Study guide
Active recall: attempt an answer before looking it up
Active recall, or retrieval practice, means answering from memory before you look, on paper, with a flashcard or aloud, then checking the result.
What the research supports
Roediger and Karpicke (2006) compared rereading with recall tests in university students: retrieval helped later retention, while rereading did better on the immediate test. That does not mean every prompt or app works. [R]
Dunlosky and colleagues' 2013 review rated practice testing as high utility. [D] Use that to include answer attempts, not as a promise of grades or a reason to drop reading and exercises.
A small session: study, retrieve and check
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Pick a passage and a question
Ask for a central idea, distinction or relationship, something you can actually check.
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Close the source and answer
Write or speak before flipping the card. For a formula, explain its terms too.
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Compare with the reference
Sort out hits, gaps and contradictions. Confidence is not correctness.
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Correct it, then retry later
Study the gap and come back in another session. Copying the correction is not recalling it.
Three ways to retrieve different knowledge
A definition with a distinction
After reading about correlation: “Does observing two variables together establish that one causes the other?” Answer, then check you kept the source's distinction.
A connection between stages
Close your photosynthesis summary and explain how light-reaction products relate to the Calvin cycle. Naming where each stage happens is another question.
A procedure or problem
Justify a worked exercise's first step without the solution, then solve another. A formula card cannot reason for you.
When to adjust the practice
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The topic still makes no sense
Return to an explanation and a worked example. If you only guess, narrow the question or use a cue.
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The task requires application
Add exercises and cases: recalling a definition does not show when to use it.
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You recognize the back without answering
Commit to an answer before revealing, and rewrite fronts that give it away.
Where digital materials can help
Paper works, as does any tool that lets you check answers. In Supernapse, editable cards and source-based questions prepare attempts; verify what is generated, since creating prompts does not prove learning.
Sources and limits of the evidence
Published by the Supernapse team. References support the research claims marked in the text; workflows and examples are practical suggestions, not validated protocols or tests of the app's effectiveness.