A Simple Study Tip: Stop Highlighting

Highlighting your textbook is how most students know they're being diligent. And there is no shortage of advice on how to highlight. But is it really worth the trouble? Nah. Here's some thoughts on why.
00:00 Introduction
00:35 Do we know how to highlight?
01:39 What does it encourage us to do?
02:08 What does it tell us about what we know?
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The onscreen quotes were pulled from a classic review of study techniques:
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public interest, 14(1), 4-58. bibliotecadigital.mineduc.cl/...

[@GabrielCazorlaPersson1]

I am a PhD student and I find highlighting very useful, but I use it in a very particular way: After scanning the document to see how relevant it is and what it is about, I start reading, and I color code stuff, for me it's yellow for experimental results, green for explanations, red for problems, blue for acronyms and experimental procedures. Then after an hour of reading or so, I start writing down my notes in a summarized or bulletpoint style, inserting questions and connections with other topics I have seen. I try not to reread the highlights as I write down my notes, but I will do it if I do not remember something, and when I'm finished I will reread them to see that I have everything that is important written down

[@mmitcch]

It’s funny to read something so serious from doctor to be “XMegaxXxTronX”. I did take notes from it tho, thanks :)

[@smith3463]

You sir are a very dedicated man

[@victorgabr]

Good video, I always felt highlighting created an illusion of knowing, I was actually doing just painting papers passively like those exercises during kindergarten. 😂

[@KathySierraVideo]

My name is Katherine and I’m a highlightaholic 🤷🏼‍♀️. My recovery hacks include: 1. Highlight the page number so that when I look at the book again, I’m forced to answer the question, “what did I find important on this page?” This helped me solve the problem you mention of “what you think is important about this *now* will change.” It does mean a lot of re-reading / re-engaging. 2. Instead of highlighting, I physically copy the exact words into a notebook, along with the page number. This drastically cuts down my tendency to highlight *everything.* Then later, I scan the notebook and decide if something was worth studying again, and I return to the page. Still… nothing makes me happier than seeing one of the books I wrote filled with highlights, dog ears, margin notes, etc. I love to see my own readers “disrespect” my books, and sometimes readers will send me photos of it or - back when conferences were common - they will actually show me their well-worn physical copy 😁. At the same time, I know if I were doing a better job, they wouldn’t *need* to be doing so much with the book…

[@EricTsai]

Highlighting page number. WOAH! That's a good one. Thanks!

[@benjaminkeep]

I've always had this hang-up about "abusing" books. Don't know where it comes from. Even when I know writing notes in the margin ("interrogative questioning" and "self-explaining") is immensely helpful in understanding the text. Your comments remind me of the book "How to Read a Book" - a really fantastic primer on what active reading actually means.

[@NobleAbsinthe]

I like to highlight and write on the margin. It feels like I'm breaking things down to manageable chunks and then I compile the notes into review sheets or comments in my code. my books are technical so I do tend to come back to them.

[@wilfredv1930]

+50 point to gryffindor for point # 2

[@tanyabils9399]

I use highlighting differently. I have a few problems keeping both my eyes and my mind on the text. The more engaging the material, the more likely I am to go off on some mental tangent while my eyes are still moving over text and then lose my place. I re-read a lot just to figure out where I was or to actually attend to the text my eyes saw while my mind was somewhere else. It sucks. I find that highlighting here and there, things I think in that moment are important or just the main structure of a sentence, helps me stay focused and keeps my primary mental activity where it's supposed to be. I also keep a pen and a single piece of paper with me for my actual notes of important concepts.

[@himraj5118]

I was kind of realising exactly whatever you have mentioned but wasn't sure about whether I am right, thanks to you for giving such clarity.❤

[@werm3169]

I expereinced all the downsides of highlighting that you described and abandoned it as a study method a while ago in favour of other ones, but along the way, I discovered that I could use highlighting as a tool to enhance those other techniques as long as I change how I do it and what my goals are with it. I mostly use it to help with anchoring. I avoid the "highlighting everything highlights nothing" issue with two guidelines: 1. The syllabus 2. A one-word rule (with a few exceptions) I start out just skimming the textbook for the points in the syllabus. They're often in bold or otherwise made to stand out in the textbook as its printed, but any that aren't get highlighted. I can then figure out how the topics in the syllabus are organised in the textbook and where I want to start. I can also gather how complex a topic in the syllabus is based on how much not-highlighted text surrounds it - if there's a lot, it's probably more complex and requires more context and explaining to fully understand. This helps me organise my studying. By sticking to only one word at a time, I give myself no elaboration when looking at what I've highlighted. I then have to connect the dots myself and try to figure out the link on my own. It also tells me how much I actually know - if I see a highlighted word and don't know what it means, how it relates to the heading, or its relevance to other parts of the syllabus, I know right away that I need to work on it. I'll then use these out-of-context highlighted words to form the skeleton of a mind map and try to group these key terms together and link them with only definitions. When I go back to the textbook, I've got a foundation that I can build all the other details on. At this stage, if there's anything that is absolutely essential to explaining or defining something, I'll highlight that. I generally refrain from highlighting conjunctions and the likes and avoid highlighting anything that would elaborate on or contextualise a key term. Avoiding contextualising what I've highlighted also gives me an opportunity to test myself on whether or not I know what's happening without it being explained to me when I read what I've highlighted. It's turned out to be really useful in keeping me focused on the most pertinent information and in revealing areas of weakness. Highlighters were thrown at all of us in school at some point, and we weren't given much guidance as to how to use them in a way that's actually useful lol. I feel like one has to approach highlighting as a secondary method that makes another method more effective in order to avoid its pitfalls.

[@davidblue819]

I used to highlight. It didn't do anything except spoil some books. I started highlighting because people I knew who were effective students highlighted. That wasn't what made them effective students but it was the easiest thing to see and copy.

[@unknown-10k]

Thnx ben..👍🏻

[@user-us9mr9wd8s]

Would you say highlighting is helpful in the scenario one is preparing for a test from a Textbook, which contains a lot of content not required for the test? In that case, it could serve as a reminder on the subsequent readings as to what one needs to revisit again. Although, I am aware that you discourage re-readings instead of free recall but I have felt that two readings serve as a starting point to get into the free recall stage of my preparation.

[@tonymatthews6928]

In the days before highlighters we annoted with underlining and marginalia. Make comments and notes to yourself. Ask questions of and argue with the text. Then make some summary notes. I find it deeply satisfying to scribble all over a reading. These days I do it with my tablet and a pdf annotator.

[@benjaminkeep]

Definitely agree that annotating and particularly "arguing with the text" is a much more effective way of engagement.

[@eenmens1970]

highlighting does not produce any learning, but can it be used during *tests*? For example: - -reading tests (for languages) where you get questions about news & opinion articles in a (foreign) language?

[@captainzork6109]

I do sometimes use highlighting to ensure I'm actually attending the text! I have trouble focusing on reading long articles from computer screens. Perhaps it's related to adhd? In either case, I tend to externalize or embody mental processes so that I can offload some cognitive load When it comes to more-than-shallow-processing, there are better strategies of course!

[@rudyon]

I tend to use underlining ( find highlighters ugly ) in order to reference a passage. I will for example draw an arrow from the underlined passage to a margin note to say "this prompted this thought" to my future self. Also when I am going through my notes to relook at my sources. I can more easily locate what passage a note was about. I also use little symbols next to the underlined passage to say "hey this was more important then past me though" to futurer me. So when futurer me is going through the passage again it can also do the same thing. Less symbols means less important then I thought initially more symbols means more important then I though initially. I find this is more useful in the long term. I don't know if there is any research to back this up. P.S. I found your channel about a few days ago and was immediately interested. I am currently in undergrad for linguistics. I plan to do a graduate degree in cognitive sciences. It is just incredibly motivating to see a professor from the field I want to join on KZbin.

[@benjaminkeep]

I sometimes did that too when reading a lot of papers. Funny to go back to notes later and be like "why did I think this was so important...?"

[@JohnVKaravitis]

Use a higher quality highlighter. Problem solved.

[@Daniel_ParkDNA]

What about non textbook books? Like reading philosophy, theology, real estate, productivity books? How do we remember what we read? Should we annotate or how should we annotate the book?

[@benjaminkeep]

I have an upcoming video on reading a history book that might help answer this question. I think a mixture of annotation, free recall, and organizational visualizations is a decent way to go. But depends on what you're reading and what you want to get out of it. You want to re-work the material; look at it from several different angles and organizational schema; apply it, if you can, to other contexts; and use long spaced sessions.

[@alejandrolamus2133]

Congratulations, you

[@eaurius7638]

His example page that he highlights is hilariously accurate😭

[@mangai3599]

1:51 your hand is quite JACKED. Mine hands are weak and clumsy. ;-; ;-;

[@bakeral-sheyab546]

What should i do for these lectures slides to just revise the thing that i feel important or i feel like i about to forget it? Can i ask chatgpt to make Active recall questions for each info in the slides and then after I answer these questions i can colour the one that needs to revise later in Red for ex

[@benjaminkeep]

I would certainly focus on things that you think are important. The goal when learning lots of academic stuff is to make sense of the material. Part of that is thinking about how it applies in relevant situations and synthesizing the information into meaningful chunks. Certainly, if you feel like "hmm... I don't seem to remember this that well," that could be a good opportunity for a free recall session. Personally, I would not rely on ChatGPT to make questions for you.

[@bakeral-sheyab546]

@@benjaminkeepbut is there any way i can know my weakness and what should i revise at a big subject? Because i found the specific question for a single info can let me know this + chatgpt will It save me time writing them

[@DrDizzyMorris]

I wish you wouldn’t use such clickbait titles and claims when speaking from such an authoritative position. Really does a disservice towards encouraging people to find effective strategies that work for them. Can the singular activity of highlighting be deemed ineffective as a singular intervention? Yes. But that’s not the real world. Highlighting can be supremely effective as part of a whole process. For example, highlighting + rereading highlights + a SRS (Anki) has enabled me to efficiently remember whatever I want from the books I read. Highlighting is effective because I don’t have to stop and context switch while reading to summarize or create a card or anything. Additionally, when I come back to reread the highlights I have way more context now to place insights appropriately, summarize, create cards, etc. I’ll concede you added slight nuance when you stated your problem was with how people USE highlighting and not the act itself. But I think you could add even more color to your video to make it beneficial to your audience beyond just HIGHLIGHTING = BAD = STOP.

[@searchforstory1299]

Ha ha. Me watching this video, bookmarking it after having bookmarked 5 other videos from this channel, doh.

[@Hosenanzugtasche]

Nah, I only highlight in PDFs for citations later on.

[@GiovannaChukwuma]

2:08 Big argument against highlighting: It creates the illusion of knowing

[@lfdoidao]

I higlight things that i dont know so that i can google them

[@PinupSticknerd]

Nancy Regan 😊

[@PinupSticknerd]

Highlight, interview, transpose, erase. "Treat your time here like a Mandala Chaplain😊."

[@cerebrumexcrement]

yeah i dont know how to highlight. thats why i dont use highlighters anymore.

[@dannyheller4612]

Provocative, but not entirely convincing. Your argument against highlighting seems to suggest that because people don't do it well, they shouldn't do it at all. But if you read attentively, you should get better at recognizning key phrases and concepts that you might want to review later. Also, you don't really provide an alternative. In the video about free recall, you give an example of learning vocabulary words, but you don't talk about how you would apply it to absorbing material from a book. Stop after every chapter and perform free recall? After every section? Or after every paragraph? (Perhaps you touch upon this in another video.) BTW, I prefer underlining to highlighting.

[@PerJohannessen]

I think people with ADD can find highlighting useful. I think its very dangerous with learning science to assume that every human being are the same.