Coaching practices for What Actually Works for Learning
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For What Actually Works for Learning, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I read it over and over until it feels familiar, then the moment someone asks me to actually say it back I draw a total blank
- I always reach for the way of studying that feels most comfortable to me, and I’m starting to wonder if "this is how I learn best" is just an excuse to avoid the methods that actually work but feel harder.
- I keep re-reading and highlighting because it feels productive, but it clearly isn’t sticking
- I’ve been skipping flashcards and self-quizzing because I tell myself I’m a visual person and that’s not "my kind" of studying
- A study session feels smooth and productive and I walk away sure I’ve got it, then a week later it’s gone
Practices that may help
- Retrieval practice (testing to learn)
Quiz yourself to learn, not just to check what you already know.
Make It Stick: The Science of Learning - Stop studying "to your style" — study to the content
Choose your study method based on what the material requires, not what feels comfortable.
The Learning Styles Myth: What the Research Actually Says - The Learning Styles Myth: What the Research Actually Says
The popular idea that people have fixed learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and learn best when instruction matches their style is not supported by controlled research. Dozens of studies have found no benefit to matching instruction style to supposed learning style. The better question is which study method works best for the specific type of content — and the answer to that question is well studied and quite different from the learning-styles framework. - Deliberate strategy selection
Choose the study method that matches the type of knowledge you are building, not the one that feels most comfortable.
Self-Regulated Learning: Taking Control of How You Learn - Apply retrieval practice regardless of your preferred modality
Testing yourself works for everyone — not just "reading-writing" learners.
The Learning Styles Myth: What the Research Actually Says - Audit your study methods by retention outcome, not by how good they feel
Track what you actually retain a week later, not what felt productive in the moment.
The Learning Styles Myth: What the Research Actually Says - Make It Stick: The Science of Learning
"Make It Stick", by Peter Brown with psychologists Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, distills decades of cognitive science into a few high-leverage practices: retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and elaboration. Its central counterintuitive claim — that the most effective learning feels harder and slower than rereading — is backed by strong experimental evidence. - Retrieval: test yourself instead of reviewing
Recall the material from memory rather than re-reading it.
Ultralearning: Aggressive, Self-Directed Learning - Spaced practice
Spread study over time instead of cramming it into one session.
Make It Stick: The Science of Learning - Beware illusions of knowing
Don’t trust the feeling of fluency — it routinely overstates what you actually know.
Make It Stick: The Science of Learning
Related concerns
- Effective Learning Strategies
Choose the study method that matches the type of knowledge you are building, not the one that feels most comfortable.
Deliberate strategy selection
- How To Learn More Effectively
Spread study over time instead of cramming it into one session.
Spaced practice
- Learning Styles Debunked
The popular idea that people have fixed learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and learn best when instruction matches their style is not supported by controlled research. Dozens of studies have found no benefit to matching instruction style to supposed learning style. The better question is which study method works best for the specific type of content — and the answer to that question is well studied and quite different from the learning-styles framework.
- Make It Stick The Science Of Learning On A Budget
"Make It Stick", by Peter Brown with psychologists Henry Roediger and Mark McDaniel, distills decades of cognitive science into a few high-leverage practices: retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and elaboration. Its central counterintuitive claim — that the most effective learning feels harder and slower than rereading — is backed by strong experimental evidence.
- When Learning Styles Myth Use Retrieval Regardless Of Style
Testing yourself works for everyone — not just "reading-writing" learners.
Apply retrieval practice regardless of your preferred modality
- Are Learning Styles Real
The popular idea that people have fixed learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) and learn best when instruction matches their style is not supported by controlled research. Dozens of studies have found no benefit to matching instruction style to supposed learning style. The better question is which study method works best for the specific type of content — and the answer to that question is well studied and quite different from the learning-styles framework.
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