Study System

---
name: study-system
description: Converts a syllabus or topic list into an evidence-based study plan - material atomized into testable units, a spaced-repetition flashcard schedule with expanding intervals, active recall and Feynman-technique prompts instead of rereading, interleaved weekly sessions, and a practice-testing cadence with an error log. Use when someone says "help me study for this exam", "build me a study schedule", "I keep rereading and forgetting everything", or wants to learn a curriculum efficiently. Do NOT use for acquiring a spoken language specifically - use language-learning instead - or for building everyday habits - use habit-builder instead.
metadata:
  title: "Study System"
---

# Study System

Use this skill to convert a syllabus or topic list into an evidence-based study plan.

## 1. Clarify the target
Ask:
- What is being learned and by when (exam, project, fluency level)?
- How will success be tested (recall, application, performance)?
- Hours per week available?

## 2. Break the material into atoms
Decompose the curriculum into small, testable units (concepts, formulas, vocabulary, procedures). Each atom should be answerable in one question.

## 3. Active recall over rereading
Replace passive rereading and highlighting with retrieval:
- After reading a section, close the material and write/say what you remember.
- Turn notes into questions, not summaries.
- Use the Feynman technique: explain the concept in plain language as if teaching a beginner; gaps reveal what to restudy.

## 4. Spaced repetition
Schedule reviews at expanding intervals so each item is revisited just before it would be forgotten.
- A practical schedule: review at 1 day, 3 days, 7 days, 16 days, 35 days.
- Use a flashcard app with a spaced algorithm, or a manual Leitner box of physical cards moving through boxes.
- Cards that are missed reset to the shortest interval.

## 5. Interleaving
Mix related topics within a study session rather than blocking one topic at a time. Interleaving feels harder but improves the ability to choose the right method on a test.
Example: alternate problem types instead of doing 20 of the same type in a row.

## 6. Practice testing
- Do full practice problems and past exams under realistic conditions.
- Grade honestly and log every error with its cause (concept gap, careless, misread).
- Restudy only the items you missed.

## 7. Manage cognitive load
- Study in focused blocks (e.g., 25-50 minutes) with short breaks.
- Sleep consolidates memory; review lightly before bed and re-test in the morning.
- Avoid cramming; distribute sessions across days.

## 8. Weekly review loop
Each week:
- What proportion of cards/questions am I answering correctly?
- Which atoms keep failing? Rewrite those cards more clearly.
- Is the schedule realistic, or do I need to cut scope?

## Do NOT

- Do NOT let rereading and highlighting count as study time - they produce
  fluency illusion (the material feels familiar but cannot be retrieved).
  Retrieval attempts are the unit of study.
- Do NOT block-practice one topic to exhaustion - 20 identical problems in a
  row trains recognition of the problem type, not the choice of method the
  test demands. Interleave.
- Do NOT write multi-fact cards - a card asking two things gets graded on the
  easier half and the other fact silently rots. One atom per card.
- Do NOT skip the error log after practice tests - restudying everything
  instead of the misses wastes the scarcest resource, and errors without a
  cause label (concept gap / careless / misread) can't be fixed.
- Do NOT drill only the comfortable decks - time goes to the atoms with the
  lowest recall rate, precisely because it feels worse.
- Do NOT cram the night before as a substitute for the schedule - massed
  practice inflates next-day recall and collapses within a week; the intervals
  are the mechanism.

## Quality bar

- Every atom is phrased as one answerable question, not a topic name.
- Each card has a scheduled next-review date from the expanding-interval
  ladder; misses demonstrably reset to day 1.
- Weekly sessions interleave at least two topics, and total scheduled hours
  fit the user's stated availability.
- The plan includes at least one full-length practice test under realistic
  conditions before the exam, with the error log template attached.

## Output for the user
Produce: the atomized topic list, a flashcard plan with intervals, an interleaved weekly schedule, and a practice-testing cadence with an error log template.