Free recall learning techniques involve trying to recall, which involve trying to recall many points all at once—whole interrelated bodies of knowledge, not just a single idea in turn.
This is a really nice way to do retrieval practice and get your core course content to stick in memory. It also helps you see the big picture and build an understanding of how individual ideas interrelate.
I’d consider any of the following learning techniques to be good examples of free recall:
- The “brain dump” involves writing out what you can remember about a topic or question from memory. Also known by other names, such as:
- “Look – cover – write – check”“Read – write – review”Blurting
- Blank page retrieval
- Making a mindmap or spider diagram is a way to set out your free recall, though remember, this only counts as an effective / retrieval practice strategy if you’re doing it from memory!
- Teaching someone a topic: the same two steps (recall, then check) apply, but now you’re talking someone through the material rather than writing it down.
Why do free recall techniques like brain dumps?
There are five main reasons why free recall might be a helpful element to include in your study system:
- Learning a large interconnected body of knowledge like a big process, table or timeline can be much easier when you learn it all as one. I love my flashcards, but no power on Earth could get me to learn Kreb’s cycle by writing 22 separate flashcards for the 22 separate metabolites and enzymes. It goes together, it’s easier to learn it as one. That’s not to say you won’t break up the material and practice recalling it piece by piece, before gradually putting it back together.
- Keep things fresh: once you feel you’ve practised flashcards to the point of mastery, you might feel you’re ready for a fresh challenge, and some variety. Maybe you don’t have too many practice questions available, in which case, free recall could be a good thing to move on to.
- It’s a great way to practise synthesising knowledge: seeing how ideas fit together and interconnect. This is often something more challenging exam questions will demand of you.
- It can be a good diagnostic step: if you’ve got a lot to learn but you’re short on time, why not try a brain dump for each topic first, then turn whatever points you missed into flashcards. So rather than turning 100% of the material into flashcards, you only have to put, say, 25% of the topic on flashcards, because those were the bits you didn’t know, as revealed by your free recall.
- Rapid retrieval coverage: finally, if you just have an absolute mountain of information to learn and barely enough time to even read it through, you could consider reading and then doing a quick brain dump to lock in as much as possible after your reading. You might not master every detail in this way, but it’s a very rapid way to cover a lot of ground very quickly, if that’s what you need to do.
Free recall is a handy strategy to have in your toolkit, then.
Getting started with free recall
To use free recall, the basic process involves two stages:
Step 1. Test yourself: start by writing out what you can remember about a topic or question, on a piece of paper or a mini-whiteboard. Or in the “teach someone” variant, talk through your explanation rather than write it down.
Step 2. Check and learn: second, grab a different-coloured pen, open your notes or books, and check your work. Add anything important you missed, and correct anything you remembered inaccurately.
Repeat the two steps until you can remember the topic reliably.
Essential tips for free recall
Some fundamental DOs and DONTs for a brain dump or any other free recall strategy:
- DON’T forget to close your book! And keep it closed – don’t look bits up, great practice for the exam. No peeking. Proper closed-book practice in step 1, please.
- DON’T worry about the presentation; go fast. The goal is to remember things in the exam, not to win awards for neat presentation of your study materials.
- DON’T give up too soon: persevere, squeeze your brain, try and aim for an extra 20% more material recalled once you’ve got the easy bits down.
- DON’T forget to check your work carefully – for accuracy (mistakes) AND key missing information. In many ways, this is the step that requires the most skill.
- And DON’T forget to repeat the exercise, even if your accuracy was very high. Right once isn’t right forever!
Have fun with your free recall, and wishing you every success in your studies 🙂
