Chapter 2 of 6
Retrieval Practice
Close the book and ask yourself the question first.
7 min read
The core move
After reading a section, close it. Write down everything you remember. Then open the page and mark what you missed. The gaps you find are your study plan.
Building your own questions
Turn every heading into a question. "Photosynthesis" becomes "What does photosynthesis convert, and what does it need to do so?" A page of headings becomes a quiz in two minutes.
Handling the discomfort
Retrieval feels worse than rereading because you meet what you do not know. Students who tolerate that feeling outperform students who avoid it — reliably, across subjects and ages.
Practice exercises
0 of 4 complete1.What should you do immediately after reading a section?
2.Turn the heading "The water cycle" into a retrieval question.
3.Which activity is retrieval practice?
4.Pick one topic you are studying now. Describe exactly how you would test yourself on it tomorrow without looking at any notes.