Author: Mike and Matty
What is it?
A method of learning where you attempt to retrieve prior knowledge without context clues or the help of your notes. Also known as quizzing or testing.
Why does it work?
An easy way to think about it is in relation to
The 2 Steps Of Learning :
- Storing the information in your memory so that you can use it later
- Retrieving the information from your memory to solve problems
Active Recall is the most effective way to practice retrieving the information. A common mistake that many learners make is by focusing all their time on storing the information (reading and taking notes), and no time on retrieving the information (quizzing and testing).
Why is it important?
When it comes to learning, the most important idea is that The most important thing about learning. This means that the more cognitive effort you use to learn something, the better that information will stick in your long-term memory.
Studies ranked the following techniques as the most effective ways to learn because they encourage high cognitive effort:
- Active Recall
- Spaced Repetition
Different ways to use Active Recall:
Practice questions, practice tests, quizzes
If you are studying for a test, then this is the best method because it most resembles what you will see on the test.
Ask your teacher or ask other students (in class or search online) where you can find the best practice problems.
For standardized tests, look into buying a bank of questions made by the test writers. Be sure to find practice problems and tests with an answer key. If you don’t know why you got a question right or wrong, you could be learning the wrong information.
Flashcards
This is the best way to learn large amounts of information quickly. Flashcards are powerful because you can also incorporate spaced repetition and interleaving all at the same time.
Digital flashcard apps, like RemNote, are preferred over physical flashcards for portability.
Well-written and organized flashcards with a search function can replace your traditional notes.
How to make good flashcards
Toggle bullets within a note-taking app
This method is similar to making flashcards. You write the question on the first line, and you write the answer on the second line and nest it under the question. Then you can hide the answer by closing the toggle to test yourself.
In RemNote, the toggle bullets are the triangles to the left of each bullet point.
Toggle bullets aren’t as effective as flashcards. Using toggle bullets allows you to see the order of your questions coming up on the page. Knowing the order of your questions gives you context clues as to what the next answer will be, and this gives you a false sense of understanding. With flashcards, you never know what the next card will be, therefore truly testing your knowledge.
Elaboration or Teaching
Teaching requires you to have a solid understanding of the material. Teaching helps you learn because it forces you to recall the information in your own words.
You don’t have to physically teach another person. You can pretend to teach yourself in the mirror! As long as you are putting it into your own words and not peeking at your notes.
Other methods include:
- writing it down
- typing it out
- saying it out loud
- mind-mapping
- brain dumping
The science that supports Active Recall as “the best” learning method
This study explores the effectiveness of active recall for long-term learning.
They divided students into 3 groups to assess their knowledge retention over time. All groups were allowed to study for the same amount of time but used a different study plan.
- Group 1 read the lectures 4 times.
- Group 2 read the lectures 3 times and quizzed themselves once.
- Group 3 got to read the lectures only once but quizzed themselves 3 times.
- Group 3 not only performed the best, but their overall retention of the information at 1 week was superior. Interestingly, Group 1 “felt more confident in their ability to remember,” yet they still performed the worst. Even Group 2 only tested themselves once, yet still outperformed Group 1. This shows that passive learning methods (like rereading books and notes) can “inflate the perception of mastery” and give students a false sense of understanding.
The table below is from the study:
- S=study using rereading; T=test using recall. Roediger et al.
This study found that greater difficulty in recalling information led to higher levels of memory.
This study shows that even unsuccessful attempts at active recall enhance subsequent learning.
And that is active recall in a nutshell. Check out the video at the beginning of this article for more details!
