The APA Introductory Psychology Initiative

Lesson Plan: Improving Study Skills through Psychological Science

Instructions for Instructors

This lesson plan outlines an introduction to effective study skills that can be integrated into your
Introductory Psychology course. It can be covered in one class period or longer. It also includes a
selection of optional activities for each section of the lesson, formative and summative
assessments of learning, and supplementary resources. A set of presentation slides to accompany
this lesson plan can be found at http://bit.ly/StudySkills_IPI.

Learning Goals for this Module

• Identify the components of effective studying (attention, multitasking, working memory,

learning strategies, metacognition)
• Design a study plan using effective study strategies

Presentation Outline
(This is an outline of major points in the lesson. Additional information about effective study
skills and supporting research are located in the Resources and References section.)

• Studying in ways that effectively promote learning is a critical academic skill, but it is
also a critical career and life skill. People need to learn new things throughout their life.
o Instructors can conduct the Study Strategy Poll here (Activity 1).
o Research shows that some of the most popular study strategies that students use
are also the least effective for learning. For example, rereading and highlighting
are not effective learning techniques by themselves.
o If a student uses poor study strategies, the student can study long and hard but still
fail.
• The content of introductory psychology includes concepts that are necessary for effective
studying.
o Attention: People, and that includes students, cannot multitask. Students often
believe that they are expert multitaskers because they do it a lot. Trying to
multitask causes people to constantly switch the focus of their attention. Research
shows people miss a lot of information outside of their focus of attention, and
they are not aware of what they have missed (i.e., inattentional blindness).
Students must eliminate distractions and study with full focus. Instructors can
conduct the Inattentional Blindness activity here (Activity 2) and the Cost of
Multitasking activity here (Activity 3).
o Short-term or working memory: Short-term memory, also known as working
memory, is what students use when actively thinking about study materials. This
memory is limited in capacity. Effective studying involves transferring
information through this limited-capacity memory to long-term memory, which
has an enormous capacity. Using short-term memory for this transfer can take
time and effort.
o There are six key learning strategies in this lesson. Instructors should introduce
the strategies to students. For example, instructors may have students view the
How to Study videos by Stephen Chew (Activity 4), or they may assign Miyatsu,
Nguyen, and McDaniel (2018) as a reading (Activity 5). These activities might
occur before class or during class time. Instructors may also assign other readings
or lecture to introduce the strategies. For more information about each strategy,
plus downloadable teaching resources, instructors can go to
www.learningscientists.org and www.retrievalpractice.org. They can also refer to
the books listed under Resources and References.
§ Distributed or spaced practice: Learning takes time. Students should
distribute studying across multiple sessions rather than massing it in one
session. Cramming is ineffective for long-term retention of information.
§ Interleaving: Students should mix up the content that they are studying
rather than studying just one type of content. For example, rather than
studying for one course in one block of time, study for two different
courses during that one block of time, going back and forth from one to
the other.
§ Chunking: Group ideas together into meaningful chunks of information.
Organizing facts into meaningful categories that go together. So, if
someone has to remember to buy lettuce, cheese, cucumber, tomatoes,
dressing, and croutons, this grocery list is easier to recall if he or she group
all of these ingredients into one chunk called “salad.”
§ Elaboration: Elaboration occurs when students make meaningful
associations with what they are studying. Deep thinking might include
connecting material to things that they already know, producing examples,
and asking questions. The Depth of Processing activity can occur here to
introduce elaboration (Activity 6).
§ Retrieval practice: To help learning, students should practice recalling and
using information. Rather than just re-exposing oneself to information by
repeatedly looking over material, students should test their ability to
explain information or produce answers to questions without looking at
notes or the textbook.
§ Overlearning: Students should keep studying well after it feels like they
have mastered the material. Once students have correctly answered a
question, they should not quit studying that topic. The more students
correctly retrieve and apply information, the easier it becomes to do so.
o Metacognition: In the context of learning, metacognition has to do with student
awareness of their own level of understanding of a concept.
§ Successful students have an accurate sense of metacognition. They know
when they have mastered material. Struggling students have poor
metacognition because they are overconfident. They think they have a
good understanding when their understanding is shallow and has gaps and
misconceptions. As a result, they start studying too late and stop studying
too early. They think they do well on exams and are surprised to find out
they have done poorly.
 § Introductory students struggle the most with metacognition. Those who
know the least about a field are the least prepared to grasp what they do
not know.
§ Bad study strategies increase confidence without increasing learning. For
example, textbook material will feel familiar and easy after reading it
several times, but that feeling does not mean that a student will be able to
recall the material on a test. Don’t confuse familiarity with learning.
§ The best way students can combat poor metacognition is to test
their understanding and get feedback about accuracy. Practices tests and
review questions work well for evaluating understanding. Students can
also explain the material to someone else or write down what they know
and check it against the textbook. In introductory courses, it is best for
students to assume that they have poor metacognition and simply study
more than they think necessary.
• To summarize, effective studying involves multiple components.
o Study with full focus and minimize distractions.
o Study using effective learning strategies.
o Assess one’s level of understanding to identify confusions, gaps, and
misconceptions.
• Conclusion: Effective studying is more than the amount of time spent studying. It is the
quality of study, which takes time and effort.
o Instructors can use the Study Plan discussion activity (Activity 7) or the
Distributing Study Time activity (Activity 8) here. Activity 7 can also be used as
an assessment. Instructors can also discuss the Intense Study Session as an
example of structuring an effective study session (Activity 9).

List of Activities and Assignments for Students

1. Activity 1: Study strategy poll (see Appendix A).
2. Activity 2: Inattentional blindness demonstration (see Appendix B)
3. Activity 3: Cost of multitasking demonstration (see Appendix C)
4. Activity 4: View How to Get the Most Out of Studying videos by Stephen Chew (see
Resources)
5. Activity 5: Read study skills article by Miyatsu, Nguyen, and McDaniel (see Resources)
6. Activity 6: Depth of processing activity (see Resources listed as Chew, 2010)
7. Activity 7: Discussion of study plan essay (see Assessment 1)
o The scoring rubric for the essay is in Appendix D
8. Activity 8: Discussion of distributing study time (See Appendix E)
9. Activity 9: Discussion of intense study sessions (see Appendix F)
Formative and Summative Assessments

• Concept Checks for Formative Assessment

(These questions can be used to gauge student understanding at key points during the
lesson. They may be used as a think-pair-share or a clicker question for peer
instruction.)

1. Which of the following statements on how people learn is supported by research?

a. People are worse at multitasking than focusing on one task at a time

b. Effective learning is a matter of the amount of time spent studying
c. Effective learning is a matter of how many times a student has read the material
d. People learn best when the learning material matches their specific learning style

2. Which of the following is most likely to lead to long-term learning?

a. Highlighting key terms and phrases

b. Closing your book and notes and writing down everything you can remember
about a topic
c. Reading over the textbook multiple times
d. Concentrating on only one course or topic during a block of study time

3. Which of the following is an example of poor metacognition?

a. Joe failed an exam because he memorized definitions but his professor tested him
over comprehension.
b. Amy felt confident she did well on the exam but was stunned to find out she
barely made a D grade.
c. Cindy studied by reading her notes and her textbook over and over again, but still
made a bad grade.
d. Sam thought he could learn the material well enough if he just read the chapter
summaries, but he ended up failing the exam.

Answers: 1. A; 2. B (a form of retrieval practice); 3. B but also D (the students show poor
awareness of what they learned and how to effectively learn).
 • Formative or Summative Assessments

Assessment 1: Study Plan Essay

o Consider your academic schedule for the upcoming weeks. Design a study plan
that will allow you to learn effectively. The plan should do the following things.
§ Describe specific ways that you account for limitations of attention and
working memory.
§ Describe specific plans to apply at least two effective learning strategies.
§ Describe ways that you will use metacognition to become aware of your
level of understanding.
§ Identify potential obstacles and describe methods for overcoming them.
o Instructors can find a scoring rubric in Appendix D.

Assessment 2: Multiple Choice Questions

1. Many first year students have poor metacognition. This could result in which of the
following?

a. They are likely to stop studying before they truly understand a concept.
b. They believe they have a complete understanding of a concept when really their
understanding is shallow, with both gaps and misconceptions.
c. They will overestimate how well they do on exams.
d. All of the above are consequences of poor metacognition.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE about multitasking?

a. People have a pretty accurate sense of how good they are at multitasking.
b. You become better at multitasking the more you do it.
c. Younger people who have been raised with technology are good at multitasking.
d. Multitasking virtually always hurts performance compared to focusing on one
task at a time.

3. Which of the following statements is true?

a. Attention allows us to notice most anything going on in our environment.

b. Students who are more motivated to learn will learn more.
c. A major challenge of studying effectively is getting information through the
limited capacity of working memory.
d. Any study strategy will lead to learning.

4. In an evening study session, Joan first studies a section from her psychology course. Then
she switches to study a section of art history. Then she studies more psychology. Finally, she
goes back and studies more art history. Joan is using the study strategy of

a. Spacing
 b. Interleaving
c. Retrieval practice
d. Chunking

5. Instead of studying the properties of cornea, lens, rods, cones, and fovea separately, Astrid
studies them all together as parts of the eye for vision. Astrid is using the learning strategy of

a. Spacing
b. Interleaving
c. Retrieval practice
d. Chunking

Answers: 1. D; 2. D; 3. C; 4.B; 5. D
 Resources and References

Agarwal, P. K., & Bains, P. M. (2019). Powerful teaching: Unleash the science of learning. San
Francisco, CA: .Jossey-Bass.

Benassi, V. A., Overson, C. E., & Hakala, C. M. (2014). Applying science of learning in education:
Infusing psychological science into the curriculum. Retrieved from
http://teachpsych.org/ebooks/asle2014/index.php

Brown, P. C., Roediger, H. L., & McDaniel, M. A. (2014). Make it stick: The science of successful
learning. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

Chew, S. L. (2010). Improving Classroom Performance by Challenging Student Misconceptions about

Learning, APS Observer, 23, 51-54.

Chew, S. L. (2010). Improving Classroom Performance by Challenging Student Misconceptions about

Learning, APS Observer, 23, 51-54. Retrieved from: http://bit.ly/oFEkRu and available in
summary form here: https://bit.ly/32FFhqZ

Chew, S. How to Get the Most Out of Studying. A series of five videos (with optional introduction)
created by Stephen Chew on how to study based on cognitive principles. Retrieved from:
https://www.samford.edu/departments/academic-success-center/how-to-study

Learning Scientists.org. A website comprised of summaries and blog posts about learning science
written by learning scientists, including downloadable activities and posters. Retrieved from
http://www.learningscientists.org/

Miyatsu, T., Nguyen, K., & McDaniel, M. A. (2018). Five popular study strategies: Their optimal
implementation and pitfalls. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13, 390-407.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617710510

Retreivalpractice.org. A website of blogs, summaries, and downloadable resources related to the study
strategy of retrieval practice. “ Retrieved from: https://www.retrievalpractice.org/

Weinstein, Y., Sumeracki, M., & Caviglioli, O. (2019). Understanding how we learn: A visual guide.
New York, NY: Routledge.
 Appendix A

Class Poll on Study Strategies

• Description

o Instructors can conduct an informal poll at the start of the module using clickers or votes by hand
to illustrate how frequently students use various study strategies. Instructors can point out when
the results suggest that students are using ineffective strategies.
o A variation on this activity would be to ask students to vote whether each method is effective or
ineffective.

• Sample script

o I am going to list off a number of strategies for studying. Vote for the methods that you typically
use when studying for your classes.

1. Reading the material over and over

2. Spreading out your studying over many days
3. Staying up late the night before to pull an all nighter
4. Using flashcards to test your knowledge
5. Cramming right before the test
6. Mixing up material from different classes rather than studying for just one class at a time
7. Rewriting your notes
8. Coming up with questions to test your understanding
9. Memorizing definitions of key terms
10. Applying the information to your own life
11. Making the material fit your personal learning style
12. Studying in a quiet place with no distractions
 Appendix B

Inattentional Blindness

There are many good examples of inattentional blindness on YouTube. Here are two:

1. The Monkey Business Illusion by Dan Simons: https://youtu.be/IGQmdoK_ZfY

2. Test Your Awareness: Whodunnit? A Public Service Announcement commercial for bicycle
awareness: https://youtu.be/ubNF9QNEQLA
 Appendix C

The Cost of Multitasking

The following demonstration shows the cost of multitasking. The class carries out this task in
pairs. A group of three is acceptable for odd numbers. One member of the pair will act as the
timer as the other carries out the task. Then the two members switch roles. Each member should
have his or her time for each task.

1. Partner up; you will need a stopwatch

2. Time each other doing the following:
a. As quick as you can, count down from 10 to 0, then immediately say the alphabet out
loud from A-K
b. Now, alternate between the alphabet and counting down, 10-A, 9-B,…
3. Divide your second task time by your first task time

• Everyone should have their times and their ratio from Step 3.
• If their ratio is 1 or less, they are good at multitasking.
• If their ratio is greater than one, it indicates how much slower they were at multitasking. For
example, a 3.0 means they were three times slower multitasking than focusing on one task at a
time. Ask which task was easier to see if their experience matches their times.
• Have students consider how much more inefficient they are while multitasking than focusing on
one topic and then another. Note that these are familiar, highly overlearned tasks. Multitasking is
likely worse when doing complex, unfamiliar tasks like studying.
• Ask how the students plan to reduce the effects of multitasking and have them share with each
other or the class.
 Appendix D

Rubric for Assessment 1: Study Plan Essay Question

Performance Effective Needs improvement Missing

domain (2) (1) (0)

Attention The plan makes specific The plan mentions The plan does not
mention of methods for distractions and limited address distractions,
eliminating distractions attention or working attention, or
and the need to maintain memory, but it is not working memory.
focus based on limited specific.
attention and working
memory capacity.

Learning The plan contains accurate The plan contains The plan includes
strategies and practical application of accurate and practical no accurate or
two or more learning application of one practical
strategies (e.g., learning strategy. applications of
distribution, interleaving, learning strategies.
chunking, elaboration,
overlearning).

Metacognition The plan includes a The plan The plan includes

specific strategy for mentions feedback on no means of
gaining accurate feedback comprehension. feedback on
on comprehension. comprehension.

Practicality The plan is practical and The plan could be The plan could not
could be realistically implemented. The plan be implemented.
implemented. The plan identifies obstacles and The plan identifies
identifies obstacles and possible methods for no obstacles.
effective methods for overcoming them.
overcoming them.
 Appendix E

Distributing Study Time

It’s Monday. You have an exam on Friday over four chapters. What is your study plan?

Plan A Plan B Plan C

Monday: Read Ch. 1 Monday: Do other Monday: Read Ch. 1 & 2 (at least)
stuff

Tuesday: Read Ch. 2 Tuesday: Do other Tuesday: Test self over Ch. 1 & 2; Read
stuff Ch. 3 & 4

Wednesday: Read Ch. 3 Wednesday: Start Wednesday: Test self over Ch. 3 & 4;
Reading Review Ch. 1 & 2 based on self-test

Thursday: Read Ch. 4 and Thursday: Finish Thursday: Review Ch. 3 & 4 based on
review all chapters Reading and Review self-test; Review and self-test all chapters

Friday: Take Exam Friday: Take Exam Friday: Take Exam

Discussion Questions

1. What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of each plan?

2. Which of the plans do you think would be most effective and least effective for learning?
Explain your reasoning.

3. Which plan do you think you should follow? Which plan do you think you would likely
follow (or what plan of your own would you follow)? Explain your choices.
 Instructor Discussion Guide for “Distributing Study Time” Activity

Plan A represents a methodical approach to studying. Every chapter is read once. Students may
see this as a good study plan because it is thorough, but reading a chapter only once is not
sufficient for learning new, complex concepts. There is no mechanism for feedback about proper
understanding (metacognition) or misconceptions. In addition, chapters read early in the week
are likely to be forgotten by the exam. Students need to have an opportunity to read the chapter,
reflect on it, get answers to any questions about it, get feedback about their understanding, and
review the material. Although comprehensive, this is not a good study plan for long-term
learning.

Plan B represents cramming, concentrating study time immediately before the exam. While
cramming can be an effective study strategy for immediate recall, it is a poor study strategy for
long-term recall because forgetting is rapid from massed studying. It is also a highly risky
strategy. If it turns out that the material is more complex than the student anticipates, there is no
additional time that the student can allocate for studying. If the student cannot grasp the material
quickly or has questions, there is no opportunity to get help. If the student has misconceptions
from the reading, there is no way to discover these before the exam. Students, especially
struggling students and those who are aiming just to pass the exam, may easily fail the exam
using this strategy.

Plan C requires the most effort to carry out but will lead to the most enduring learning and gives
the student the best chance of developing a deep, accurate understanding of the material. By
reading, self-testing, then reviewing, students have a chance to reflect on the material, discover
gaps and misconceptions, formulate questions and get answers to those questions. This plan
incorporates spacing, interleaving, and retrieval practice, all highly effective long-term learning
strategies. This method requires more planning and self-discipline than the other plans.
 Appendix F

Intense Study Sessions (ISS)

Originally from the Louisiana State Website and adapted for use here:
(https://www.depauw.edu/files/resources/cook2013.pdf)

1) Set a Goal (1-2 min)

• Decide what you want to accomplish in your study session

2) Study with Focus (30-50 min)

• Eliminate all distractions and temptations
• Use deep processing

3) Reward Yourself (5-10 min)

• Take a break– call a friend, play a short game, get a snack, but keep it short.

4) Review (5 min)
• Go over what you just studied
• Recall without looking