You read the chapter, then read it again with a highlighter, and everything on the page looks familiar. Then the exam asks you to explain it with the page closed.
Why rereading feels like studying
When you reread, every line looks familiar, and familiarity feels like knowing. Recognizing something on the page is a different skill from bringing it back on your own, and rereading only trains the first. It works just well enough to keep people doing it.
What practice testing is
Practice testing, also called retrieval practice or active recall, runs the other way. You pull information out of your head instead of putting it in again. Close the notes, write down, say or answer what you remember, and then check.
What the research found
In a 2017 meta-analysis in the Review of Educational Research, Adesope, Trevisan and Sundararajan combined 272 effect sizes from 118 articles. Practice tests benefited learning more than restudying and the other comparison conditions.
The size of the effect varied with the format of the test, the learners and what was measured. It is a reliable tool, and nobody can promise it will get you a particular grade.
Four ways to do it without an app
- Write everything you remember about the topic on a blank page, with nothing in front of you.
- Answer the questions a teacher or classmate would most likely ask.
- Explain the topic out loud to an empty room, a plant or a friend who didn’t ask.
- Cover the definitions and say them before you look.
A pack of index cards and a small whiteboard make the blank page less of a chore. For the research in book form, Make It Stick by Brown, Roediger and McDaniel is readable, and it is here.
The last five minutes of a Pomodoro
This fits at the end of a 25/5 or 50/10 block. When about five minutes are left, close your notes, write what you remember or answer a few questions, check, and mark the gaps. The gaps become the plan for your next block.
Then take the break as usual and keep it a real one, as described in what to do in your Pomodoro break. The recall belongs to the block.
Why it feels harder
Recalling takes more effort than rereading, especially at first. You will draw blanks and it can feel like you are doing worse, but the blank spots are what you came to find.
Questions people ask
What is active recall?
Trying to bring information back from memory, by writing, saying or answering questions, without looking at it again.
Is rereading notes a waste of time?
It is a weak way to learn on its own. It works better as the step before you test yourself.
Are flashcards active recall?
Yes, if you try to answer before flipping the card. If you read both sides, you are rereading.
