How to Master Active Recall with 6 Simple Strategies

With exams looming, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer amount of material you must learn. But don't worry! By using active recall, a technique that has been scientifically proven to help students remember more, you can make your study session more effective and efficient.

 What is Active Recall? Active recall is an evidence-based process that uses repetition and spaced practice to help strengthen your memory and knowledge retention. Basically, think strengthen your brain muscles by creating a workout session!

Read on for 6 simple Active Recall strategies that will help you master active recall.

1. Make and Use Flashcards:  Flashcards are perhaps the oldest and most tried-and-true method of mastering active recall. First, create flashcards with questions or prompts on one side and answers on the other. Then, go through them one at a time, first looking at only the question or prompt and attempting to answer from memory before looking at the answer. After reading the answer carefully, put the card away for later review.

2. Have a Friend Verbally Test You Verbal testing is an effective way of activating your recall process—especially in groups where each individual can take turns being tested by their peers. Have a friend read questions out loud one-by-one while you attempt to answer them without looking at any notes or reference materials. This strategy helps sharpen your memory as well as test your knowledge in real time so that you become familiar with how information is presented during exams or tests. 

3. 1.     Read Questions / Prompts and Write Answers on Paper Writing out answers forces us to actively engage with material rather than just passively read it over and over again until we memorize it by rote learning techniques. Before looking at the answers, read each question or prompt carefully then pause and think before writing what comes to mind immediately - even if it feels like “the information is on the tip of your tongue” - resist the temptation to look at the answer! Once you write down what comes to mind, check your work against the actual answer written in your notes or reference materials.  

4. Take Multiple Practice Quizzes Answering practice questions helps us become comfortable with different types of exam formats—multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank—and is an excellent way of testing our knowledge of concepts we thought we had mastered but may need further review upon closer examination.

5. Digital Quiz Tools: There are tons of digital quiz tools available online that facilitate active recall taking into account all different types of quiz formats. These digital quiz tools can also be shared among friends who can use them together remotely making studying more fun & interactive experience!

6. Fill-in-Blanks: Fill-in-the-blanks is a great way to memorize facts quickly because they force us actually think about what goes into that missing spot rather than just rote learning information without really understanding why something belongs there instead of somewhere else. 

Active recall is an incredibly effective tool for mastering complex concepts quickly & efficiently. By utilizing these six simple strategies - design study materials, verbal testing, writing answers, practice quizzes, digital quiz tools & fill-in blanks - students & young professionals alike can easily incorporate active recall into their study sessions while improving their overall performance & understanding! Happy studying!

Photo by Uday Mittal on Unsplash

Understanding Your Spouse’s Learning Style for Better Communication

We all learn differently. The way we receive information is based on our mental processing; it affects how we present information to others, too. In marriage, misunderstandings often arise due to differences in learning styles and the lack of effort to understand one another. Over the years, I have spent time exploring learning styles and ways to customize communication in marriage. Let’s take a look at the idea of understanding your spouse’s learning style for better communication in relationships. 

What is a Learning Style? 

A learning style is defined as “the way in which each person absorbs, processes comprehends, and retains information." Everyone has their own unique style of learning; it can be visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), reading/writing (text-based) or kinesthetic (touch). It's important to note that everyone has their own unique blend of these four types of learning styles. To get a better handle on your spouse’s unique blend of learning styles, ask yourself these questions: what are their strengths? What do they respond to best? What makes them feel comfortable when receiving new information? These questions can help you gain insight into how your spouse learns best. 

The Benefits of Understanding Your Spouse’s Learning Style

When you take the time to understand your spouse's individual approach to learning, you will be better able to communicate with them more effectively. This could mean speaking slower if they are an auditory learner or including visuals if they are a visual learner. The more you understand their personal preferences, the more likely you are able to get through difficult conversations without misunderstanding each other or feeling unheard by one another. Additionally, understanding your spouse’s unique blend of learning styles can also help strengthen your relationship by showing them that you care enough about them and value them enough to take the time to understand and adjust accordingly. 

At the end of the day, there is no single solution for effective communication in marriage–especially when it comes down to our differences in mental processing–but taking the time to understand our spouses’ personalities and preferences can make communicating with one another easier and more meaningful over time. When we make an effort towards understanding our spouses' individual approach to receiving and processing information, we break down barriers that keep us from truly connecting with one another on an emotional level. Understanding each other's unique blend of learning styles can go a long way in helping us strengthen our relationships with one another!

Marriage and Learning style stories.

Photo by JD Mason on Unsplash

Parent tips on teenage brain development and learning style

Your high school student is under a lot of pressure. We typically expect them to make sound (adult) decisions about their future college and career path, without their adult, decision-making part of the brain fully functioning. As a parent, you have a huge role in easing the pressure and giving them the experiences they need to facilitate healthy brain development, so they have what they need to make mature decisions in the future.

What do repeated experiences do for the brain?

From the time a baby is born until it reaches approximately 25 years of age, with each stage of development, the brain offers a limited but powerful window to create pathways used throughout a person's lifetime. Pathways forge when new experiences are introduced and repeated or practiced. Who we become as an adult depends on the experiences the brain receives when it is developing. Since your student's prefrontal cortex is developing now, he or she must receive the experiences they need during this window of opportunity to help them grow a healthy brain for the future.

What does brain development mean for your student?

The prefrontal cortex is the brain's decision-making part that gives us the ability to plan and think about the consequences of our actions. It also helps us solve problems and control our impulses. In its absence, your student has to rely on the amygdala to make decisions. This part of the brain is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression, and risk-taking behaviors, which is why you might have a student who is dramatic, moody, or irrational.

How can parents help in healthy teen brain development?

During this development time, parents can work on being safe and supportive as their students make amygdala-based decisions. They can also proactively introduce experiences that begin to engage the prefrontal cortex to forge healthy pathways. Additionally, it affords your student to experience the differences in outcome when decisions are made using two different parts of the brain.

Support, don't fix

Parents tend to take over or jump in with advice to prevent their students from failing or making poor choices. When we fix their problems, we rob their brain of the kind of experiences they need to grow an adult brain. Instead, be a safe and supportive person they can come to when needed. Additionally, create a safe place for your student to experience the consequences of their poor choices. In other words, let them pay for their speeding ticket, go to school without their lunch because they slept through their alarm, contact their school counselor to switch classes, make that dreaded phone call to their coach, etc.

Affirm, don't conform

Do you know that one of the most significant opportunities this stage of brain development offers is for your student to become functionally smarter? This is one of the reasons why students need to discover on their own which experiences result in sound as well as poor learning choices.

I'm often saddened to learn that parents have unknowingly wasted precious time during this stage trying to conform their students to their personal learning style. When we put pressure on them to use our learning techniques to study, plan and stay organized, we rob their brains of the opportunity to discover how they can become functionally smarter. Every person has their own unique learning style and as parents, we need to learn how to recognize and affirm it in our students.

You can help them develop their own learning strategies by allowing them to use trial and error to see what yields the best results. Some may prefer to read out loud, while others can shave their learning time in half by being part of a group discussion or by creating elaborate graphics to connect concepts. Some might need the environment to be quiet, while others need white noise in the background. Some may need a clean desk while other a cluttered one. If you want to learn more about this, we offer free learning style consultations.

Suppose we want to raise students who succeed in college and grow up to become independent, responsible adults. In that case, it is crucial to understand, support, and provide what their brain needs during this stage of development.

Train Up A Child

I have two children. Though both engaged in the same activities growing up, they favored different things when young. At 3 Chad was already giving me clues about his unique personality traits and bents. He was incredibly creative and would spend hours building intricate, ‘out of the box’, structures using recycled items. His vibrant drawings had more detail than his peers. This pint size kid also had an incredible ability to show compassion to others in a manner far beyond his years. I decided to pay attention to these natural bents and find opportunities to nurture, develop and support him in his areas of interests. Quite frankly, it wasn’t always easy. We share a few similar traits, so helping him develop those common traits seemed effortless. However, one area of tension was that I was an athlete and he was not!  It wasn’t just about wishing him to be an athlete, it was about my inability to figure out how to teach him the invaluable, life applicable lessons I learned from being one. Though difficult, I committed to not fight the urge to mould Chad into what I thought he should become, but rather, trust his heavenly Father had a perfect plan for him. Practically speaking, I needed to learn that the life lessons I discovered from being an athlete, Chad would gain as he developed his own natural traits. God was calling me to parent from faith not fear. This also meant trusting that Chad’s immerging personality, though different than mine, was God’s blueprint for Chad so he could accomplish the good works God had prepared for him to do from the beginning of time.

By 8th grade Chad purchased his very own apple computer with no financial help from us. He has also developed a deep love for photography. In a few short months he had mastered coding and began his own website designing business. As he continued to go to school, he found time to design church and business websites. His creativity, eye for color and ‘out of the box’ thinking gave him confidence to seek a career that allowed him to use his gifts. Today at 23, Chad loves Jesus. He is now a cinematographer, using those natural bents of creativity and color, to light scenes as well as be the eye behind the lens in the film and TV industry. His compassionate heart gives a voice to those who are homeless, struggling and forgotten. When I reflect on Chad’s childhood, I can clearly see God’s handiwork in Chad and how those traits were used to instill a clear purpose. This personal journey with Chad has made me a big advocate for parents and leaders to grasp the beauty of Proverbs 22:6.

Proverbs 22:6 is packed with powerful parenting wisdom around this concept and has the potential to revolutionize the way we parent. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most misunderstood and misused verses. The Hebrew form of ‘the way he should go’ refers to ‘a child’s unique gifts/talents – his natural way/bent’. So in other words, this verse says, ‘Train up a child in (his unique gifts/talents by paying attention to his natural bent) and when he is old he will not depart from it.’  An arrow is designed to travel in a particular direction, depending on the bow’s bent. It’s all about the design of the bow. If you try to bend a bow differently than the way it is bent, you’re likely to miss your target. In the worst-case scenario, you’re likely to break the bow. Children are designed like bows to have their own individual bent to fulfill God’s given purposes.

So what are some practical things we as parents and leaders can do to identify and develop natural bents in children?

1. Provide an environment where they can be trained. As Christian parents God is vitally concerned with how we care for our children and how we train them in the ways of the Lord. They need to practically experience how the Lord is building our homes to be a household of faith where grace, mercy, forgiveness and even Godly discipline is practiced.

2. Become a student. Spend time learning about personality traits, learning styles, learning preferences and spiritual gifts. This will allow you to not only identify specifics in your children but also give you insight on how to link traits and purpose.

3. Observe your children and recognize their ‘bents’. Who are they? What do they prefer? What motivates them? What do they enjoy doing? What is difficult for them? How do your children’s distinctive personality traits facilitate the development of their unique gifts and talents?  Remind yourself that there’s a reason why your child is shy, assertive, introverted, extroverted, emotional, bossy, observant, curious, inquisitive, artistic, etc. It’s part of a bigger, unseen plan that’s unfolding in your child’s life.

4. Be intentional: Learn to number your days. Seize opportunities every day to nurture your child’s unique gifts and traits. Don’t leave it to chance.

5. Put scriptures to it. Find scriptures that give life to those traits. Since words have the power to give life, repeatedly share those scriptures with your children. Post them in their rooms so they’re reminded of their unique gifts and their link to scripture. Talk about those traits over and over again and remind them how God is going to use it for a bigger purpose.

6. Honor your child’s personality.  This doesn’t come without effort, especially if you have multiple children. As busy parents we tend to expect the same from all our children. Ask God to open your eyes and heart to the subtle traits that unique to your child.

7. Trust that you’re the right person. God has intentionally placed you in each of your children’s lives and you in theirs. He will equip you if you seek His wisdom. As you parent, God will continue to use the process to transform both your child and you, into His image.

8. Don’t live your life through your children. Don’t let your fears, past, or lack of experience decide how you’re going to raise your children. It will exasperate them. God desires to be your child’s potter – it’s not our job. Our job is to keep them pliable. Also, consider seeking professional counseling to help deal with fear and your past, or it will impact how you parent.

9. Build confidence to instill purpose. We’re designed ON purpose FOR a purpose. This purpose is shaped through our natural gifts and talents. Fighting against natural bents is fighting against God’s image and design in us and in our children. Commit to building confidence with what your children have rather than tearing them down with what they don’t have. Confidence allows children to experience success within who they’ve been created to be so when they grow older there’re less likely to depart from it.

10. Seek wisdom.  Pray without ceasing. Ask Him to give you a greater vision of your children than what you have for them. Ask Him to teach you how to lead your children in the way He has designed them to go. Invite other adults and leaders to partner with you as you raise your children. Ask them to help you discern traits, develop them and hold you accountable to an intentional plan.

Proverbs 22:6 shouldn’t be twisted to imply that if parents we did everything properly children will not rebel. To say so creates major issues with man’s free will to choose their own way. However when we pay attention to our child’s natural bent and help develop it, it not only instills life-purposes but also gives our children the ability to gain a greater perceptive of God as well as His intimate involvement in their lives.

Environmental Preferences and Productivity

Environmental preferences influence productivity. Eleven years ago, I had some very frustrated, but now very grateful parents attend a seminar I was hosting on environmental preferences. Supervised by a nagging mom, her kids would spend the entire evening sitting at the dining table, in total silence, doing their homework. Homework was a dreadful time for this family. Mom was determined to have her kids do their homework the way she did hers as a kid. It’s natural for us to have our children approach studying (and other tasks) the same way we do. However, whether doing homework or working, we all have environmental preferences that are influenced by our inborn learning style. These preferences impact how we concentrate and remember information as well as communicate.

Where? It’s traditional to sit and work at a desk, but we all have a preferred position. You might prefer to sit on a chair, stand at a desk, or, sit or lay on the floor.  There was even someone on my team who preferred to work laying on her stomach with her head under her work desk, particularly when the task required high levels of concentration. Not the most dignified approach, but it worked! Productivity and efficiency improve almost immediately when someone has the luxury to work in the position of his or her choice. If the goal is to increase concentration, consider accommodating differences in ‘where’ homework or work can be done.  

Lighting: When I was young I recall my mom nagging me about turning all the lights on while I did my homework. If I didn’t, she would turn them on and it would really bother me. I prefer working in an environment that has natural lighting. And I will avoid turning on overhead lights as long as possible – it helps me concentrate. One of my co-workers prefers to turn all the hallway and common workspace lights on, even though she has her own office. Do you favor brightly or softly lit spaces? Do you prefer using overhead lights or floor lamps? Catering to differences in lighting preferences also reduces distraction and increases productivity.

Sound: Some need total silence while others need noise to concentrate. It’s not uncommon for me to meet parents who have a hard time imagining that their students might need background noises to concentrate. Silence to these students is deafening and distracting. The familiar sounds of television, radio, and/or electronic devices can actually reduce anxiety, increase creativity, and reduce the amount of time it takes to complete projects. Most Kinesthetic learners will lean towards needing sound while audio learners need total silence.

Temperature: This environmental preference has the most impact on my ability to concentrate and be productive. I prefer to sleep when it’s cold but struggle if I have to work in the cold. I have sweaters everywhere – at work, in all our cars, and in different rooms in the home all year.  Some kids in school or people at work adapt easily to varying temperatures, while others in the room have to be comfortable before they can concentrate.

Food and Drink Intake: It’s hard for students or employees to concentrate when they’re hungry or thirsty. But for some, it’s more than that. Traditional classrooms don’t allow food or drinks to be consumed while kids are working. This wouldn’t be an issue for those who are distracted by food or drinks while they were engaged in an activity. For some, it would help them keep their minds focused on what they were doing. Personally, I’m distracted if my desk doesn’t have a coffee cup, full or empty, on it. I don’t always finish my coffee and at times, might have multiple half-empty cups sitting on my desk because it helps me concentrate. I’ve even experienced a coworker who nibbled her way through the workday.

Time: We all have an internal clock that determines peak productivity. My son was naturally energetic in the morning while my daughter is a night owl. Homework after school was a lot easier for my daughter than for my son. One of my co-workers prefers to work late into the night and start the day later in the morning. On the days she comes in early, it takes her longer time to get focused and get into the task at hand.

The mom who attended my class decided to give my suggestions a try. It changed their household. Every time I see her, she is quick to share her gratitude. Changing your idea on how homework gets done or work is accomplished based on an individual’s environmental preferences has the potential to decease tension, increase productivity, and even make homework, housework, and work fun.

Photo by Chris Adamus on Unsplash

Marriage and Learning Styles

The day before filing for divorce a desperate couple, urged by a pastor decided to attend one of my learning style classes. They’d walked out of the class hopeful though skeptical. Armed with learning style tools, they committed to approaching their relationship differently and now, six years later their marriage is thriving. Marriages fail for a host of reasons but this one was struggling because of poor communication. Marriage experts agree that ‘good communication is the foundation of a strong marriage’. Our learning style strongly influences how we convey and receive love, respect, support, forgiveness and care in a relationship. Since we all communicate, listen, interact and behave in unique ways, differences in styles can cause tension and conflict.

Like most couples, my husband and I have fallen prey to communication problems triggered by differences in learning styles.

When we first got married, I would say, “What time will you be home?” He would hear, “You better be home on time.” I was trying to show support and interest and he felt controlled.

He would say, “What did you do today?” I would hear, “You’re a terrible housewife, nothing got done today.”

A simple conversation or question has the potential to escalate into a full-blown conflict. I’ve experienced it and so have countless other couples who I’ve counseled. As couples, when we subscribe to ‘intentional communication’ techniques we can develop healthy communication habits. This involves leaning into each other’s learning styles while applying James 1:19 (You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.)  It’s important to talk about your style preference with each other to promote understanding, respect and tolerance.

Here are a few ways differences in style impacts marriages:

Directions and Stressful Situations: Asking for directions and stressful situations have the ‘unknown’ in common. How would you find your way around a new location? Would you use a map (visual), ask someone for directions (auditory) or just walking until you figured out where you were (kinesthetic)? I need my husband to talk (auditory) me through directions and describe landmarks along the way. He (visual) is great with maps (I’m not). Differences in how we prefer to receive information has caused frustration and sometimes made one or both of us feel inadequate. Couples can have a similar outcome while dealing with stressful situations.

Complaining and Criticizing: It feels good to complain. But complaining isn’t good for the body or brain and it impacts communication as well as relationships. It changes the body chemistry and releases the stress hormone cortisol that puts a person in fight or flight mode. It also rewires the brain to make future complaining more likely. As hard as you try, you’ll revert to your learning style while complaining. While you complain do you feel the need to point your finger or hammer your fists (kinesthetic), do you need to see the facial expression and whites of someone’s eyes (visual) or rant out loud (auditory)?

If your intent is to just complain and blow off steam, those with different learning styles might misunderstand your intent and receive it as a personal attack or criticism. Monitor and modify your attitude and tone of voice. If underneath your words is criticism, disrespect, or sarcasm, your ‘audio’ spouse will ‘hear’ them, even when your words are positive. If your words are positive but your facial expression isn’t, a ‘visual’ spouse will ‘see’ while a ‘kinesthetic’ spouse will ‘feel’ disrespected and criticized.

Talking and Sharing: As an auditory learner, I ramble out loud until I have a “light bulb” moment. I’ve learned it’s best I do this in an empty room or car. Other learning styles might assume that I’ve come to a conclusion about something and take action. This has gotten me into trouble both at home and work. I’ve learned to say, “ I’m just processing and will let you know when I have a final answer.” Visual leaner’s need to see your face and might feel disrespected or disengaged by kinesthetic leaner’s who need to be in motion to process information.

Decision Making: Having healthy discussions and reaching a peaceful agreement are often a challenge for married couples. Deciding where to eat or which car to buy has the potential to take on a life of it’s own. When asked to make a decision, visual learners need to ‘visualize’ places or objects or ‘write down’ a list of pros and cons. They like reading and researching. While they’re doing that the auditory learner is ‘talking over’ all the options and to their dismay the kinesthetic learner has already jumped into action since they need to ‘try out’ options as they go. Differences in the decision-making process can be threatening and surface personal insecurities. Commit to creating a safe space where both can freely express themselves using their own style, listen patiently without interrupting and ask for clarification if needed.

I’ve personally experienced, as well as seen marriage dynamics change between spouses when they understand and practice intentional communication. To take a simple learning style test and for detailed descriptions of each, check out my first blog in this series. 

Learning Style and Communication

My passion as a pastor, leader and counselor is to equip those whom I serve to be the best they can be. One thing I’ve come to realize over the years is that an effective communicator excels at every part of life. And communication is impacted by many factors; personalities, experiences, the way we were raised, learning styles, along with other influences. My next few posts will be related to this idea of understanding communication through Learning Styles. This post will focus strictly on what learning styles are, and why they are important to effective communication. The three posts following this will drill into how to utilize the knowledge and understanding of learning styles in our marriages, our parenting, and lastly, with our volunteer teams in ministry.

There’s more to the art of communication than the use of words. It’s the exchange of information and how it connects us to people. We live life trusting and relying on the sensory cues we receive from our eyes, ears, mouth, nose and touch. Hence the tones and body language that accompany spoken words influence how communication is received. So many factors influence how we deliver and interpret communication. One of those factors is our own unique learning style. The three identified learning styles are: Visual, Auditory and Kinesthetic. Understanding our own unique VAK learning style can not only help us become better communicators, but also enhance how we learn, work and relate to others. Once understood, our learning style can be used as a tool to save us time and reduce frustration. I’ve seen firsthand as a counselor how it promotes healing, understanding and purpose.

The VAK model is popular because it’s intuitive and simple to use.

What is a learning style?

Learning styles refer to a person’s preferred way to take in, process, understand and remember information. Psychologists developed this learning style model in the 1920s. The VAK learning style uses the three main sensory receivers: visual, auditory and kinesthetic (movement) to determine the dominant learning style. Everyone uses all three styles as they process and learn. However, according to the theory, a person will have a strong preference toward one or two dominant styles.

Auditory Learners: Tend to:

• Enjoy listening but can’t wait to talk. Talk to themselves a lot. Move their lips while reading as well as read out loud.
• Learn best when they hear their own voice. This is why they vocalize in the middle of a class, meeting or movie.
• Struggle with reading and writing tasks.
• Remember names, but not the face or appearance of someone they just met.
• Talk ‘a mile a minute’ and expect others to drop everything to make eye contact to listen to them.
• Sounds distract them.
• Interpret the underlying meanings of speech through listening to tone of voice, pitch, speed and other nuances. A raised voice might be an argument to them, but just ‘a discussion’ to those with a different style.
• Sometimes remember things by setting information to a tune or rhyme.
• You’ll catch them saying, “I hear what you’re saying, please describe it in more detail”.

Visual Learners: There are two kinds of visual learners.

• Visual – linguistic learners tend to:
  • Learn through written language such as reading and writing.
  • More likely to remember tasks if they write them down, even if they don’t go back to read them again.
• Visual -Spatial learners tend to:
  •  Have difficulty with written language and do better with diagrams, demonstrations, videos, maps, colorful charts and visual aids.
  • A VS tends to gaze into ‘space’ in the middle of a conversation (much to a spouse’s or a teacher’s dismay) to ‘picture’ what is being said (this can appear disrespectful to other learning styles).
  • Find it easy to visualize faces and places.
  • Recall conversations based on where it happened.
  • Easily distracted.
  • Often choose to sit in the front of the class room
  •  They will comment, “I see what you’re saying”, “it’s clear cut”, “in light of”.

Kinesthetic Learners: Tend to:

• Learn by being involved, touching and/or moving.
• Remember what was done rather then what was said or seen.
• Have to move in order to concentrate.
• Easily distracted during a visual or auditory presentation. Will take notes so they can move their hands.
• Need to know the big picture first before getting the details.
• Having the space to draw pictures, doodle, shake their leg, chew gum and fidget while you communicate helps them hear and learn more effectively.
• Use gestures when speaking and stand close when speaking or listening.
• Often they are poor spellers and will write words to determine if they "feel" right.
• Tend to drive visual learners crazy with their constant movement.
• Attack problems and express frustration physically – they’re your door slammers and fist pounders.
• This group will say, “I’ve got a feeling about what you’re saying”, “come to grips with”.

You may see yourself and others you know exhibiting all three styles. This isn’t unusual. However, we all have a strong preference for one or two. The best way to discover your learning style is to take a test. (Your highest score is your dominant style. Your second score supports your dominant style). Once you became a student of the order of your style preferences, you’ll view people and communication differently. I found I was able to understand my responses, improve my ability to learn as well as my kids’, offer more grace, save time and be more effective at leading teams.

My next bog will focus on how to improve our marriages by understanding our learning style, and our spouses style.