A normative study of students’ reported preferred study techniques

Abstract There is no data in the literature regarding the study techniques actually used by students in various grades. The absence of this data may in part explain the conflicting results in the literature on study technique effectiveness. This normative study investigated the study technique preferences of 914 students in grades 6–8, 10–12, and at the college level in order to determine the study techniques actually used by students at various ages. The results indicate that with increasing grade level there is an increase in the total number of study techniques described by students, and also that with increasing grade level Read Only decreases in popularity and is replaced by the study techniques of Underlining and/or Note Taking. Possible explanations for these results include the more active involvement and encoding required by Underlining and Note Taking and the increasing influence of individual differences.