The Art of Studying Effectively (part 2): The magic of Active Recall and Spaced Repetition

Note: This is the second part to yesterday’s post. Kindly read it as some parts are continuous and require context from the first part.

Now that I’ve discussed a technique that doesn’t work, many of you will be asking well, what does work? Well, two of the most popular scientifically proven methods of learning are Active Recall and Spaced Repetition. 

Active Recall is a technique that extracts information from your brain rather than passively trying to reinforce memory by rereading. This process strengthens the neural connections associated with the information, enhancing long-term retention. Many of us actually do this already without realizing it. When you study or studied math, how do you prepare? Most of us would do a lot of problems, right?  Or would you sit and reread your notes? That problem-solving is a way of Active Recall. That’s okay for math, but how do you implement it into subjects that have dense content and require memorization? The easiest way to do it is flashcards. Instead of looking at your notes, spend time while you’re making notes to also make flashcards. Then, when you’re prepping for an exam, take the flashcard, look at the key term or question, write down the answer you think and check it. Repeat again and again until you get everything right. 

However, repeating the process again and again in a short span of time actually doesn’t work as efficiently as short-term memory memorizes the answer for the time-being and you believe you actually know it, which is why I’m going to introduce you to Spaced Repetition. The basic idea is to repeat the Active Recall process over increasing intervals of time. For example, if you have an exam in 10 days, do one round of active recall today. Then do it an hour later. Then the next day. Then 2 days after and so on and do one before the night of the exam. Because you’re reinforcing the memory time and again over a long period of time, the memory is consolidated into long-term memory, retaining it for a very long period. Another interesting fact about these two methods is, if combined correctly, minimizes the time you spend studying for an exam. 

So, next time you have an exam, try these methods out. I can’t guarantee it will work, but there’s a bloody good chance it might, and I truly believe that risk is justified as it could reduce so many grueling hours of smacking your head against the wall trying to remember the sentence you read in the textbook 5 minutes ago.