Here’s something that might surprise you: most people studying for technical certifications are using methods that actively work against them. Research from the National Center for Biotechnology Information reveals a telling pattern—students who started a course relying on highlighting and underlining (42.3% of them) had largely abandoned these techniques by the end (just 19.2%). They’d discovered something better.
What they found wasn’t a secret study hack or productivity guru’s latest method. It was evidence-based techniques that consistently produce measurable improvements in exam performance. We’re talking about real data here—controlled studies showing specific point improvements, not just feel-good testimonials.
The shift these students made tells us something important about how we approach certification preparation. Traditional study methods feel productive because they’re familiar, but they don’t match how our brains actually retain complex technical information. The techniques that do work might feel less intuitive at first, yet they’re backed by both academic research and the experiences of successful professionals across demanding fields—from IT specialists who’ve earned multiple certifications to healthcare professionals pursuing advanced credentials like a forensic nursing masters degree. These evidence-based approaches prove effective whether you’re tackling cybersecurity frameworks or mastering complex medical procedures and legal protocols.
The 5.32-point advantage
Students who spaced their study sessions across multiple days or weeks scored an average of 5.32 points higher than those who crammed. That’s not a marginal difference—it’s the kind of improvement that can move you from a near-pass to a comfortable pass on certification exams.
The adoption numbers tell an even more compelling story. At the beginning of the NCBI study, 55.2% of students used spaced practice. By the end? 63.9%. As students experienced the benefits firsthand, they naturally gravitated toward this approach.
Laura Zannucci, who holds multiple ISACA certifications, structures her preparation around this principle. She divides practice questions across three months, tackling 70-80 questions weekly rather than attempting marathon study sessions. “It’s not about the total hours you put in,” she explains. “It’s about giving your brain time to process and consolidate between sessions.”
This approach works because it aligns with how memory consolidation actually happens. When you space your learning, you’re forcing your brain to retrieve information repeatedly, strengthening the neural pathways each time. Cramming, by contrast, creates the illusion of learning because information sits temporarily in working memory without transferring to long-term retention.
For technical certifications, this means breaking complex topics into manageable chunks and revisiting them regularly. Rather than spending an entire weekend on network security concepts, you’ll retain more by studying them for shorter periods across several weeks.
The 7.07-Point visual advantage
Here’s where the research gets particularly interesting. Students who created diagrams, charts, or pictures scored 7.07 points higher than their peers. What’s remarkable is how few students initially used this technique—just 9.6%—compared to the 32.7% who had adopted it by course completion.
That’s more than a threefold increase, and it happened organically as students discovered visual learning’s effectiveness for technical material.
Visual techniques prove especially valuable for certifications involving complex systems, network architectures, or process flows. When you’re studying for AWS certifications, drawing out service relationships helps you understand not just what each component does, but how they interact. For cybersecurity certifications, mapping attack vectors and defense strategies creates mental models that pure text study can’t match.
The decline in highlighting usage (from 42.3% to 19.2%) becomes more meaningful when viewed alongside this visual learning adoption. Students weren’t just abandoning ineffective techniques—they were replacing them with methods that engage different parts of their cognitive processing.
Think about it: highlighting feels productive because you’re doing something with the material. But you’re essentially marking text someone else organized. Creating diagrams forces you to reorganize information according to your own understanding, which requires deeper processing.
Testing your way to success
Practice testing showed the strongest adoption growth in the research, jumping from 36.5% to 50% of students. This aligns perfectly with what working professionals emphasize in their certification preparation strategies.
ISACA-certified practitioners consistently recommend obtaining official review question manuals and using them as the primary study source. But here’s the crucial insight: they’re not just using practice questions to test knowledge—they’re using them to understand question formatting and identify key phrases like “best” and “most” that signal what examiners are actually looking for.
James Lamadrid, a cybersecurity consultant who holds multiple certifications, advocates for what he calls the SMART framework—making practice testing Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. This structured approach addresses the common problem of unfocused study efforts.
Multi-certified professional Ravikumar Ramachandran takes this further with his extensive and intensive approach: extensive reading of industry sources for contextual understanding, combined with intensive, exam-specific preparation using official materials. The practice testing component bridges these two phases.
What makes practice testing so effective is the principle of transfer-appropriate processing. When you practice in conditions similar to the actual exam, you’re not just testing your knowledge—you’re training your brain to retrieve information under similar circumstances. This explains why timed practice exams often predict certification success better than untimed study sessions.
The employer reality check
Recent industry data reveals that 23% of employers now prioritize certifications over degrees, compared to just 16% who view degrees as more important. Yet here’s the nuance that matters: 71% of employers rate hands-on experience as “extremely important.”
This creates a dual requirement for certification candidates. You need theoretical knowledge validated through certification, but employers expect you to bridge that knowledge to practical application. The study techniques we’ve examined—spaced practice, visual learning, and practice testing—serve both purposes.
When you space your learning and create visual representations, you’re not just memorizing facts for an exam. You’re building mental models that help you apply concepts in real workplace scenarios. Practice testing, especially when it includes scenario-based questions, develops the kind of analytical thinking employers value.
The professionals that flourish with multiple certifications and credentials understand this connection. They aren’t studying for the sake of passing tests – they are studying to achieve capabilities and competencies that will increase their opportunities in their careers.
More than just passing your exams
These evidence-based methods offer more than just passing your exams; they start the foundation of professional learning and development. The same techniques that help you learn and retain sophisticated technically loaded subject matter for your certifications will benefit you every day of your profession as technology advances.
Perhaps that is the greatest takeaway from this. Effective study techniques are about more than passing your next certification; they are about you developing learning capabilities that maintain your competency in a field where continuity of learning isn’t just an option, it’s a necessity for survival.
