Study Methods

"SQ3R" is Not a Secret Code

On the wall of the Palo Alto High School Main Library are bold signs: SQ3R.

Are there any students who don't know what that means?

Or parents? (It can work just as well for them.)

SQ3R is a mnemonic device (memory helper) for an old study method that has been used in education since the mid-1940s. Each letter stands for the first letter of a word (there are three "R" words). Here is the translation:

• Survey (or scan) the material (homework or job-related work), looking for the most important points and the basic flow of the content -- or just the headings.


• Question -- Write down several questions as if you were a teacher preparing a test for someone else.


• Read the material, looking for the answers to the questions you wrote down. (Don't underline.)


• Recite -- Write down the answers.


• Review -- Check the answers against the material.

This system builds in the reinforcement that is essential for someone to retain what they have learned. For most persons, something read over once doesn't stick very well -- particularly if it is crammed in at the last minute (itself a stressful activity).
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