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Study Methods

Rereading and Highlighting: Popular but Weak Methods

Limited evidence 5 min read Level: Beginner Reviewed October 30, 2026

Rereading and highlighting are the most common study habits, yet research rates them as weak. See why they feel useful, and how to use them more wisely.

Evidence rating: Limited evidence. A large review of ten study techniques rated both highlighting and rereading as low in usefulness (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Rereading can give a small boost, mostly when it is spaced out and the test comes soon (Callender & McDaniel, 2009; Rawson & Kintsch, 2005). Highlighting has shown little benefit for most students, although a few studies find it helps when students are trained to pick key ideas. How we rate evidence

What it is

Rereading means reading the same chapter or notes again. Highlighting means marking text with a colored pen as you read. Surveys of college students often find these are the two most common ways to study.

They are popular because they are easy and they feel good. When you reread, the page looks familiar, and familiar text feels like knowledge. Researchers call this the illusion of knowing. You recognize the words, but that does not mean you could write the ideas from memory.

In a big review of ten study techniques, rereading and highlighting both landed in the low-utility group (Dunlosky et al., 2013). That does not mean they do nothing. A second read can help a little, especially after a delay. It means that the time is usually better spent on methods such as self-testing, where studies show larger gains. If you enjoy highlighting, you do not need to give it up. Think of it as a way to mark where to look later, not as studying itself. The real work starts when you close the book and try to bring the ideas back without the page in front of you. A few minutes of that can tell you more than another hour of reading. This guide is here because many students rely on these habits, and because the research gives a more careful picture than 'never do it.'

When to use it

  • You are seeing the material for the first time and need a first pass to know what it is about.
  • You have very little time, and a quick skim is the only thing possible.
  • You use highlighting only to mark a few spots you will turn into questions later.
  • You want to reread to fix a specific gap you found through a practice question.

How to apply it

  1. Read the section once, with attention, and without a highlighter in your hand.
  2. If you want to mark the text, wait until the end of a paragraph. Then pick only the one sentence or phrase that matters most.
  3. Limit yourself. If more than about a fifth of the page is marked, nothing stands out.
  4. Close the book and write what you remember. This turns the reading into recall.
  5. Open the book again and compare. Reread only the parts you missed.
  6. Turn each highlighted sentence into a question on a card or in a notebook.
  7. If you reread a whole chapter, leave a gap of at least a day between reads instead of reading twice in a row.

Step-by-step examples

Example: a history chapter with five pages

  1. Read the first page with no pen. Do not stop to mark anything.
  2. At the end, highlight at most two sentences: the main cause and the main result of the event.
  3. Close the book and write three to five lines about what happened and why.
  4. Reread only the parts you left out. This might be one paragraph, not the whole page.
  5. Write two questions based on your highlights and answer them the next day.

Example: a student who rereads before a quiz

  1. A student has a 20-page unit and plans to read it twice the night before.
  2. Change the plan. Read it once, then spend the second half of the time on a blank-page summary.
  3. Compare the summary with the unit and mark the missed ideas.
  4. Reread only those ideas, then answer end-of-chapter questions without looking.
  5. The next evening, answer the missed questions again, which adds spacing.

Advantages

  • Both are easy to start and need almost no planning.
  • A first read gives you the big picture before you practice.
  • A careful second read, with some days in between, can give a small boost to memory.
  • Selective marking can help you find the material to turn into questions.

Limitations

  • Familiarity can make you feel prepared when you are not.
  • Highlighting often turns into coloring most of the page, which adds no information.
  • Gains from rereading tend to fade fast and are smaller than gains from practice testing.
  • Neither tells you what you do not know, so you may spend time on material you already have.

Common mistakes

  • Highlighting while reading the first time, before you know what is important.
  • Rereading the whole chapter twice in a row.
  • Treating a colorful page as proof of studying.
  • Using rereading as the main method the night before an exam.
  • Never checking what you remember with a quiz or a blank page.

Recommended next steps

References

  1. 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.
  2. Callender, A. A., & McDaniel, M. A. (2009). The limited benefits of rereading educational texts. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 34(1), 30-41.
  3. Rawson, K. A., & Kintsch, W. (2005). Rereading effects depend on time of test. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97(1), 70-80.

This guide is general educational information. Study methods work differently for different people, and no method guarantees better grades or results.

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