The Secret Sauce of A+ Students
You can only fight the way you practice — Miyamoto Musashi
Most of the students won’t even complete the syllabus but a select few will not only complete the syllabus but then garnish their efforts with a secret sauce — Active Recall.
Class tests taken by the teacher have students sitting with sour faces. Tests are not a voluntary activity and hence the participants are not involved in it. The young ones can’t be blamed — the weight of about 200 thousand years of evolution is pulling them down !
Activities that consume energy are usually the things that the brain wants to avoid. Our brains still treats us like nomadic hunter-gatherers. It’s default setting is “Food is scarce, it’s better to conserve energy at all costs.” So our brains tries to resist anything that pushes us, whether it’s studying or going to the gym. All of us would rather take a cheap dopamine bath while lying on the sofa, eating a packet of chips with a sugary drink and watching Netflix — than doing anything worthwhile 😀
In my experience, a better way for the student is to voluntarily go through self assessment — if they want to improve their grades.
In whatever way possible do some Active Recall technique that will actively retrieve information from your memory rather than passively reviewing study material.
This process enhances memory consolidation and long-term retention by reinforcing neural connections. It promotes deeper understanding, efficient learning, and is an effective strategy for various subjects and skills.
A few techniques for active recall are listed below. My favourite one is Teaching someone else. You can pick and choose.
1. Flashcards: Create flashcards with questions on one side and answers on the other. Test yourself regularly.
2. Self-Quizzing/ Doing Previous Year Question Papers: Pose questions to yourself based on the material and answer them without looking at the notes.
3. Mind Maps: Create visual representations of concepts from memory, reinforcing your understanding.
4. Teach Someone Else: Explain the topic to a friend or imaginary audience. Teaching reinforces your own understanding.
5. Recall Notes: Write down key points or concepts from memory without referring to your notes.
6. Practice Retrieval in Intervals: Space out your active recall sessions over time to enhance long-term retention.
7. Summarize Content: Condense information into concise summaries, reinforcing your understanding of the main ideas.
8. Associative Memory Techniques: Connect new information to existing knowledge, aiding in retrieval during recall.
9. Reflect on Mistakes: Review errors made during active recall and understand the correct information.
10. Utilize Different Formats: Vary your active recall methods, incorporating visual aids, verbal recall, and written exercises for a well-rounded approach to learning.
