Easy ways to include active recall in your note-taking

By now, you probably know that passive recall techniques aren’t as effective as active recall techniques. However, it can be useful to create notes in order to revise, especially when you want to have your own, easy-to-understand information bank. The only problem with this is that note-taking is a passive recall studying method, therefore it’s not very effective. In order to improve your understanding of a topic and get better test scores, try out some of these methods of incorporating active recall into your note taking.

Why active recall is important

Active recall is the highest-yield study method. That means that for every hour you spend studying, you get the most possible value, or the most knowledge. Studies show that a simple active recall method is much more effective that reading a textbook 4 times! If you don’t want to spend hours studying, then active recall is the way to go. Essentially, active recall is when you learn by recalling information.

Q&A method

The Q&A note-taking method is one of the most effective methods out there. Split your page in half, then write the notes on one side. On the other, write possible exam-style questions about the topic. This way, you’ll have some questions that you can use to test yourself with later, as well as notes that can serve as a summary of the topic.

Cornell notes

This is very similar to the Q&A method, only with an added element. Once you’ve made your notes and written your questions, you also have a box for summary. What I like to do is to cover my notes, then summarize what I remember. I believe that this is very effective, since you’ve incorporated active recall twice! Once for the questions, and once for the summary.

Look, cover, write

This is a very simple concept, and it is super easy to implement. First, read about your topic from the textbook, your class notes, and any other resources you have access to. Then, put away all these resources, so that you can’t read from them anymore. Finally, write down everything you remember. Once you’re done, you can check if there’s anything you missed using the subject specification. This is a method that researchers found to be incredibly effective!

Flashcards

Now, this might not be a traditional method of note-taking, but it’s still incredibly worthwhile. Instead of taking notes, use index cards to write the information instead. On the front, write the heading or subheading. And on the back, write down your notes! It may not be an orthodox page of notes, but it’s more effective, as you can use the flashcards to test yourself later.

Although note-taking usually isn’t a very effective study technique, there are many ways to make it higher-yield. Remember that you can mix and match these methods to make it work for you 🙂