Many students believe that the best way to study is to read the same chapter again and again, highlight important lines, and hope the information sticks. Unfortunately, research in cognitive science has repeatedly shown that these popular habits are not very effective. Two techniques, active recall and spaced repetition, consistently outperform rereading and highlighting. The good news is that both are simple, free, and can be used with any subject. In this article, you will learn how they work and how to start using them today.
Why Rereading Fails
When you reread a page, the material feels familiar. Familiarity creates a pleasant illusion that you know the content. But recognising something on a page is very different from being able to recall it from memory during an exam, a job interview, or a real-life situation. Rereading trains recognition, while most tests, and most of life, demand recall.
What Is Active Recall?
Active recall simply means testing yourself instead of passively reviewing. You close the book, look away from your notes, and try to retrieve the information from your own mind. The effort of pulling an idea out of memory strengthens the neural pathways connected to it, making it easier to retrieve next time.
Here are some easy ways to practise active recall:
Flashcards: Write a question on one side and the answer on the other. Try to answer before flipping the card.
Blank-page method: After a lesson, take a blank sheet and write down everything you remember about the topic. Then compare with your notes and fill in the gaps.
Practice questions: Use past questions, quizzes, or exercises provided in your course.
Teach someone: Explain the idea aloud to a friend, a family member, or even an imaginary student.
At first, active recall feels harder than rereading. That difficulty is a good sign. Psychologists call it a "desirable difficulty," meaning that the extra effort is exactly what makes learning last.
What Is Spaced Repetition?
Spaced repetition is the practice of reviewing information at increasing intervals over time. The idea comes from the "forgetting curve," a concept first described by the psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus in the nineteenth century. It shows that we forget new information rapidly unless we revisit it. However, each time we review something just before we forget it, the memory becomes stronger and lasts longer.
Instead of studying a topic for five hours on a single day, you spread the same five hours across several weeks. A simple schedule might look like this:
Review the material on the same day you learn it.
Review it again after one day.
Review it after three days.
Review it after one week.
Review it after two to four weeks.
Each review can be short, sometimes only ten minutes, because you are only refreshing what is fading.
Combining the Two Techniques
The real power appears when you combine both methods. Create flashcards from your lessons, then test yourself on them using a spaced schedule. Cards you answer correctly can be reviewed less often, while cards you miss come back sooner. Many learners use a box system. Place all new cards in Box 1 and review them daily. When you answer correctly, move the card to Box 2, which you review every few days. Correct answers in Box 2 move to Box 3, reviewed weekly. A wrong answer sends the card back to Box 1. With this method, your study time automatically focuses on what you find difficult.
A Sample Weekly Plan
Suppose you are learning a new subject in an online course. Here is how you might apply these techniques in one week:
Monday: Watch a lesson and write brief notes. Then close your notes and write a summary from memory.
Tuesday: Make ten flashcards from Monday's lesson and test yourself.
Thursday: Review the Monday cards again and add cards from the new lesson.
Saturday: Do a mixed review of everything covered so far, using practice questions.
Following Monday: Revisit the oldest cards for a final check before moving on.
Tips for Better Results
First, keep your flashcards simple. One question should test one idea. Second, say your answers out loud or write them down; do not just "think" the answer, because the mind is very good at fooling itself. Third, mix topics during practice. Switching between subjects, known as interleaving, feels more demanding but improves your ability to choose the right method for each problem. Finally, be patient. The benefits grow over weeks, not hours.
Common Questions
Does this take more time? Not necessarily. Because you remember more with each session, you spend less time relearning forgotten material.
Can I use these techniques for practical skills? Yes. For a skill such as using spreadsheet software or writing a report, "recall" means performing the steps from memory without looking at the instructions.
Should I use apps or paper? Either works. Choose the tool you will actually use consistently.
Learn and Practise with PBIAcademy
At PBIAcademy, our goal is to help learners gain knowledge that lasts. Our e-learning platform at pbia.com.ng is built for people who want to study at their own pace, revisit lessons whenever they need to, and put new skills to use. The ability to replay lessons and review materials makes it easy to apply spaced repetition and active recall in your own routine.
Final Thoughts
You do not need to study for longer hours to learn more. You need to study with strategies that match how memory works. Start small: after your next lesson, close your notes and write down what you remember. Then schedule a short review for tomorrow. These two actions alone can change the way you learn. When you are ready for structured courses to practise on, visit PBIAcademy and begin your journey.
