Recovery

The recall technique is a powerful learning tool, applied by many educational centers, where it has demonstrated great effectiveness in helping students retain content more easily. The main issue with this technique is the incorrect use it sometimes receives, where instead of serving its true purpose —facilitating the learning process— it is used as a method of measuring knowledge.

We will explore all this below, offering a basic analysis of the fundamental characteristics of this study method and how we can apply it effectively.

What does it consist of?

The recall technique focuses on promoting effective learning through the use of questionnaires and brief tests with short questions. As mentioned earlier, the idea is not to use it as a tool to measure students' knowledge, but rather as a way to strengthen understanding and retention.

This is one of those few techniques aimed at the teacher, as they are the ones responsible for implementing it. When we have an exam, we usually prepare in advance with the goal of memorizing the content, often in a short period of time, to later apply it during the exam. Learning in this way tends not to be effective over the medium and long term; we end up forgetting what we learned quickly. Contrary to popular belief, we do not confront the situation with the necessary pressure because we anticipate what we will face.

In order to overcome these lags of traditional teaching, the recovery technique proposes a questionnaire of short and objective questions, which seek to measure the student's learning, not to give him a grade, but to make him notice the strengths and weaknesses of his knowledge. These questionnaires should be a surprise, which will increase the pressure, but always making it clear that they will not affect his grade, because what we want is that it will help him to learn and study.

Results when applying this technique

We already said that this technique is the result of the new learning models, so it is against the traditional and archaic teaching. The studies carried out in this regard, in various prestigious universities, have yielded very encouraging results. It has been compared in large samples of students, the application of exams where the students were informed beforehand. They have been given the objectives of the exam and the necessary bibliographic material for them to study. After they spend long hours memorizing the content, they tend to forget it after a short time.

On the other hand, when this technique has been used, through the application of surprise questionnaires, without prior information for the students to prepare themselves, the effects on memory are much more lasting. When the questionnaire is corrected and given to the stu