What Is Dual Coding? Use Visuals to Boost Your Memory

Revising effectively is about more than just rereading your notes or highlighting a textbook. To truly understand and remember information, you need to engage your brain in ways that help it store and retrieve ideas efficiently. One of the most effective ways to do that is through dual coding.

Dual coding is a revision technique that combines words with visuals to help your brain learn more deeply. This approach makes studying easier and more effective. Whether you're preparing for a topic test, mock exam or your final exams, dual coding can help you remember what you’ve learned for longer. 

Key Takeaways

• Combine words and visuals to deepen learning: Dual coding helps you remember more information by linking verbal and visual memory, creating stronger mental connections.

• Make your visuals simple, clear, and meaningful: Diagrams, flowcharts, and sketches work best when they focus on key ideas rather than too many small details.

• Be active, not passive, with your visuals: Creating your own images boosts memory far more than just watching videos or copying diagrams.

• Use dual coding with other techniques for best results: Pair it with active recall, spaced repetition, and blurting to make your revision stick long term.

What Does Dual Coding Mean?

Dual coding means using both verbal and visual information together. Instead of just reading a definition or copying notes, you pair the information with a relevant image, chart, diagram, or even a simple sketch.

For example:

• In Biology, you can draw and label a diagram of a cell with names of each part and their function.

• In English Literature, you could sketch how you imagine a character looks, then surround that image with key quotes or traits relevant to them.

• In History, you might draw a comic strip of a key event, adding short captions that explain what’s happening in each scene.

By combining images and words, you create two memory traces instead of one, making it more likely you’ll remember the information later on.

How Dual Coding Works

Dual coding is based on research in cognitive psychology. According to Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory (opens in a new tab), your brain stores information in two systems:

• One for verbal material (e.g. words, facts, explanations)

• One for visual material (e.g. pictures, diagrams, spatial layouts)

When you revise using both systems together, your brain makes stronger connections. This makes it easier to retrieve the content later, especially in an exam setting where recall matters most.

Why Dual Coding Is Effective

Dual coding breaks complex topics into manageable parts. Trying to understand something complicated can feel overwhelming. But when you turn it into a visual, like a flowchart, diagram, or mind map, you break it into smaller, clearer chunks. This reduces cognitive overload and helps you grasp the structure of the idea.

This method also keeps you actively engaged. Creating a visual forces you to think about what’s important and how ideas can relate to each other. This deeper thinking helps cement the material in your long-term memory.

Dual coding also makes revision more memorable and less boring. Looking at pages of dense text can make studying feel like a chore. Drawing, diagramming, or mapping out ideas adds variety to your revision, which helps you stay focused and more effectively take in key information. 

This approach is especially helpful for visual learners or more abstract subjects. Even if you're not a naturally visual learner, some topics are easier to understand with a picture. 

In science, for example, processes like respiration or digestion are easier to follow when you can see how the steps connect. In history, timelines and maps can bring events to life and, in maths, diagrams and graphs make abstract ideas more concrete.

How to Use Dual Coding in Your Revision

1. Choose a topic. Read a section from your textbook, class notes, or a revision resource like Save My Exams. Many of Save My Exams’ revision notes include helpful illustrations and diagrams, so you can take inspiration from these. 

2. Create a visual representation. Draw a diagram, timeline, comic strip, chart, or mind map. 

3. Add key information. Keep it brief by using keywords, short explanations, or formulas.

4. Test your memory. Cover the words and try to recall them using only the visuals.

5. Use colours and layout to organise information. Group related ideas and make important elements stand out.

Tools for Dual Coding

You don’t need any specialist tools to get started. A piece of paper and some coloured pens are more than enough. But if you like using digital tools for revision, you could try using:

• Canva

• Google Drawings

• MindMeister 

• PowerPoint or Keynote

• Microsoft Paint

These tools are especially useful for organising large amounts of content or sharing and collaborating on revision notes with others.

Dual Coding vs Passive Visuals

Some students assume just watching a video or looking at a picture is the same as dual coding. It isn’t. Dual coding is active, not passive. It requires you to create or build visuals that are directly connected to the content.

For example, drawing and labelling your own diagram of the water cycle is far more effective than simply looking at one in a textbook. Making the extra effort to create your own makes your brain work harder with the information, instead of just seeing it.

Combining Dual Coding with Other Revision Techniques

Dual coding generally works best when used alongside other active revision techniques, such as:

• Active recall: Once you've created your visual, test yourself by looking at it and trying to explain what it represents.

• Spaced repetition: Revisit your visuals regularly to keep the information fresh.

• Blurting: After reading about a topic, close your book and recreate your visual from memory. Then check for accuracy using your notes.

Using dual coding in combination with other techniques will help reinforce your understanding and move the information into your long-term memory.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Some common mistakes to avoid include:

• Copying diagrams without thinking about them. You need to understand what you're drawing and how it relates to the topic.

• Overloading your visuals. Keep them simple. If it's too crowded or detailed, your brain won't know what to focus on.

• Focusing only on pictures. Dual coding means using both images and words together.

• Leaving it too late. Dual coding is most useful when you use it throughout your revision, not just cramming before the exam.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is dual coding only for visual learners? 

No. While it’s especially helpful for people who prefer visuals, many students can benefit from having created two memory traces for key content, instead of just one.

Can I use dual coding for every subject? 

Yes. Whether it’s formulas in maths, themes or characters in English, or dates in history, there’s almost always a way to represent the content visually. You just need to think creatively about how you can express topic information using both visuals and words.

Do I need to be good at drawing? 

Not at all. Stick figures, arrows, shapes, and colours are more than enough. The goal is to help yourself understand the material, rather than create a masterpiece. If you’re feeling less confident in your drawing skills, you could try tracing or use digital tools to help you.

How often should I review my visuals? 

Reviewing your visuals frequently using spaced repetition gives you the best chance of moving the information into your long-term memory and accurately recalling it in your exam. Remember to plan your revision and start well before your exams so you have time to create and review your visuals.

Final Thoughts

Dual coding is more than just adding pictures to your notes. It’s about creating meaningful visual connections that make it easier to learn and remember information. By turning text-heavy revision notes into something you can see and interact with, you’ll make your study time more effective and more engaging.