Summary (with no cutting-and-pasting)

Summarizing performs significantly better than tasks like rereading. In addition to paying closer attention, students "mentally arrange" the information into a logical structure and then incorporate it into pre-existing knowledge networks, resulting in stronger long-lasting memories. Summarizing thereby activates crucial cognitive processes that more deeply encode learning.

When teaching your students how to summarize, instruct them to avoid verbatim or copy-and-paste approaches. Have students recapitulate a concept with computers and books closed, for instance, and emphasize that doing so will test their actual knowledge more effectively, because “verbatim transcription may actually hinder learning by preventing the learners from engaging with the material more meaningfully”.