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With the view turned white from snow outside my Chicagoland window, I’m thinking about color. A bright red cardinal catches my eye from the backyard honeysuckle bushes, and I’m struck by how clearly he stands out against the white snow all around him. A finch comes in for a snack at the feeder, and a flash of orange draws my eye to his tiny body standing fierce against the cold. 

Color can transform a room, set a mood, and even impact our behavior. For students, color can also be a remarkable tool for learning. In fact, the use of color can enhance the quality of learning and improve memory retention (Diachenko et al., 2022). This was found to be especially true for students engaged in distance or online learning environments, like the students at Purdue Global (Diachenko et al., 2022). In particular, researchers found that warm colors, including reds and yellows, may help to create positive and motivating learning environments, helping students engage and interact with their learning materials (Chai et al., 2019). These researchers discovered that warmer colors can also improve attention on the learning materials while evoking a sense of motivation and even excitement (Chai et al., 2019). Imagine having better attention to focus on your course materials while feeling more motivated and excited about learning! Color holds incredible possibilities for students interested in improving their academic success.

Students can put these discoveries about the power of color to work in a number of ways. First, consider color in your learning environment. Try updating the wallpaper on your computer to a warm-colored image or theme to promote increased attention and motivation. If possible, consider a warmer paint tone on the office wall. Hang wall art in reds, yellows, and oranges to help your brain tap into the power of color while you study. Cool colors, like blues and greens, were found to promote a greater sense of calm and reduce anxiety, so students could use these colors later, like when they are working to stay relaxed and apply their learning during a test or quiz. In short, students might think of using warm colors to learn and cool colors to apply that learning. 

Use color in your study materials as a dynamic way to organize information. This strategy is called color-coding. It’s a strategy that can help students review and prioritize the most important ideas, helping them turn their class notes and handouts into valuable study materials. To apply this strategy, try writing down the key points of a chapter or unit in red. Highlight important information in your course materials using a yellow highlighter. Use color as a way to organize topics by using a different color for each main topic. 

As you start using color to code your notes and course materials, it might be tempting to start applying color everywhere. Resist the urge. Use color only on the most important information. You are using color to help your brain focus on what you need to learn. That same cardinal has been hanging around my backyard all year, but he was much harder to spy when all the leaves around him were red, orange, and yellow during autumn. Think of using color to make the key ideas stand out amid all the other information, data, and discussion included in your course learning materials! 

Finally, be consistent. While it may be helpful to experiment with color to discover what works best, apply a consistent color-coding strategy across all of the course materials you are currently studying. For example, if you use red to mark all the main ideas in chapter 1, don’t use yellow for the main ideas in chapter 2. Being consistent with your application of color will help your brain make the best use of this learning strategy. 

Color can be an incredible tool for students, and I hope this gives you some ideas for a few ways you can start using color to your advantage, even when the world outside your window is hidden under a blanket of white snow. 

Until next time, this is Dr. Linscott with another Learning for Success podcast. Happy Learning! 

References

Chai, T., Amin, H. U., Izhar, I.L., Saad, M. N., Rahman, M. A., Malik, A. S., & Tang, T. B. (October 8, 2019). Exploring EEG effective connectivity network in estimating influence of color on emotion and memory. Neuroinform 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fninf.2019.00066

Diachenko, I., Kalishchuk, S., Zhylin, M., Kyyko, A., & Volkova, Y. (2022). Color education: A study on methods of influence on memory. Heliyon, 8(11). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e11607