Active Recall (Retrieval Practice): Don't Reread, Recall

You highlighted everything, reread the textbook two or three times and made neat summary notes, yet your mind still went blank in front of the exam. Sound familiar? If you're getting little out of the hours you put in, it's time to question how you study.

What is active recall?

Active recall is the practice of pulling what you've learned back out of your head. It's also known as retrieval practice. Instead of checking against your textbook, you close it, ask yourself "What was this again?", try to recall the answer, and only then check it.

Working through practice questions, looking at the front of a flashcard and recalling the back, writing what you learned on a blank sheet of paper, explaining it to someone else: all of these are active recall.

Why is rereading less effective?

Read the same material several times and the sentences start to look familiar. The feeling of "Oh, I know this" that comes with it reflects your ability to recognize the material, not your ability to recall it. On an exam, you have to write an answer with no options in front of you, or pick the exact right one from several similar choices, and a sense of familiarity isn't enough for that.

On the other hand, the very effort of trying to recall something strengthens the memory. The harder you work to bring something back, the more easily it comes back next time. That's why active recall is known to feel harder and more frustrating while you're doing it, yet leave you with more than rereading does once time has passed.

How to use it when studying on your own

1. Close the book and recall right after reading. When you finish a chapter, close the textbook and write down the key points on a blank sheet of paper. Then compare it with the textbook to see what you missed.
2. Turn what you need to memorize into questions. Instead of a heading like "Definition of a solvent," write a question with a question mark, like "What is a solvent?" When you come back to it, you'll naturally try to recall the answer.
3. Always try to recall before looking at the answer. If you flip a flashcard and look at the back right away, you're rereading, not practicing recall. Try to recall it first, even for just a few seconds.
4. Be honest about whether you got it right. If what you recalled was only roughly close, it's better to mark it as "Don't know." That way, you'll see that question again.
5. Recall it again after a day has passed. Recalling something once you've started to forget it works better than recalling it right away. That's why active recall goes hand in hand with spaced repetition.

Active recall and spaced repetition: a perfect pair

Active recall answers "how" to review, and spaced repetition answers "when." If you review by recalling, right before you'd forget, you'll remember things far longer for the same amount of study time.

LQuiz is built so you can do both together. With flashcard questions, you look at the front, recall the answer, then check the back. With multiple-choice questions, you pick an answer yourself and then see the correct one. Tap "Know" and the question comes back at growing intervals of 1, 3, 7 days and so on; tap "Don't know" and it comes back the next day.

• Each time you read a chapter of your textbook, pick out just what you need to memorize and turn it into a few questions.
• Every day, open LQuiz and work through only the questions due for review today.
• When you feel the urge to reread, answer questions instead.