https://howlane.com/study-smarter/Study methods backed by research, explained simply.enMon, 19 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMThttps://howlane.com/study-smarter/why-does-mixed-practice-feel-worse-but-work-better-the-painting-style-studies/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/why-does-mixed-practice-feel-worse-but-work-better-the-painting-style-studies/Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTIn painting-style experiments, mixing artists beat grouping them (59% vs 36%), yet 71% of replication participants said grouping helped more. Here is why.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-summarizing-your-notes-help-you-learn-what-dunlosky-found/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-summarizing-your-notes-help-you-learn-what-dunlosky-found/Sun, 18 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTDunlosky's review rates summarization "helpful only with training." Cornell's method has a summary box, so here is what that means, in minutes, for your notes.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-growth-mindset-improve-grades/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-growth-mindset-improve-grades/Sat, 17 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTMeta-analyses show weak effects (d of 0.05 in 2023); a 2019 national experiment found grade gains only for lower-achieving students in some schools.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-background-music-help-you-study/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-background-music-help-you-study/Fri, 16 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTA 2011 meta-analysis found no overall effect of background music, with reading disturbed and small memory harms; speech hurt face learning in 2019.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/are-learning-styles-real/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/are-learning-styles-real/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTDo visual or auditory learners learn better when teaching matches their style? What a major review and a direct test found, and what to do instead.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-your-phone-hurt-studying/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-your-phone-hurt-studying/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat a classroom experiment, a direct replication, and a meta-analysis found about phones, attention, and exam scores, and what that means for your desk.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-it-matter-where-you-study/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-it-matter-where-you-study/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTShould you study in the room where you take the test? What a meta-analysis and a famous replication found about place and memory, and how to use it.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-the-pomodoro-technique-work/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/does-the-pomodoro-technique-work/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTTwo controlled studies compared timed Pomodoro breaks with breaks students chose themselves. Here is what changed in focus, fatigue, and work done.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/laptop-vs-handwritten-notes/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/laptop-vs-handwritten-notes/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTA 2014 study found typed notes led to worse conceptual test scores than handwritten ones. Replications in 2019 and 2021 did not find a consistent gap.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/self-explanation-study-technique/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/self-explanation-study-technique/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat research reviews found about explaining material to yourself as you study, where the evidence is thin, and how to write useful prompts.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/the-pretesting-effect-guessing-before-you-learn/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/the-pretesting-effect-guessing-before-you-learn/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat experiments found about answering questions before studying, even when the guesses were wrong, and how to use pretesting with a textbook chapter.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/writing-about-test-worries-before-an-exam/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/writing-about-test-worries-before-an-exam/Wed, 14 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat two studies found when anxious students wrote about their worries right before a test, and how to try the method yourself.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/should-you-pull-an-all-nighter-before-an-exam/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/should-you-pull-an-all-nighter-before-an-exam/Mon, 12 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat NIH guidance and a sleep deprivation study say about losing sleep before a test, and how to protect sleep during a heavy exam week.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/how-many-hours-should-you-study-in-college/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/how-many-hours-should-you-study-in-college/Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat the federal credit hour definition implies about weekly study time, with the math for 12 and 15 credits and a plan for spreading the hours out.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/interleaved-practice-why-mixing-problem-types-works/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/interleaved-practice-why-mixing-problem-types-works/Sun, 11 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat classroom trials found when math practice mixed different problem types instead of grouping them, and how to build interleaving into homework.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/active-recall-vs-rereading-what-the-research-found/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/active-recall-vs-rereading-what-the-research-found/Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found when students practiced retrieval instead of rereading, and why self-testing beats rereading for long-term memory.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/spaced-repetition-how-it-works-and-how-to-use-it/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/spaced-repetition-how-it-works-and-how-to-use-it/Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTWhat the 2008 Cepeda et al spacing effect study found about the ideal gap between study sessions relative to how long you need to remember something.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/two-study-habits-beyond-flashcards/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/two-study-habits-beyond-flashcards/Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTAn explanation of interleaving worked examples with practice problems and asking deep questions, two habits from a federal education practice guide.https://howlane.com/study-smarter/the-cornell-note-taking-method-explained/https://howlane.com/study-smarter/the-cornell-note-taking-method-explained/Fri, 09 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTA step-by-step look at the five-part Cornell note-taking system from Cornell University's Learning Strategies Center, and how each step is used.