Highlighting can help you notice ideas, but color alone is not a memory test.
What highlighting can do
Marking a definition or example may help you locate it later. The risk is that selecting lots of colorful text feels like progress even when you have not practised explaining it.
Turn the highlight into a question
After highlighting a small section, write one question that the marked text answers. Hide the highlighted section and try to explain the idea from memory. Check and correct any gaps.
Keep your marks selective, and annotate why a point matters rather than using color as the final activity.
Test knowledge, not neatness
Use the passage to create a few self-test prompts, then revisit them later. If you can explain the idea without looking, your study session has given you more useful feedback than a beautifully colored page alone.
Try the technique once, then use the Tempo Study Loop: start, apply, check and decide what to do next.
Sources and further reading
- University of North Carolina — Studying 101
- The Learning Scientists — Retrieval practice and spaced learning
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