Penstripe Student Planner Catalogue 24-25 - Flipbook - Page 119
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STUDY SKILLS IN PRACTICE –
RETRIEVAL STRATEGIES
STUDY SKILLS IN PRACTICE –
RETRIEVAL STRATEGIES
Study Skills in Practice - Retrieval Strategies
Study Skills in Practice - Retrieval Strategies
What material should you be retrieving?
Strategy One: Total Recall
It is often said that practice makes perfect, but it’s important to remember
where exactly the efforts of your practice should lie and what type of practice
you should engage in. Practice should be focused, challenging and regular.
There is no point in practicing the retrieval of information already deeply
embedded in long-term memory. For instance, you don’t have to count to
10 every day just to make sure you remember this.
As highlighted earlier in this Guide in our Power Hour, we encourage you
to engage in recall on a regular basis and not only at exam time. By setting
aside 10 minutes per evening for Total Recall, you could make a significant
difference to your ability to retain what you learn in school. It will allow you
to assess what you know but, more importantly, what you don’t know and
therefore might need to revisit again. Total Recall is challenging because it
forces your brain to be effortful, however it is this effort that leads ultimately
to effective learning.
Even though it makes no sense, we
are all guilty of hiding from what
we don’t know, from challenges,
and sometimes we focus on the
wrong things or the wrong type of
practice. Target the challenging
topics by creating a weekly topic
hit list with reviews like the one in
the image.
TOPIC HIT LIST: Challenging topics this week
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
For this strategy, you will need a blank sheet of paper, pens, a timer and a
quiet space. Then:
1
Choose a subject/topic that you want to focus on. Set the timer for
between 3 to 5 minutes. Timings will be determined by the level of
content in the topic.
2
Put away all class materials, textbooks and any notes relating to the
topic. Make sure all potential electronic distractions are switched off.
3
Allow yourself a minute to gather your thoughts and then switch on
the timer.
4
Take your blank sheet of paper and begin to recall from memory by
writing or sketching everything you know about your selected topic.
You might want to use our Challenge Grid (available to download from
www.penstripe.co.uk/studyskills) to generate questions for this recall.
5
Once complete, take out your notes, books and source material and
check what you have written against these. Have you covered the
key points? Are the details accurate and clear? What was missed? Do
you fully understand the topic? Be honest about your performance
and act on identified gaps in knowledge and understanding by
revisiting the material.
6
Build in another Total Recall session of the same material at a
later date.
Reviews
History - Causes of the Black Death
Maths - Solving linear equations
Biology - Structure of a leaf
French - How to use the verb ‘to be‘
Geography - Long profile of a river
How regular is regular?
As with all retrieval strategies, including Forgetting Curve Recap
those outlined next, if at any review
point you are unable to bring the
ReReview 2 Review 3
Review 4
100 view 1
information to mind, return to your
90
80
notes. Remind yourself of the material,
70
take a break and come back to the
60
retrieval activity again later. You’ll find
50
40
some information is easier to remember
30
than others – maybe because of the way
20
10
the teacher taught it (it was memorable
to you) or because you have an interest
24
3
7
4
hours Days
Days
Weeks
in the subject. Either way, apply the
spacing technique across all subjects.
Description
Study Skills in Practice –
Retrieval Strategies
Review 5
QUANTITY OF INFORMATION REMEMBERED
Copyright © 2021 Inspire Education
As important as the actual retrieval technique itself are the frequency and
intervals at which information should be recalled from memory. We know
from the Forgetting Curve that, for new material, five reviews, spaced over
time, is a good starting point, but remember that you may need more or less
than this for some material. The ultimate goal is transfer of information to
long-term memory.
REVIEW TIME
Page Ref.
S-23
12
Weeks
Total Recall is also an excellent pre-test technique at the beginning of a
study session.
Simplify tip
It is important that the retrieval activity has a balance between difficulty
and success. If you struggle with Total Recall initially, then it might help
to start with a retrieval map. The purpose of the map is to give you a
little extra support and guidance in relation to the information you
need to retrieve.
Description
Study Skills in Practice –
Retrieval Strategies
Copyright © 2021 Inspire Education
Let’s say you have a Maths test on regular and irregular polygons. You know
everything about the regular ones because you learnt these in primary school,
but you are unsure of the others. Where should the focus of your practice
lie? On retrieving information about the polygons you know already or on
extending your knowledge of irregular polygons?
Page Ref.
S-24
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