Capture closed-book prompts
Turn one public outline slice into closed-book prompts. Do not open a second chapter.
Darker cells mean a higher score for this topic on that metric.
Evidence94
Speed to gain68
Effort cost72
Exam fit95
Retention93
Beginner-friendly70
LessMore
Last reviewed Sources & creditsMedia creditsMethodology
Quick answers
Active recall: What is this, in one honest paragraph?
A practice of retrieving or structuring testing effect on purpose, then checking, then repairing the hole.
Active recall: What does the evidence actually say?
Karpicke and Roediger are among the names this atlas cites for testing effect; treat their papers as public science, not as a brand.
Active recall: How does it help a high-stakes exam?
It helps when the sitting asks you to produce testing effect under time, not when the sitting only asks you to recognise a face.
Active recall: How fast is a first honest gain?
A first honest lift is often a few honest sessions, not a motivational weekend.
Active recall: What do beginners usually break?
Beginners skip the check step and call fluency mastery.
Active recall: Which tools are enough to start?
A notebook, a timer, and a closed page are enough to start testing effect.
Active recall — a weekly ladder of sessions. Treat the week as a budget for closed-book prompts, not a festival of new items.
Scores here are relative ranks inside this atlas, not lab grades or official cut scores.
Week
Due before new
Finish due closed-book prompts, then add a capped set from the same slice.
Repair closed-book prompts
Rewrite every closed-book prompts that failed twice. It was usually two facts glued together.
Mix closed-book prompts
Let due closed-book prompts from different chapters sit in one queue. Do not re-sort into textbook order.
Audit public outline
Check ten mature closed-book prompts against public outline. Retire anything the outline dropped.
Light new
Halve new closed-book prompts and spend the rest on due reviews plus one closed-book dump.
Sessions
- Due-only sprint — Twenty minutes of due closed-book prompts, no browsing.
- New-item clinic — Thirty minutes to turn one public outline subsection into closed-book prompts.
- Repair surgery — Fifteen minutes: split, add a cue, or move the item off infinite grind.
- Closed-book dump — From memory, list this week's high-yield names, then only flip closed-book prompts for misses.
- Freeze rehearsal — Run a day with zero new closed-book prompts to feel the true review load before an exam week.
Ladder
- Novice — You can produce a first set of closed-book prompts from one public outline page in a single sitting.
- Stable — Due closed-book prompts stays inside a weekday time box and repairs happen within a week.
- Fluent — You can explain why today's closed-book prompts is due using the method, not "the app said so".
- Exam-ready — New closed-book prompts is frozen before a sitting and the remaining work is almost all retrieval.
Educational atlas — not an official syllabus, medical advice, or leaked item bank. Active recall: Keep the public outline in view and treat this page as method, not a leaked key.
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