The blurting method is a revision technique in which you write down everything you can remember about a topic on a blank page, without looking at notes, then check what you wrote against your source and fill in what you missed.
How it works
Blurting is a simple, low-preparation form of active recall. Because you start from a blank page, you have to generate the content yourself rather than recognise it. The page you produce becomes an honest map of what you know: whatever you could not write is what needs more work. Filling the gaps in a different colour makes them easy to see next time.
The method is popular among UK GCSE and A-level students because it fits well with specification-based revision: each specification point becomes a blurting prompt.
How to use the blurting method (steps)
- Choose a small topic. One specification point, lecture section or textbook subsection.
- Review it briefly if it is new, or skip straight to blurting if you have studied it before.
- Close everything. Take a blank page and set a timer for five to ten minutes.
- Blurt. Write every fact, definition, diagram, example and link you can remember. Do not worry about order.
- Check. Open your notes and compare. Add anything missing or wrong in a different colour.
- Act on the gaps. Turn missing items into flashcards or restudy them.
- Blurt again later. Repeat a few days later on a fresh page, using spaced repetition timing.
Common mistakes
- Blurting topics that are too big. “All of biology” produces a vague page. Keep each blurt to one subtopic.
- Looking at notes halfway through. Finish the blurt first; the point is to see what you can produce alone.
- Not acting on gaps. The value comes from filling and then re-testing what you missed.
Evidence
There are no controlled studies of blurting under that name; it is a student-popularised label. It is, however, a version of free recall, which is one of the forms of retrieval practice most studied by researchers. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) used free recall of prose passages and found it improved retention a week later compared with restudying. Karpicke and Blunt (2011) found that students who practised free recall of a science text, writing down as much as they could remember, outperformed students who built concept maps with the text available. Dunlosky and colleagues (2013) rated practice testing, which includes free recall, as high utility.
Using the blurting method with Duetoday
Use Duetoday’s notes from your lecture, PDF or YouTube video as the source you check your blurt against. Then turn the gaps into flashcards with spaced repetition, or ask Galileo to quiz you on the parts you missed.
