Make It Stick
Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger and McDanielby Brown, Roediger and McDaniel
Shares rank 3 of 4 education books by recommenders
Recommended as a helpful overview of current learning research, including why cramming feels effective but hurts long-term retention.
Recommended as a helpful overview of current learning research, including why cramming feels effective but hurts long-term retention.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Helpful for personal learning
“The latter goes over the current state of learning research and it's helped me out”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Note-Taking and Personal Knowledge Management” “The book Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger and McDaniel is helpful.”
Comment from 23 Jun 2026 in “1,700 Free Online Courses from Top Universities” Summarizes current learning research
“The latter goes over the current state of learning research and it's helped me out”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Note-Taking and Personal Knowledge Management” Explains why cramming fails
“Cramming often feels more satisfying, more like you're learning, but actually leads to worse retention.”
Comment from 22 Apr 2026 in “I'm Sick of AI Everything”
Other education books people recommend
The three most recommended other education books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Read a Bookby Mortimer Adler | 12 | 1 | 92% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Mindstormsby Seymour Papert | 7 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Make It Stickby Brown, Roediger and McDanielThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| The Underground History of American Educationby John Taylor Gatto | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The latter goes over the current state of learning research and it's helped me out”
“The book Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger and McDaniel is helpful.”
“Cramming often feels more satisfying, more like you're learning, but actually leads to worse retention.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.