Recall beats rereading
Retrieval practice
Pulling information out of memory strengthens it far more than reading it again. In a well-known 2006 experiment, students who tested themselves remembered much more a week later than students who reread the same text, even though rereading felt more effective at the time. A 2013 review of study techniques rated practice testing among the most useful.
AI quizzes
Ask: "Quiz me on this chapter, one question at a time. Mix easy and hard. Don't show the answer until I've tried. At the end, list what I got wrong." Paste your own notes or course material so the questions match what you need. Our Quiz Me to Find My Gaps prompt does this.
Spacing
Reviewing something a day later, then a few days later, then a week or two later beats cramming the same total time into one session. Flashcard apps such as Anki schedule this automatically. AI can turn your notes into flashcards in seconds; check them before importing, because a wrong card gets learned just as well as a right one.
Mix it up
Mixing different types of problem in one session (interleaving) feels harder than doing ten of the same, and tends to build more flexible skill. Ask the AI for mixed practice: "Give me ten questions across topics A, B and C in random order, without labelling which is which."
How did you revise the last time you needed to remember something? Did it involve rereading or highlighting?