Active Recall - The Most Effective Study Technique

Have you ever Googled on How To Study Effectively? Yet, they will say you have to pay attention in class or you must get organized. Of course those stuff are true but they are common things that you would hear from someone that you asked about study techniques. Let me be the first one to say that an effective study technique is Active Recall.

What's Active Recall?

Active Recall is remembering informations. No, not memorizing but remembering informations. It involves your mind to be active while reading and gaining informations. We have all been in the days when we read a textbook paragraph by paragraph and end up forgetting everything. You've wasted your time on reading. But with active recall, all the things that you've read will be in your head just like a sponge absorbing the water.

How to do Active Recall?

Easy. Just do whatever that makes your mind to retrieve back the informations. It can be writing back all the informations after you read the book, say out loud the things you get, write questions to yourself and anything that suits you. As long as you get to retrieve back the informations, that's Active Recall.

Wait, I don't know what you're talking about??!

Seriously? Okay, let me tell you the steps that I would use for Active Recall. After that, it's up to you which one suits you the best.

Step 1

Take a textbook. Don't read it yet. Go to the summary of the topic usually at the last page of the topic and read it. See what the topic actually is about.

Step 2

Ask questions to yourself and write the question on a paper. Ask what is the topic about, what does it do, why it happens, how it happens, where does it take place, why is it like this compared to this, is it better than the other things. Ask like you're a curious kid trying to know the world. 

Step 3

Read the topic. Make sure you understand the words. If there's a question pop out of your head while reading, write it down. 

Step 4

After you have read and understood the topic, answer the questions you wrote down without reading the book again. It's better if you answer it by your head than writing it down so that you can save time. But if you want to refer back, write the number of the page on each of the question. That way, you can be sure that you go back to the book and read it back. 

Are you sure that works?

Yes, it will work. Active Recall is best used when combined with Spaced Repetition technique. Go to the Spaced Repetition page of my blog to know what is it.

Remember, Active Recall works when you use any method that works for you. This technique is to make your mind to retrieve back the informations from a book or a lecture or video.