Hi guys and welcome back to our channel.
My name is Cath Anne
and this is episode
40 of the Homework Help
Show hosted by Homework Help Global.
I am sure I don't have
to remind you that exams
are coming up.
Have you ever been in a situation where
you've studied really hard,
you've been diligent all semester,
you've attended every class
and you've even pulled all nighters to
make sure that you get the right
information for your test the next
day and then once you get to the test
you draw a blank
and you have no idea what
the professor is looking for.
Super frustrating right?
You've come all this way you've done all this
work. But for what?
And you've studied so you would think that
you could do well in the exam.
It just doesn't make sense.
Well this is what we are going to talk
about today.
If you are experiencing this
I hate to break this to you
but you haven't actually
learned the material in the first place.
OK, I know you're probably yelling
at the screen
or saying "What?!
What are you talking about?"
I know. I know.
It sounds really difficult to hear
especially if you study for long
hours. You would think you would have learned
something
but just hear me out.
Let me ask you a few questions.
Do you attend class regularly
and listen to your professors
thoughtful logical explanation
of the content
and think "oh yeah,
this makes sense?" Do you attend
class regularly
and review your notes?
Do you do practice questions
in your textbook with
the open book by your side
and the answers
right by your side thinking
that you're doing the best to practice
what you can and prepare for an exam?
You're not alone.
These are strategies that we
have been taught to
implement into our study routines.
However they are not always
the most effective.
Unfortunately the reason for
this is because all of these activities
are passive.
So in other words,
you are intaking information
but you're not actually grappling
with it or working
with the new material in
order to understand it.
Although you might recognize similar
material
and be able to regurgitate
it in a specific set of circumstances,
you're not
going to be able to do much more than that
and particularly if you are
working or learning in a field
that is has a hands on
component you're certainly going
to want to be able to apply the
material in a variety of contexts.
And, this is why listening to
lectures and reading through textbooks
is not necessarily the most effective.
When we see an example of
related information,
it might lull us into
a false sense of security thinking
that we do know the answers
and that we are able to recall them
in different contexts.
However,
without the diagrams
lecture notes
or even the classroom itself
we might not be able to recall that
information effectively.
So that is why today we wanted
to discuss the process of
active recall
and how it can
help you to study for exams
and be a more effective student active
learning is just as it sounds.
In order to truly learn a new
piece of information you must
engage with it
and trick your brain into working
with it. This activates new neural pathways
in the brain which creates
new space in the brain for new
information.
This will involve solving problems
from the ground up.
You have to work with the information in
order for it to become ingrained in
your brain
and that means working
with information without the help of notes
slides or lectures
or even the answers.
So let's talk about how you
can incorporate active recall into
your study routine. Even when
you have no idea where to begin
because there might be times that
you might see a question
and you might not even know
where to start.
So let's start there
and we'll build upon that.
There are a variety of ways that
you can incorporate active recall into
your study routine
and I'm going to give you a couple of steps
about how to do that.
Step one : copy it all down.
So you're in class.
The T.A./professor/instructor
puts a question up on the board -
record that.
Write that down in your notebook.
You can also look online to find different
questions depending on what
discipline you are in.
You can also look at old tests
you could look in your textbook
but just make sure that you're not also looking
at the answers because we want to
start with a blank slate so
your best way to do this is to write
everything down.
Don't use a computer use a pen
and paper or pencil
and write everything down.
And don't worry at this point if
you don't understand this
is part of the process.
Step number two: Start small.
Start by breaking a problem down
and go through step by step.
Break down each component of the problem,
write out equations,
drawing out all of the concepts that
you have learned thus for far.
You want to look at each variable
each part of the equation
and eventually piece it all
together in a solution.
Write out formulas that you have learned
and work diligently
with the question putting everything you
know into the question even
if you don't get the correct answer.
This is going to be a step
towards your learning process
and remember that is what we're looking for
today. We're looking for active
engagement with information
as opposed to passive reception.
You can even begin
with easier questions
and work your way up to more
challenging concept.
That is probably your best bet
because then you will
not get frustrated.
Trust me, it is going to be a bit
of a frustrating process because
you will not necessarily know the answer
to every question
and it will take some time
for this information to become
ingrained into your brain.
However this is the process
and trust this process.
Step number three: do
active recall.
Once you become familiar
with all of the steps involved
in solving this type of a problem
engage in active recall by
taking a new problem
and trying to figure it out from the
ground up.
You can still break it down in steps.
Write out all the formulas
and everything that you think you need to solve
the problem and come to a solution.
And again make sure you are not
looking at the answer.
Also try doing so without
the help of any supplementary
aides so maybe you have a cheat
sheet. Or maybe you have a reference
page that you are looking at
in order to get some information in regards
to the formulas you would need
for this active recall process.
Make sure that you're kind of setting those things
aside until
you can wrap your head around the concept
and come to somewhat of a solution.
If you really do get stuck you can
make use of those resources
but the less you make use of those resources
the better you are going to be able to
adapt and to be able to
do this process in a time
crunch on an exam.
Now this is not just going to be a one
time process.
This is going to be something that you're
not going to want to do throughout
the course of a semester
when you are studying.
Write down questions as they come
up and almost create a
sample test for yourself.
So as you're going through
each step in each
class in throughout the semester
you can be looking at ways to
practice as you go along by recording
questions
and making a sample test for yourself
to plan and to study in advance
for the exam.
So again the key here is
to replace passive
acceptance of information
with active recall.
So you're really delving in
and engaging
with the material even
if you aren't familiar
with that particular question.
Work your way through it write it
down and take a question
on step by step.
That is going to be the easiest
and most effective way to acquire
new learning.
So another way to do active
recall is to really
hone in on the information that
you are learning.
Let me explain.
Have you ever become frustrated
at another student because
they seem to have spent a very small
time in studying when you have been cramming
for weeks and weeks
and weeks?
Well this is likely because
they have honed in on
specific information that
they believe the professor will be putting on
the exam
and you may have been studying
a bit too broad.
So what you want to do when you are studying
for an exam is to hone
in on very specific information
that you think will be on the exam
and study that information.
You can do this by asking
the professor questions about what
is going to be on the exam.
You can look at key scenes
that arise throughout the course
of the semester.
If there is a topic that the professor
keeps going back to
it is a good bet that that will
be on the exam.
You can look through your textbook as
I mentioned and look for practice
questions because those
tend to be the types of information
that will arrive on the exam.
You can consult
with former students of that class
and see if they remember anything
that may have been on the test
in a year before.
You can also attend your library
and ask if they have any
samples of exams
and from years past.
And this is a really great way to
acquire information about the exam
and just learn what
types of questions will be
on a certain type of
exam
and other idea is to create
an online test for yourself to
begin to.
Test your knowledge using an online
application.
There are many applications out there
that you can make your own tests.
And that will be a great way
for you to practice the information
that you are learning.
Okay so that's it for me this week
guys. I hope you have
good luck on your exams.
Remember to do active recall
when you are studying
and plan your studying time.
Make sure to check out all our other videos
on facing your exams.
We have a few.
I hope this video was of benefit.
Let us know if you have any questions
in the comments below
and if you do make use of
active recall we'd also love
to hear if you have any suggestions
for study techniques
or suggestions for future episodes.
If you're looking to check out any of our other
content make sure to
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Alright guys I will talk to you next week.
Have a great week.
Talk soon and take care.