Active Recall: The Best Way to Learn

"Active recall is basically quizzing yourself, it was my secret weapon through medical school and even now as a doctor."

12 Ways to Use Active Recall

Pretest

• Use active recall before studying.
• Get old papers/practice problems.
• Small quizzes to benefit from the hypercorrection effect (learn from mistakes).

Stop and Recite

• Use before class when reading textbooks/videos.
• After every section, pause and recite what you learned.
• Write, type, or speak out loud.

Write Out Questions

• Do it during class to stay engaged.
• Turn topics into questions (What, How, Why).
• Use lecture objectives/review questions.
• Later use these questions for recall practice.

Immediate Review

• After class, review questions you've written.
• Quickly run through without peeking at notes.
• Alternatively, explain slides/concepts.

Use Note-Taking Apps

• Use toggles in apps like REMNote.
• Organize topics and nest under chapters.
• Test yourself on questions; check answers.
• Helps see big picture contextual fit.

Mind Maps

• Ideal after understanding the bigger picture.
• Brain dump everything about a topic on paper.
• Link ideas for relational recall.

Teach Each Other

• In study groups, explain material to peers.
• Teach from memory, don't peek at notes.
• Can pretend to teach a child, outsider, or nosy person.

Flashcards

• Best for memorizing details.
• Use digital flashcards like REMNote.
• Features include mobility, time-saving, randomness, and spaced repetition.
• Download pre-made decks if available.

Enumeration

• Practice recalling in specific order for processes and series.
• Use mnemonics to assist.

Occlusion

• Useful for images, graphs, charts.
• Cover parts of images and recall details.
• Can also use for fill-in-the-blank style questions.

Practice Questions

• Important for all subjects, particularly math/problem-based.
• Understand why answers are right/wrong.
• Turn parts of multiple choice questions into flashcards.
• Use essay prompts for humanities.

Practice Tests

• Mimic actual test conditions (timing, breaks, attire).
• Identify strengths/weaknesses.
• Focus recall practice on weak areas before the test.

Additional Resources

• Check out spaced repetition techniques (second best science-based study strategy).