Retrieval practice
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Books closed
Retrieval practice is a three-minute starter. Learners answer from memory, alone, books closed, and nothing is taken in. It suits any subject with content that fades. One question each from last lesson, last week and last month: coming back after a gap is what makes it last.
The handout
On the board: Level 2 Plumbing
Books closed. Three minutes. On your own.
1. Last lesson: write two things you remember about capillary joints.
2. Last week: explain what a stop tap is for, in one sentence.
3. Last month: what do you do before you cut into a pipe?
- Then check your notes and correct in a different colour. No marks taken in.
Your jobType one topic each from last lesson, last week and last month. Leave with the starter.
Three topics from your own course. A word or two for each is enough.
Your starter
Books closed. Three minutes. On your own. 1. From last lesson: write down two things you remember about [last lesson]. 2. From last week: explain [last week] in one sentence. 3. From last month: what is the one thing about [last month] you would tell a new learner? Now check your notes and correct your answers in a different colour. No marks are taken in.
A three-minute starter, ready to run tomorrow.
Why this works in your room
Pulling it out of memory is what makes it stay there.
For your learners: Three minutes of recall each lesson means last month's topic is still there when it is needed, with no marks at stake.
For you: You see what has been forgotten at the start of the lesson, while you can still do something about it.
The starter
On the board before they arrive
Three questions: last lesson, last week, last month.
Answers are short. One sentence at most.
Three minutes
Books closed, alone
Say: Books closed. Three minutes. On your own.
Nothing is taken in.
Check it
Two minutes
Say: Pens down. Different colour now.
You walk round for the one question most missed.
Watch out for
Putting the slide back up and talking it through. You recalled it. They watched.
Asking the room, so one learner answers for everyone.
Next time
Go over the question most missed.
Ask it again next week, in a new form.
Elsewhere in Bradford ThreadWorks
Big 4A short quiz in Forms for the starter, and its results to see who needs it again.Open Big 4 (opens in a new tab)
WalkThrusMaking learning stick: retrieval quizzing and spaced review.Open WalkThrus (opens in a new tab)
Prompts to paste into Copilot
Copilot can write the questions if you give it the content. Paste in your own notes or slides so the questions match what you taught.
A starter quiz from my notes
Here are my notes from the last three lessons on [topic]: [paste notes]. Write five short questions a [level] learner should answer from memory in three minutes. Mix easy and hard. Give the answers underneath.
Questions that come back
I teach [unit] over [number] weeks. These are the key facts and methods: [list]. Plan which ones to ask about again in each week's starter, so every one comes back at least three times with a longer gap each time.
Testing beats reading again
Students who tested themselves on a text remembered more of it a week later than students who read it again several times. The ones who re-read felt more confident, and were wrong.
Roediger and Karpicke, 2006 (opens in a new tab)The two that work best
A review of ten common study techniques rated two as most useful: testing yourself, and spreading practice out over time. Highlighting and re-reading came near the bottom.
Dunlosky and others, 2013 (opens in a new tab)How sure is this?
Strongly that recall beats re-reading. Most of the studies are with university students and school pupils, not FE learners. A three-minute starter is a sensible use of it, not a tested recipe.
No source claimed