Hello Reader,

Like I said in the past emails, I'm going to share you some of my best tactics...

Specifically, one of each component of your study workflow:

1. Focused Attention
2. Encoding & Storage
3. Retrieval

These should help you get that snowball rolling as quickly as possible.

We'll start in reverse order — a tactic for Retrieval.

Why? Because Retrieval is the BIGGEST weak link I see in 99% of students' study process.

So in this lesson, you’re going to learn “Active Recall 2.0” that will help you remember what you learn without taking a lot of time.

But before the how, let’s talk about the “why”.

Why Active Recall 2.0

Why is it so crucial for any student to have Active Recall 2.0 in their playbook?

• Gives superior retention than merely studying more. In a study of 26 children, the “more retrieval/less study” scored significantly higher than those in “more study/less retrieval group” in tests of word form recall (60.57% vs 43.91%) and meaning recall (93.40% vs 87.15%), and also scored slightly higher in recognition (88% vs 85%). (Leonard et al., 2020)
• You avoid fooling yourself whether you have learned the material or not. Retrieving information is the ONLY WAY to be 100% sure that you’ve learned something. The best part is that you do it WAY before there are high stakes.
• It’s the most efficient, most specific way to practice, period. The moment you answer a question correctly, you’re done studying that item. There’s no need to spend 10 minutes on a single paragraph “trying to remember it” when all you’re doing is just looking at the words while slightly getting angry.

Now, you probably know the usual Active Recall from YouTube — that was Active Recall 1.0. It was all about making questions all day long while not knowing whether you’re doing anything correctly.

Active Recall 2.0 has more specific timing, focus, and most importantly, feedback. (Still based on evidence)

Here you’re going to learn how to do it the right way — without taking all of your time.

No need to feel behind of your classmates who merely do re-reading/restudying.

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How to do Active Recall 2.0

Active Recall is the most effective when you meet three things:

1. You use retrieval cues. Cued recall is superior to producing higher recall rates than uncued recall, but it is dependent on initial encoding of information. (McGregor et al., 2017; Tulving & Osler, 1968)
2. Immediate testing. The simple act of retrieving information immediately after studying improves your ability to recall it later. (Lehman et al., 2014; Leonard et al., 2020)
3. Immediate feedback. Immediate feedback seems to improve the rate of successful recall even after getting a lot of questions wrong. (Kornell & Bjork, 2008)

Therefore, the best times to do Active Recall are:

• In the morning, to practice information learned yesterday
• Right after reading a textbook
• Right after a class
• In the evening, to practice all information learned today

Now, how do you do it?

Here are the (reduced) steps as I show in the Simple Study System course.

1. From your notes, make questions and answers

Here’s an example of my notes using my “Lean Cornell Note-Taking” template as seen in the study system course: (you can use this style if you want)

All you have to do it make questions from your notes.

If you’re having trouble making questions, remember TWO steps:

1. Name the idea
2. Turn the name into a question

Here are some examples…

• IDEA: “bone is rigid and cartilage is flexible”
• NAME THE IDEA: “the physical difference between bone and cartilage”
• QUESTION: How are bone are cartilage different physically?

See how that works? Here’s another one:

• IDEA: “The skeletal system is composed of bone and cartilage”
• NAME THE IDEA: “The two connective tissues that make up the skeletal system”
• QUESTION: What are the two connective tissues that make up the skeletal system?

Continue until you’ve covered all your materials. Here’s my result.

2. Cover the answers — the “notes”

Now, to start doing active recall, remember that it MUST be “recall” — so you should NOT see the answers before retrieving them.

You don’t have to use paper to cover them. You can write the answers separately, but since we already took notes, then there’s your answer.

The principle here is that you don’t see the answers because the answers must come from memory, as in the next step.

3. Read the question, then think about the answer from memory

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You can do this mentally without saying a word. Just make sure you’re not seeing the answers.

You do NOT need to be able to recall the answer verbatim!

You just need to retrieve the ideas! We’re after knowledge, not regurgitation.

As long as you retrieve the ideas, you’re making it stronger. If you’re bilingual like me, it doesn’t even matter if you phrased the Q&A in English and you answer in your mother tongue.

Retrieving the IDEA is what matters.

4. Uncover the answers and check if you got it correctly

If you got the idea correctly, move on immediately to the next question.

If you got the idea wrong, mark it with an asterisk or something. You will go back only to those marked questions after you’re done.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you reach the end.

You’ll obviously have a lot of questions if you’re attending a proper lecture or taking notes from a textbook.

6. This time, repeat steps 2-4 for those but only to the questions you got wrong

The reason we marked the questions we got wrong with an asterisk is to make this step easier.

Lesson Summary

In a nutshell...

Right after learning the material, (1)(2) do active recall with feedback. (3)

1. Follow the 6 steps as I presented in this lesson
2. Once you’re done, try doing it for all your classes — this should be the MAIN tactic you do every time you finish learning new stuff
3. If you feel like you’re stuck, make a comment here and I’ll respond as soon as I can

Next email...

How to learn like Elon Musk.

His secret? I'll just say the it's all about the flow of truth.

Not saying you'll be able to become as smart as him right away, but you'll be surprised that you can learn the same way, too.

Warning: It's mentally hard. And most students just don't do it!

But once you learn it, see how quicker you'll remember difficult concepts for the first time :)

More in the next email.

To smarter studying,
Al Khan

P.S. This should get you VERY FAR. I don't want you worrying about other techniques for now — just try it so you can get ahead! Ciao...

References

• Kornell, N., & Bjork, R. A. (2008). Learning concepts and categories: Is spacing the “Enemy of induction”? Psychological Science, 19(6), 585–592. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02127.x​
• Lehman, M., Smith, M. A., & Karpicke, J. D. (2014). Toward an episodic context account of retrieval-based learning: Dissociating retrieval practice and elaboration. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 40(6), 1787–1794. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000012​
• Leonard, L. B., Deevy, P., Karpicke, J. D., Christ, S. L., & Kueser, J. B. (2020). After Initial Retrieval Practice, More Retrieval Produces Better Retention Than More Study in the Word Learning of Children With Developmental Language Disorder. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 63(8), 2763–2776. https://doi.org/10.1044/2020_JSLHR-20-00105​
• McGregor, K. K., Gordon, K., Eden, N., Arbisi-Kelm, T., & Oleson, J. (2017). Encoding Deficits Impede Word Learning and Memory in Adults With Developmental Language Disorders. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 60(10), 2891–2905. https://doi.org/10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-17-0031​
• Tulving, E., & Osler, S. (1968). Effectiveness of retrieval cues in memory for words. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77(4), 593–601. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0026069​