Study methods for exams
How to use these pages
- Pick one lesson and read the rule once.
- Cover the page and say or write the answer from memory before you check it.
- Come back to the same item on a growing schedule. LearnFun's default is 1, 3, 7 and 21 days.
- For essay questions, answer in IRAC order on a timer: issue, rule, analysis, conclusion.
- Keep a list of what you missed and redo only those next time.
The research behind steps 2 and 3 is listed below. The 1-3-7-21 schedule and the IRAC time box are LearnFun's own study methods, not findings from a study.
The three methods
Three general study methods used across the bar and real estate lessons. They aren't tied to any one exam's rules.
- Active Recall vs. Re-Reading (Here’s the Drill)
Active recall means you hide the answer and produce it from memory. Re-reading means you look again until it feels familiar. - Spaced Repetition for Exams Without Fancy Apps
Spaced repetition for exams means reviewing a fact on a growing schedule instead of cramming it once. - IRAC Exam Answers When the Clock Is Running
Under time pressure, attack in this order: Issue first, Rule short, Analysis longest, Conclusion in one line.
For law school reading
- How to Brief a Case (Free Case Brief Template)
A case brief is a one-page set of notes on a court opinion: what happened, how it reached this court, the question, the answer, and why.
What the research says
Each row sums up what the paper's PubMed abstract reports, in plain words. We left out percentages and effect sizes.
| What the paper reports | Source |
|---|---|
| Students read prose passages, then either took recall tests or restudied. On the final tests 2 days or 1 week later, prior testing produced greater retention than restudying. On the test after 5 minutes, repeated studying improved recall relative to repeated testing. | Roediger & Karpicke (2006), "Test-enhanced learning: taking memory tests improves long-term retention," Psychological Science. PubMed 16507066 (verified 2026-10-21) |
| After students had learned foreign-language vocabulary words, repeated studying had no effect on delayed recall, but repeated testing produced a large positive effect. | Karpicke & Roediger (2008), "The critical importance of retrieval for learning," Science. PubMed 18276894 (verified 2026-10-21) |
| A review of 317 experiments on spacing out study of verbal material. The gap between study sessions that produced maximal retention got longer as the time until the final test got longer. | Cepeda et al. (2006), "Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis," Psychological Bulletin. PubMed 16719566 (verified 2026-10-21) |
Where LearnFun uses them
- Bar exam: Bar Exam Study Notes: Evidence, Contracts, Torts and Property and Bar Exam Mnemonics That Hold Under the Clock ("The loop every other page leans on")
- Real estate license exam: Real Estate License Exam Study Notes (California + Texas) and How to Study for the Real Estate License Exam (Without Drowning in Highlighters)
Each study-method lesson includes a short timed quiz, so you can run step 2 right away.
Last checked: 2026-10-21