Active Recall – How To Study More Efficiently

Reading, highlighting, making notes, and re-reading are the most common answers if you ask any students how they study.

BUT…

Have you ever been in a situation where you are so certain that you’ve seen the test question before but just can’t seem to find the answer in your head?

In this article, I will be going through a strategy called active recall that will help you study better and more efficiently.

Personally, I experienced a total mind blank during my secondary school chemistry paper. Upon seeing the first question, my brain blanked out and i couldn’t remember anything at all. Well obviously, I failed that paper miserably. 

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What is Active Recall?

Active recall is an efficient method of learning and memorizing new information through active memory stimulation. The difference between active recall and conventional methods of study is the flow of information. In more passive study techniques such as reading a text or watching a video, information is being consumed and flows into the brain. On the contrary, information is being forced to be extracted from the brain during an active recall. This compartmentalizes that information, facilitating easier retrieval in the future.

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Why should I use Active Recall?

Studies over the years have shown that active recall is the most effective way of learning. For example, the research conducted by Karpicke and Roediger compared the various methods of study. It was concluded that there is a “striking absence of any benefits of repeated studying once an item could be recalled from memory” while “repeated retrieval in test trials generated large benefits for long-term retention”.

Research has also shown that active recall is seldomly used although it is proven to be the most effective study technique. Students test themselves during revision not to enhance long-term information retention but to see what they do not know or have not learned. 

It is understandably more taxing to test yourself during a revision as compared to reading, this could be a reason why many students do not adopt this method of study. However, by actively retrieving information from your head, the stronger the brain “muscle” grows. Over time, you will definitely observe that you can better store new concepts and recall old information.

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How do I use Active Recall?

Now that you know the benefits of active recall, let us explore how you can implement it into your revision game plan.

Flashcards

Using flashcards is a good and simple way of practicing active recall. Instead of squeezing all the information on these small cards, write down questions on one side and the answers on the other. During your revision, look at the side with questions and see if you can remember the answer on the flip side.

The ability to customize your own cards definitely adds to the fun factor and makes revision less dreadful. Coupled with spaced repetitions, the usage of flashcards is one of the best ways of adopting active recall into your revision routine.

You might want to set some time ahead of the examination date to complete your flashcards. This may take some time to complete and you may need to split the work into various sessions. To help you with time blocking. you can check out our undated calender to set daily goals, reminders and important milestone on your education journey.

Side note: You can even give yourself small “punishment” if you get a question wrong. This gets you off the chair during long periods of revision and when the same question comes out again in the future, you will definitely remember the answer. win-win!

Practice papers

Practicing exam questions is the most primitive way of active recall. (Well, they do say practice makes perfect!)

As shown in studies, doing test papers enhances information retainment. This method of revision is definitely not the most fun way of studying. However, it forces you to constantly retrieve information from your head. Another benefit of this strategy is that you can familiarise yourself with the examination format and setting. As such, you are less likely to blank out during the actual one. 

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Notes Making Alternatives

For those who have stuck to a certain fixed way of revision(summarizing, mind-mapping, note-making, etc…), I understand that it is hard to adopt a new strategy of studying. 

Here are some ways you can incorporate active recall into your own study techniques.

Closed Book Method

A common method of note-making is highlighting whatever you think is important and blindly copying the information onto a piece of paper. Instead, try the closed book method. As the name suggests, make notes with the book closed.

1. Before you begin, read through and understand the specific topic thoroughly.
2. Close the book and put it aside once you are done with the reading.
3. Based on memory, write down the contents of the topic in your own words.
4. Refer back to the topic to see what you have missed out on and highlight those pointers. (This is so that during future revision, you can pay attention to these pointers that you previously missed out)
5. Repeat this process and eventually, you’ll have all the information at the back of your head. (Literally…)

This is a simple and effective way of adapting active recall into your note-making technique.

List of questions

Another alternative to standard note-making is to write down a list of questions. Instead of reading through the notes during revision, you are forced to be engaged cognitively to retrieve the answers to the questions.

This active retrieval of information from the brain is the fundamental concept of active recall. Together with spaced repetitions, this method of studying definitely allows you to package the information in your brain and ease information extraction during an exam.

Pro tip: During revision, highlight those questions that you struggle with. This helps you to identify the topics you are weak in so that you can pay more attention to them during revision. Also, you can always look at those highlighted questions right before you enter the examination. This way you can almost 100% remember the answer if those questions appear during the test.

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Conclusion

Studying can be a huge pain (frustrating even) especially if you can’t seem to get the information into your head. Despite so, we often use ineffective methods of revision to prepare for tests and exams. Active recall has been proven over the years by researchers to be the best studying technique. Now that you know how to study effectively,  check out our 5 ways you can adopt to kick procrastination, stay focused and productive for longer periods of time. 

Do give our recommendations a shot and see how you fare in your next examination.

Comment below if the study tips work for you or if you have other tips to share with the community! (Psst… Like they always say, Sharing is Caring!)