Want to know which fonts will help you learn better?
Interested in figuring out why certain fonts result in better test grades?
Stay to the end, as I provide you with the science behind the best fonts for study notes
and provide you with the name of a new font that has been scientifically proven to help
students get higher grades.
Don’t forget to hit the like button if you enjoy the episode and click the subscribe
button and bell if you don’t want to miss any future episodes.
Hi, this is Beau Baez, and today I want to discuss the best fonts for study notes.
This episode is not based on my personal preference or a font’s beauty,
but rather on scientific studies.
So first, let’s look at the science and then some advice
on how you can use font science to earn better grades.
In the main study dealing with fonts, the researchers found that student retention of
material can increase significantly by using fonts that are slightly harder to read.
In that study, the researchers used the Ariel font as their easy-to-read font,
and three others that were a bit more difficult to read.
The three harder-to-read fonts led to increases in exam scores.
The reason for this effect appears to be connected to how our minds treat easy-to-read fonts.
If the font is easy to read, our brains tend to not engage
with the material at a deeper level.
But if the font is more difficult to read, then it sends a signal to our brain that we need to
engage with the material at a deeper level, resulting in deeper leaning.
A second reason for this effect appears to be the speed by which our brains interact
with the material.
Difficult-to-read fonts force us to slow down, giving our brain more time to process the
material.
Another advantage of using hard-to-read fonts is that they can help
when reading in noisy environments.
“The main contribution of this paper is that it shows that it is possible to overcome
distraction from various types of background sound while reading, by increasing task demand.
A simple way to achieve increased task demand is by changing the font of the text to one
that is harder to read.
Arguably, a hard-to-read font forces the reader to concentrate more on the text.
The increased engagement on the focal task gives the reader a more steadfast locus-of-attention,
and it reduces the processing of background sound at the face of presentation of the distracting
sound, and consequently, the reader is less distracted by background sound.”
An important exception to this font science involves students with intellectual disabilities.
A 2018 study by Taylor, Skinner, and Cazzell found that students with intellectual disabilities
do not learn better with hard-to-read fonts,
and that they should continue to use easy-to-read fonts.
Now, let’s move to a new and exciting font that was created by RMIT University
to help students learn better.
A team of RMIT researchers worked together to create a new font based on cognitive science.
They tested several new fonts on their students and found that one of them helped students
remember material at a deeper level.
The font is called Sans Forgetica and is available as a free download
from the university’s website—I'll include a link in the description below.
Here is my advice for Sans Forgetica: use it for difficult reading but not for everything you read.
Also use it for flash cards.
The problem is, If you use it for everything you do, then it will become an easy-to-read font,
as your brain learns to identify how to read it.
Next, alternate between hard-to-read fonts for your note taking.
Again, if you use the same hard-to-read font all the time, then your brain will learn how
to read it quickly and it will lose its effect.
There is some evidence, though not a lot, that sans serif fonts are easier to read.
A serif font, like Times New Roman, has small lines at the end of the strokes, while a sans
serif font, like Ariel, does not.
But any font that you thinks looks like it's hard to read will do—just don’t pick one that
is too weird and almost impossible to read.
As for material that you don’t need to learn at a deep level, like a novel or material you
just need to skim, then use an easy to read font like Ariel or Calibri.
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Thanks for watching.