Center For Academic Excellence
CAE | Double Edge Strategy
When your textbook remains a mystery after reading and the information seems to say one thing and mean another, the double-edge strategy can be useful.
The name double-edge comes from the idea that when you shave usually you miss a spot. A double-edge razor was invented in order to catch those spots you might miss the first time around.
Learning the material assigned by using two different sources is basically what the double-edge strategy promotes. Learning the material explained in two different ways from two different sources helps the brain put the two together in order to make sense. When one text is confusing to you, the other text will often help explain those "unshaven spots" or help clear up the information.
Steps for using the double-edge strategy:
- Read the assigned material.
- Try to construct a quiz to take: write it out
- Try to get another textbook (source) that discusses the subject you are studying.
Getting the second textbook (source):
- Go to the nearest college or public library.
- Ask your professor to suggest some other reading material that corresponds with the subject you are reading.
- Look at the end of the book assigned and see if there are any suggestions for other books or articles related on topics.
- Take another quiz and see how you do.
Once you have found the other text, look in the table of contents or index to find key words that relate to the subject that you are reading.
Jennie Ariail, Ph.D. - Director
Tom Waldrep, Ph.D. - Director (retired)