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Study & revision: a Practical Guide

The Leitner System

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The Leitner System


What is the Leitner System?


The Leitner System is a spaced repetition technique for learning with flashcards.

Cards are sorted into boxes based on how well the material is known.

Correctly answered cards progress to boxes that you don't need to review as often, while incorrect ones are moved back to the first box for more frequent review.

It turns the learning process into a kind of game where the aim is to have your flashcards as far along the chain of boxes as possible.


How to Study Using the Leitner System

  1. Make flashcards with a concept, term, or phrase on one side and its explanation on the other.
  2. Arrange 3 to 5 boxes and assign flashcards to each box based on your knowledge of the material (where 1 is the things you don't know so well and 3 or 5 is the things you're pretty confident with).
  3. Assign each box a frequency for when to review, for example:
    • ​​​​​​​Box 1: every day
    • Box 2: every other day
    • Box 3: once a week
  4. Start with Box 1:
    • Review each flashcard in the box.
    • If you answer correctly, move it to the next box up (Box 2).
    • If you answer incorrectly, it stays in Box 1.
  5. If it's a day to review one of the other boxes, move on to that box:
    • Review each flashcard in the box.
    • If you answer correctly, move it to the next box up (Box 2 to Box 3, Box 3 to Box 4, etc...).
    • If you answer incorrectly, move it all the way back to Box 1.
  6. As you move flashcards to boxes with longer intervals, focus on cards that need more review (for example, those back in Boxes 1 and 2).
  7. Make sure to review each box regularly according to their assigned frequency.
  8. If you forget a concept on a card from a later box, move it back to an earlier box to review again.

Three boxes where correctly answered cards progress to the next box and incorrectly answered cards return to the first box.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages

  • Prioritises challenging study subjects for more frequent review.
  • Enables you to track your progress over study sessions. 
  • Promotes deeper memory retention through active recall and spaced repetition.
  • Provides a structured study timeline.
  • Keeps sessions varied and engaging, with the gamified approach maybe even making things slightly more fun.

Disadvantages

  • It can be overwhelming to manage an extensive number of cards across multiple subjects.
  • Setting up the system with flashcards can be time-consuming.
  • The volume of flashcards might lead to information overload or procrastination.
  • Facts can become disorganised as they move between boxes, which might cause confusion if the topics are not closely related.

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