Study methods: Distributed Practice and Leitner System

It's been a long time since I posted an article because I was busy preparing a series of posts regarding study methods. Yes, there are many study methods out there and you can easily lose yourself among them. I am going to explain each method in simple words so that you can decide which one suits you. But, let's be honest here. Whichever method you decide to follow, consistency is key. I can never underline this enough. Be consistent, find the method that suits your needs and BOOM!!!! success is guaranteed.

Picture by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/el-gr/photo/4778611/

In this post, we are going to focus on two methods called Distributed Practice and Leitner System. They are quite different. However, you can try them both or make a combination.

Distributed Practiced vs. Leitner System

Distributed Practice

What it is 

Learning method where you have to do your studying in several smaller sessions having enough space in between these sessions for quite a long time period (days or even weeks). The learning sessions must refer to the same subject.

How it is done

• The first step is for the students to understand the basics of the topic to be learnt.
• Then, students should let a considerable amount of time pass before they review the same topic again.
• When it’s time to review, students have to try and recall the information that they have previously learnt about the topic.
• This process is repeated quite a few times so that in the end the information is stored in the students’ long-term memory.

Advantages

The gains of repetition are maximized when done in several sessions during time. Also, distributed practice enhances students’ learning abilities. Specifically, they exhibit far better performance when this technique is applied, since it is easier to study and doesn’t tire students as much.Plus, the in-between time serves as a feedback period.

Disadvantages

By using this method, it will take longer for students to acquire some new skills. In-between breaks shouldn’t be too long in order for the method to be effective. Students have to be extremely consistent. For a few learners, it may not be as interesting to revise the same topic again and again.

Leitner System

What it is

It is a learning method, whereby flashcards are used and the students have to review these flashcards in several intervals that increase over time.

How it is done

• There are boxes in which the flashcards are put based on how well the student knows the topic on the cards.
• The student takes a flashcard from the first box and tries to find the solution to the problem. If they are correct, they put the flashcard into the next box. If they can’t recall the answer, they put it back in the first box.
• The same applies for all the boxes. If the student can correctly recall the information, the flashcard is moved into the next box, whereas if they fail to do so, the flashcard is then placed into the previous box.
• In the end, the first box contains all the information the student has difficulty remembering and the last box has the topics that the student knows really well.
• The idea is to revise the first box more frequently (e.g. every day) than the next box (e.g. every two days) and the next box (e.g. every three days) and so on.

Advantages

Students prioritize their learning and they concentrate on the most difficult parts of the topic. In the long run, the leitner system reduces the total amount of studying spent on the topic. It also stimulates brain areas that are responsible for deep learning and long memory retention.

Disadvantages

For quite a few students that are used to learning using multisensory means, this method can be quite boring and ineffective because their learning experience is limited only to reading information from a card.

These are the two methods fo the first post of this series. Have you used any of these when studying? Which one do you prefer? I would love to read your opinion in the comments. Like and share this post with your friends.