Use the SQ3R Method for More Effective Learning

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The whole point of studying is to retain information that will be useful in the future, even if it’s just for an upcoming exam in a subject you might never remember again. This is challenging when you’re absorbing a ton of unfamiliar phrases and concepts, so you need a quality method for structuring your study sessions. Try the SQ3R method the next time you study and see how it can help.

What is the SQ3R research method?

I’ve already briefly mentioned a similar method when giving advice on best note-taking practices , but SQ3R isn’t just for taking notes in class ( and beyond ). It’s actually a reading comprehension method first proposed in 1946 by Francis P. Robinson in his book Effective Study . (Funny side note: the “P” stands for “pleasant”!)

The SQ3R method has stood the test of time and is now widely recommended by academic advisors on campuses across the country. It gets its name from the five steps it comprises:

• Survey

• Question

• Read

• Reciting

• Review

How does SQ3R work?

First and foremost, it’s important to break the assignment down. The goal isn’t to use the entire textbook or a ton of materials, but to study chapter by chapter or section by section. You’ll understand why this is important as you progress, but just remember to focus on smaller sections. In general, breaking down the assignment into sections is a recommended practice that works well with SQ3R and other study approaches, so be sure to refresh your memory as you restructure your study approach.

Survey

First, skim the materials to get the general idea. Pay attention to the chapter title, introduction and conclusion, headings, subheadings, graphs, tables, and abstracts, but don’t read the entire text.

Here, you can also look for contextual details. If you were assigned this chapter in a lecture, think back to that lesson, especially any parts your instructor highlighted as important. Review any slideshows they provided as supplementary materials, as well as any notes you have. Again, just skim through, but try to get a general idea of ​​what this section is about.

Question

Then you have questions like, “What is this section about?” or “How will I use this information in real life?” The questions can be more specific and depend largely on the content of your chapter.

A simple trick is to turn subheadings into questions. If your subheading simply says, “The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand,” your question might become, “What were the immediate consequences of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand?”

I like to ask myself, “How might this show up on a test?” For example, if I’m reading about a founder of a movement who was born in a certain country in a certain year, and those details are relevant to his rise to power, I assume the test will ask about that, so I can better focus my studying if I can anticipate that.

Read

Write down your questions before moving on to the third step, which involves reading the entire chapter or section, paying attention to anything that might answer your questions. Take notes.

It helps to write down the answers you find in the material directly below the questions you’ve already written down. I usually recommend taking notes by hand and studying with pen and paper whenever possible, but you may find that you don’t have enough space to answer questions or to note down new information you encounter as you read. To be on the safe side (and to avoid creating a mess by crossing out and erasing notes), use a word processor for your questions and answers.

Declamation

The next step is retelling . Explain the material you’ve learned in your own words and answer your own questions. Imagine you’re explaining it to someone else, or even write it down as a short essay.

If you write this all down as a short essay, you’ll be using the “blurt-out” method , or at least a variation of it. Blurt-out requires you to recall everything you can about the topic, then say it or write it down somewhere before checking your notes and materials for anything you missed. This forces you to actively recall or retrieve something from your memory. Don’t feel too much pressure to remember everything; treat it more like an open-book test, especially if you’re doing it for the first time. You can use other methods, such as the Leitner flashcard method , to reinforce the answers you find in your memory once you’ve grasped the general theme of the section.

You can also take it a step further and actually explain the material to someone. This is the Feynman method , which suggests you act as a teacher, describing the content to someone who knows nothing about it. You can do this with a parent, a friend, or even using ChatGPT . This will help you break the material down into easy-to-understand chunks. If you don’t understand something well enough to teach it to someone else, you don’t understand it well at all. But again, build this up over time. You don’t need to be prepared for this step the first time you take SQ3R. It’s just a simple way to assess how well you’re grasping the concept.

Review

Finally, review what you’ve read, written, and/or spoken before starting a new chapter. Don’t hesitate to move on to the next chapter or section until you’ve mastered the current one. This method of studying multiple concepts or ideas simultaneously, called interleaving , can help you make connections between materials and gain a better understanding of both topics than studying them separately.

The goal of all this is to teach you critical thinking and help you maintain interest in reading while seeking answers to your questions. From this, you can move on to the other methods I mentioned, such as Leitner and Feynman, as they create a solid foundation of information fragments—essentially questions and answers from the text—for study.

Best Practices with SQ3R

I already mentioned that you can use a word processor or notes app for this to avoid running out of space and getting frustrated. If you enjoy handwriting and its benefits, there are other options. In that case, I recommend purchasing an SQ3R notebook . It costs only $6 and provides dedicated spaces for different stages. Furthermore, since the sections are already defined, you’ll be forced to work in small chunks, as there’s not enough room on the page to jot down too many notes at once. Experiment with different methods, from digital to notepad, to see what works best for you and your material.

Finally, don’t think you’ve reached the end of your learning journey when you reach the SQ3R review stage. Learning is a long-term process, so reviewing material effectively continues from the moment you first encounter it. After completing the first stage of SQ3R, review the material periodically, every few days. If, after several reviews, you feel you’re not absorbing the material as well as you’d like, try the SQ3R method again on the same passage, formulating different questions and approaching the material from different perspectives. As you become more familiar with the topic, you’ll develop deeper questions, so reviewing SQ3R several times throughout the semester is a wise strategy.

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