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Redefining revision as continual practice

Beat the forgetting curve

Students forget what they have been taught soon after a lesson ends. Teachers agree that regular retrieval practice through low stakes quizzing is extremely beneficial in helping students to combat what is known as the forgetting curve.

The challenge is finding enough time in a busy day to prepare quizzes and enough time within the curriculum to dedicate to them.

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Smart Revise Quiz was built to solve the forgetting curve.

Use the topic filters in class settings to select all of the topics that have been taught so far. This is important so that the Smart Revise AI can space and interleave questions, creating a personalised learning experience for students.

Start or end each lesson with 5-7 minutes of using Quiz. Alternatively set a target of 50 questions to be completed over the next week.

Students should aim to "master" questions by answering them correctly three times in a row, not knowing when the same question will appear again.

Even mastered questions do not completely disappear. They just have a lower priority.

The research

Studies by Hermann Ebbinghaus and repeated in 2015 by Murre & Dros proved that students forget what they have been taught gradually over time if they do not regularly revisit what they have previously learned.

Remembering more knowledge over a longer period of time instead of cramming revision for an exam at the end of a course has proven to be a more successful technique.

Facts need to be recalled not immediately, but as they begin to wane from memory. This is known as spaced practice. Switching context between topics in a recall session known as interleaving is also more powerful than only studying one topic at a time known as blocking.

Students need regular opportunities for low-stakes retrieval practice but it can have a remarkable impact on student confidence.


Murre, J., Dros, J. (2015) Replication and Analysis of Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve