Does your child or student have a hard time remembering Science concepts or Mathematics equations? Is he or she having a hard time answering exams?
You can help your child or student become successful in mastering school lessons by employing learning principles.
One of these principles is called “active recall”.
What is Active Recall?
Active recall is a process of absorbing information and retrieving it actively by responding to external stimulations by the form of a quiz or a test.
In case the student fails to answer the questions correctly, he has to learn the information again then answer another test or quiz.
The process is repeated until the learner gives correct responses which show the mastery of the knowledge. Because of this, future information retrievals would become easier.
Practical Applications of the Active Recall Principle
There are several ways parents and teachers can do to apply this principle. The following activities are some of the examples. The main purpose of these activities is to engage the learner actively during the review of the lessons.
To illustrate, let us take the lesson on the Parts of the Seeds for third graders.
1. Create flashcards.
Flashcards are very handy and a simple tool. You can review your notes written on these cards anywhere possible.
There are different ways to create the flashcards. One of the ways is shown below.
a) Get 3 x 5 cards.
b) On a card, we can write the name of a part of a seed, for example, SEED COAT.
c) On another card, we can write the definition of the seed coat.
d) On another card, we can draw or paste a picture of this part.
During reviews, children can read the term, its definition and its image. After which, the tutor, parent, or a classmate can ask a question like "What is the protective layer of the seed?”
Another activity that can be done is playing a memory game using the cards. You can use the terms and images or terms and definitions. Put all the cards facedown. Ask the child to match two cards, the term or image and its definition. The goal is for the child to match all the cards correctly.
Using games can make lesson reviews fun.
2. Make questions about the topic.
Giving pen-and-paper tests is another way to test learner's knowledge retention. Different types of written tests like multiple choice or fill-in-the-blanks can be used.
For example:
Multiple Choice
1. Which part of the seed protects it?
A. seed coat B. embryo C. cotyledon
2. Which part provides nutrition to the seed?
A. seed coat B. embryo C. cotyledon
3. What do you call a plant developing inside the seed?
A. seed coat B. embryo C. cotyledon
Fill-in-the-Blanks
1. ______________ protects the seed.
2. ______________ is a plant developing inside the seed.
3. ______________ provides food to the seed and helps the seed to grow.
3. Let the students write questions.
How reversing the role of the learner? Instead of answering the questions, the learner formulates a question with the given term or definition as the answer.
For example:
Term: Cotyledon
Student's Question: _________________________
3. Rewrite the main points or definition of terms in one's own words.
Albert Einstein once said “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it enough."
If the learner can say or explain a concept in his or her own words, he understands it fully.
To practice this, list down the terms and ask the child to define each term in his or her own words.
1. seed coat= ________________________________
2. cotyledon= ________________________________
3. embryo= _________________________________
In conclusion, active recall can help parents, teachers, and even students to make most of studying. Learning actively provides a lot of benefits that would make students successful in school.
To learn more active recall, you may check these articles.
1. http://arapahoenews.com/6024/acc-life/study-smarter-not-harder-5-tips-for-successful-study-sessions/