Learning Techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4\u201358. doi:10.1177\/1529100612453266","rendered":"
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The Hack<\/h3>\n

Highlighting or underlining potentially important parts of a text is not a very effective study technique.<\/p>\n

You would be better off spending your time on a more effective study technique, like taking practice tests.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"open<\/h3>\n

The Story<\/h3>\n

You\u2019ve probably bought a used textbook that looked like the one above \u2013 marked up endlessly with various colors of highlighters.\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ve even created one like this yourself! You would think that highlighting the important parts of what you\u2019re reading would help emphasize to your brain that these are the things it should pay attention to.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this turns out not to be the case.<\/p>\n

The Research<\/h3>\n

A group of researchers looked at highlighting along with several other study techniques to see which were most useful. In their research, they looked at studies of many kinds of students – from children to college students to Air Force trainees. They looked at research where students were studying texts about many different topics, including science, history, psychology, and geography. They looked at studies focused on highlighting short texts and studies focused on highlighting long texts. They looked at research where students were tested right after highlighting texts, and research where students weren\u2019t tested until long after they had highlighted texts. After reviewing all this research, the authors summarized their findings by saying, \u201cIn most situations that have been examined and with most participants, highlighting does little to boost performance\u201d (Dunlosky, p. 21).<\/p>\n

As often happens in studies, the researchers found the occasional exception to this rule. For example, if students are explicitly taught how to highlight and are assigned highlighting practice and then given feedback on the quality of their highlighting, highlighting can improve learning. But they also found situations where highlighting actually hurts students\u2019 learning. For example, highlighting has been shown to harm students\u2019 performance on higher-level thinking problems, like questions that require students to make inferences.<\/p>\n

In the end, the researchers rated highlighting as having \u201clow utility\u201d and recommended that students use their limited study time on study techniques that are more effective, like taking practice tests (which, after reviewing the research, they rated as \u201chigh utility\u201d). So be sure to use the Show What You Know, Practice, and Self Check opportunities throughout this course!<\/p>\n

The Source<\/h3>\n

Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving Students\u2019 Learning With Effective Learning Techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4\u201358. doi:10.1177\/1529100612453266<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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CC licensed content, Original<\/div>