Click here for full show notes, exercises, and word-for-word scripts from this episodeFor millions of teenagers who wish they could get better grades (or wish they could get the same grades with less effort) the answer might be as simple as adopting some new learning strategies and study techniques.Over the past few decades, a lot of research has been conducted about which learning strategies work best and the results reveal that you can significantly improve your academic performance without increasing the amount of time you spend studying.This week, I spoke with Ulrich Boser, the author of the book Learn Better, to find out what the best study techniques are for teenagers and what parents can do to introduce these new learning strategies to their teens.How to Teach Learning StrategiesLet's face it, teenagers don't want to learn about study techniques from their parents. Your teen wants to discover their own learning strategies.The problem is that there really are some strategies that are scientifically proven to work better than others.In fact, as Ulrich told me during our interview, the idea that people have different "learning styles" and that different study techniques work best for different people is actually a myth that isn't backed up by modern research.He emphasized that one of the best things parents can do to teach teens learning strategies is to use them yourself. Pick something you want to learn and model proper study techniques for your teenager.Also, you want to help your teen adopt an attitude of experimenting with learning strategies. When they don't do well on a test or in a class, you want to encourage them to think about how they could use different study techniques next time rather than thinking they just must not be very smart.The Best (and Worst) Study TechniquesSo what does research suggest are the best learning strategies your teen should be using?Ulrich mentioned a few during our interview that have been proven to enhance performance over and over again.For instance, imagine that two people study for the exact same amount of time but one person distributes that studying over the course of a couple weeks, doing a little per day, while the other person does all of their studying in a single sitting. Research shows that the person who distributes the studying over time will perform much better on a test that the one who does it all at once.Scientists refer to this study technique as "distributed practice" or the "spacing effect".A learning strategy that many high school students use is highlighting important passages in their textbook while reading. However, Ulrich told me that research shows this doesn't improve performance at all. Neither does reviewing your notes.Quizzing yourself in a way that forces you to generate the information each time, however, has been proven to work very well. Doing practice problems without having the answers in front of you is one way to achieve this. Or making note cards with questions on one side and the answers on the other could be effective as well.In this episode, Ulrich covers all of these ideas and more in depth. He breaks down the science of learning strategies and reveals exactly what parents can do to help teens learn better.