Why highlighting feels like studying
The page looks finished. The color is visible proof that you touched the paragraph. Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, and Willingham reviewed study techniques in 2013 in Psychological Science in the Public Interest. They rated highlighting and rereading as low utility for durable learning. They rated practice testing and distributed practice as high utility. Practice testing means you produce an answer. A marker does not do that.
What should the highlight be for?
Use it to choose the line you will be asked about. Then do the thing the review rated higher: close the page and answer. That is the same move as one question at a time. A Cornell cue in the margin is a better pointer than a second color, because the cue is already a question.
The six-step retrieval workflow
- Mark one line per idea. After you have read the section. Not while you are still figuring out the sentence.
- Turn the line into a question. “What do the light reactions produce?” The highlighted sentence is not the front of the card.
- Close the page. If you can still see the yellow, you are rereading.
- Answer out loud. In your own words. A nod at a familiar phrase does not count.
- Check the line. Open the page. Fix only the part you could not say.
- Answer again before you reread. Next session, say the answer first. Look at the color only if you miss.
What does one mark become?
Highlighted line: Light reactions produce ATP and NADPH, and the Calvin cycle uses them to make sugar.
Question: What do the light reactions produce, and what uses those products?
You say, page closed: ATP and NADPH. The Calvin cycle uses them.
You say only “energy”: that mark stays. The ones you can answer can stay unmarked next time.
What mistakes keep the highlighter in charge?
- Highlighting a line before you know what it claims.
- Coloring whole paragraphs, so nothing is a single question.
- Using several colors with no rule for what each color asks you to do.
- Rereading only the yellow and calling that review.
How can an app replace the color?
Feynman AI can turn a page into questions. Check each question against the line you would have highlighted, then answer with the page closed. A short set fits the study session planner. If the line is a sequence you must keep in order, put that sequence in a memory palace and still say it without looking.
Frequently asked questions
Does highlighting help you study?
A highlight can point to a line you will turn into a question. As a study method by itself, Dunlosky and colleagues rated highlighting low utility in their 2013 review.
Is rereading better than highlighting?
The same review rated rereading low utility for durable learning. Practice testing, which means answering from memory, was rated high utility.
Should you stop using a highlighter?
Use it to choose one line per idea. Do not treat the color as proof that you know the line.
What should you do with notes you already highlighted?
Write one question per mark, close the page, and answer. Keep the marks that still point to a question you miss.
Sources
- Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan, and Willingham, 2013. Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques. Psychological Science in the Public Interest.
- Karpicke and Roediger, 2008. The critical importance of retrieval for learning.
Related guides
Answer the line before you color it again
The mark is a pointer. The answer is the study.
Open the study session planner