Active recall:
retrieve, don't reread.

What active recall means

Active recall means trying to retrieve knowledge from memory before you look it up. Every practice question, flashcard and past paper is a form of it. What matters is the moment you have to make an effort to find the answer.

Why it works

In a well-known study by Roediger and Karpicke (2006), students who read a text once and were then tested on it remembered considerably more a week later than those who reread the text instead. This is called the testing effect.

A major review by Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated ten common study techniques. Practice testing and distributed practice received the highest rating. Highlighting and rereading scored poorly.

How to apply it

• Start with practice questions: past papers, problem sets and end-of-chapter questions are ready-made material for active recall.
• Answer first, then check: commit to an answer even if you are unsure. Only then look at the solution.
• Blurting: after a chapter, write down everything you still know. Then compare with your notes and mark the gaps.
• Analyse mistakes: when you get something wrong, don't just memorise the right answer. Understand why yours was wrong.
• Repeat: revisit wrongly answered questions after a few days. More in the guide to spaced repetition.

The most common mistake

Looking at the answer too early. If you see the answer before you have thought for yourself, you recognise it and mistake that for knowing it. Recognition is much easier than recall. So always commit first, then check.

How KnowFi helps

KnowFi is built for exactly this routine. You answer the practice question yourself first, then press your shortcut and compare. The reasoning comes from your own notes, so you see right away where the material is. For open questions there is a model answer to measure yours against.