Testing effect

Blurting: writing down everything you remember about a topic Look over a topic briefly, hide your notes and write down everything you can recall on a blank sheet. Then open the notes, add what you missed in a different color and go again later with the notes and the first attempt hidden. A round takes only a few minutes and needs nothing but paper, which makes it ideal for the days between full papers. The colored additions are the point: they are a map of exactly what you have not learned yet, in your own handwriting. Because it forces recall rather than recognition, it builds the same skill an exam asks for, and it fits topics such as definitions, processes and case-study details especially well.