The science behind learning by coloring

Students in an Anatomy & Physiology course who completed weekly coloring assignments significantly outperformed the previous semester on lab practical exams, and said coloring made studying anatomy feel more positive and relaxed.

Students who took notes by hand remembered more and scored higher on exams than students who typed on laptops.

Writing vocabulary words by hand led to better recall than typing them, and typing beat simply viewing them on a screen.

Color affects attention and memory performance, since memory depends on storing and recalling what we see.

Explored color-based teaching methods and their effect on memory in a course for medical students.

Students who took handwritten notes were better at summarizing complex material and picking out key points, a sign of deeper processing.

Students who drew scientific diagrams by hand scored higher on tests than those who used digital drawing tools.

Students using computers in class were more likely to multitask and check social media than those using pen and paper.

Students who took handwritten notes reported feeling more focused and engaged than those who typed.

We remember information better when we take it in both as words and as images. Coloring does exactly this: each structure’s name is linked to its picture on the page.

Summarizes University of Waterloo experiments in which drawing a concept led to much better recall than writing it down.

An overview of how coloring activities can support attention, creativity, fine motor skills and engagement in STEM.