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The Simple Study Technique That Will Maximise Recall

Posted by Karen Young

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The Simple Study Technique That Will Maximise Recall

Sometimes studying comes easily – read, remember, rinse, repeat. Other times it’s like chewing concrete and it doesn’t seem to matter how much time you spend going over the material, when it comes time to remember there’s nothing but chirping crickets.

Researchers have now found a way to study more effectively so that recall is greater.

What They Did

Researchers divided participants into two groups. One group was told they would be tested on material they were to study and the other group was led to believe that they would be teaching the material to another student.

What They Found

Findings revealed that when people believed they would have to teach what they learned, they recalled more of the material and performed better on a test than their peers who expected only a test.

 As explained by lead researcher Dr John Nestojko, ‘When compared to learners expecting a test, learners expecting to teach recalled more material correctly, they organized their recall more effectively and they had better memory for especially important information.’

Instilling an expectation to teach is an easy intervention that can take be done by teachers in the classroom or parents at home (‘after you’ve learnt it, teach it to me’) to increase learning efficiency. If you’re a student, learn the material then write the ‘handout’, imagining you’ll be using it to explain the material you’ve just learnt to others .

‘What I find most intriguing about this research is that learning was significantly impacted even though we did nothing more than alter participants’ expectations prior to learning,’ Nestojko said.

Learning material with an intention to teach ensures that material is actively understood, rather than passively looked over. Whether or not it’s actually taught is irrelevant. What’s important is the mindset.

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2 Comments

Barbara Williamson

My school uses a method called narration, from Charlotte Mason, that creates a prelearning expectation similar to Nestojko’s research.

Reply
heysigmund

Yes that’s a great method. Anything that teaches ‘learning by understanding’ rather than ‘learning by memory’ is a good thing. Would love to see more of it! Thank you for taking the time to make contact.

Reply

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We humans are meaning makers. We are storytellers at heart. It’s how we make sense of each other, ...

May 31

Open
We humans are meaning makers. We are storytellers We humans are meaning makers. We are storytellers at heart. It’s how we make sense of each other, our world, and most importantly, ourselves. But big feelings can hijack our stories. When anxiety drives the story, it tells tales of deficiency and lacking, and puts avoidance where courage should be - but we can change that. . When we get a feeling, we are driven to make sense of it. Anxiety feels awful. It’s meant to. It compels us to listen to, and act on, its story: ‘This is unsafe and you need to act.’ This is how it keeps us safe. When there is no obvious threat, it is understandable that the story that children (or any of us) might put to the feeling is, ‘I feel as though something bad is going to happen, so something bad must be going to happen.’ . . This is when anxiety grows teeth. It assumes a power it doesn’t deserve, and drive a response that holds brave hearts back. . To change the response, we have to change the story. First, we validate, because that lets them feel us beside them. ‘I can see how worried you are about going to school. It makes so much sense that you want to stay home. I’d want to stay home too if I felt like that.’ ⠀⠀ Then, to change how the story ends, we change how it begins. ‘Anxiety feels awful. It’s meant to - it’s how it keeps you safe from things that are actually dangerous, like dark alleys. But here’s the secret to doing hard things: Anxiety doesn’t only happen when something is dangerous. It also happens when there is something important or meaningful you need to do, like school or trying something new. It happens when you’re about to be brave. This is when you have a decision to make. Is this a time to stay safe, or is this a time to be brave?’ . Then, we align with the part of them - and it’s always in them - that wants to be brave and knows they can be. It might be the tiniest whisper, or threadbare, or wilted by anxiety, but it will be there. . Our job as their important people is to usher that brave part of them into the light, so they can start to feel it too. ‘You have done brave things before my darling, and I know you can do this. I know it with everything in me.’

We humans are meaning makers. We are storytellers at heart. It’s how we make sense of each other, our world, and most importantly, ourselves. But big feelings can hijack our stories. When anxiety drives the story, it tells tales of deficiency and lacking, and puts avoidance where courage should be - but we can change that.
.
When we get a feeling, we are driven to make sense of it. Anxiety feels awful. It’s meant to. It compels us to listen to, and act on, its story: ‘This is unsafe and you need to act.’ This is how it keeps us safe. When there is no obvious threat, it is understandable that the story that children (or any of us) might put to the feeling is, ‘I feel as though something bad is going to happen, so something bad must be going to happen.’ .
.
This is when anxiety grows teeth. It assumes a power it doesn’t deserve, and drive a response that holds brave hearts back. .
To change the response, we have to change the story. First, we validate, because that lets them feel us beside them. ‘I can see how worried you are about going to school. It makes so much sense that you want to stay home. I’d want to stay home too if I felt like that.’
⠀⠀
Then, to change how the story ends, we change how it begins. ‘Anxiety feels awful. It’s meant to - it’s how it keeps you safe from things that are actually dangerous, like dark alleys. But here’s the secret to doing hard things: Anxiety doesn’t only happen when something is dangerous. It also happens when there is something important or meaningful you need to do, like school or trying something new. It happens when you’re about to be brave. This is when you have a decision to make. Is this a time to stay safe, or is this a time to be brave?’
.
Then, we align with the part of them - and it’s always in them - that wants to be brave and knows they can be. It might be the tiniest whisper, or threadbare, or wilted by anxiety, but it will be there. .
Our job as their important people is to usher that brave part of them into the light, so they can start to feel it too. ‘You have done brave things before my darling, and I know you can do this. I know it with everything in me.’ ...






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