The study process, at any academic or professional stage, is aligned with an objective. For example, people preparing an opposition want to get a place in a call. College students who want to keep their scholarship work hard to pass all subjects. Well, the study process itself can also be improved through the implementation of new techniques and tools that feed comprehension, reflection and memorization.
In Training and Studies we are going to put the accent on a proposal: active recall. When you take an active role in your learning, when you behave as the protagonist of the process, the results improve. That is the essence of active memory that moves away from a mechanical, automatic or repetitive vision of the learning process.
Actively study to memorize and better understand information
It is very likely that you have already applied this form of study at some point in your life (even if you have never heard the name of the technique). Remember, for example, that moment in which, after having delved into a specific content, you explain the information to an interlocutor who, based on your presentation, captures the essential ideas. That is to say, you have made him participate in the explanation, simply, because you have internalized the key ideas. That same situation, on other occasions, allows you to discover what you have not yet understood or the sections that you need to review more.
Ask yourself questions during the process of studying a topic
Study actively by formulating questions based on the content of the text. Reading and rereading are two actions that are regularly repeated during the study process. However, there are different ways of reading that can vary depending on the level of attention, intention and concentration. Frequently, during the study process, doubts and questions arise that soon remain in the background. Well then, if you want to apply the technique described, it is recommended that you place the accent precisely on the value of the question. It is an approach that fuels reflection and understanding around the most important issues of the text.
It should be noted that the approach to the question is especially practical for a fundamental reason: it is very present in the exam format (that is, it intervenes in the evaluation that the student must pass in order to pass). Consequently, the question is a point-of-view tool that can help you become aware of what you already know and other issues you need to review. An exam shows an objective evaluation in which the professional judgment of the teacher intervenes. However, before the test arrives, you can self-evaluate yourself to have realistic expectations about where you are.
Evaluate the knowledge you have acquired (and become aware of the limits)
Use different resources and tools to externalize what you know. For example, make a scheme with the data you remember about the subject of study. Do not use other sources of support to complete the information until you have finished this first stage. That is, after that first phase, you can look at the missing data to enrich the content and organize the elements visually essential. During this phase, in which you are already using other sources of information, you can also implement the necessary corrections in data that shows some type of confusion.
In short, it feeds long-term memory during the study process. And, to achieve this, it is highly recommended that you practice constancy through short-term study.