There are 3 clear steps to success in HSC Sciences

  1. Understanding the content – i.e what you do in class
  2. Remembering the content – ???
  3. Applying the content

Remembering the content however, doesn’t seem to have a clear method to the madness.

At least it hasn’t until now…

Have you ever thought:

“I knew most of the actual answer, but I just BLANKED about concept X… or the principle of Y…or the definition of Z…”

This one hurts. I know. Remembering all of that content is tough.

The thing, is, our brains are hard-wired to retain only what’s relevant. And the bits of info that are relevant, are those which:

  • elicit some sort of emotional response, and
  • tend to be called upon often.

This is where active recall and spaced repetition come in.

1. Active Recall

Ever notice that you only truly learn the route to school when you start driving yourself instead of just sitting in the passenger seat? This is an example of Active vs Passive Recall.

When you’re in the passenger seat, you passively observe the route without actively making decisions (such as turning left or right).

However, once you’re in the driver’s seat and faced with those decisions, the decisions carry more weight.

If you turn the wrong way, and are forced to take a long detour, you’ll likely be a little cross with yourself. This is what evokes the emotional response I alluded to earlier. And now that you’ve been “burnt” once, you’re not going to make that mistake again the next time you’re at the same intersection.

All in all, your learning becomes active and engaged.

2. Spaced Repetition

Spaced repetition is designed to combat the forgetting curve. Our brains tend to forget new information rapidly without reinforcement…

However, with spaced repetition, we engage with a concept at strategic intervals, allowing for “deep memorisation”. This approach trains our brains to recognise the information as something we don’t want to forget.

Hence why we use flashcards…

Click here to watch a quick loom video to see me go through how we use flashcards in our teaching model here at Elevate HSC.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Best wishes,

Want to learn more about our courses and how we deliver only the best education to our students? Check us out here:

https://www.elevatehsc.com.au/#

Check out why our students love us here:

https://www.elevatehsc.com.au/testimonial/

Best wishes

Vin

Dr Vinuja Fernando MD (Director @ Elevate HSC)