Spaced repetition
Spaced repetition is a study method where you review material at growing gaps in time, just before you would forget it. Each review pushes the next one further out, so the facts move into long-term memory instead of fading away after a day.
Right after you learn something, you start forgetting it fast. By the next day a big chunk is already gone. Spaced repetition fights that. You review at the moment you are about to forget, which resets the clock and makes the memory stick longer each time.
The gaps grow as you go. Maybe you review after one day, then three days, then a week, then two weeks. Stuff you keep getting wrong comes back sooner. Stuff you know well comes back later. That way you spend your time on the things that actually need it.
It beats cramming because cramming only holds for a few hours. Spreading the same reviews over days or weeks gives you way better recall when the exam comes.
Mara has a biology exam in three weeks. Instead of one long night, she goes through her flashcards for 15 minutes most days. The cards she nails keep coming back less often, and the three terms she always mix up keep popping up until they stick.
- 1Break your material into small questions or cards, one idea each.
- 2Test yourself by trying to recall the answer before you check it.
- 3Review again after one day, then space the next review further out each time you get it right.
- 4Bring the cards you got wrong back sooner and review them more.
- 5Keep short sessions going over days and weeks instead of one long cram.