What Is Spaced Repetition?
Spaced repetition is a study technique based on reviewing material at strategically increasing intervals. Instead of cramming all your study into one marathon session, you spread reviews over days and weeks, revisiting information just as you are about to forget it. This approach leverages a well-documented phenomenon in cognitive science called the spacing effect, which shows that distributed practice produces significantly stronger long-term memory than massed practice.
The Science Behind Spaced Repetition
When you first learn something, your memory of it decays rapidly. This is described by the "forgetting curve," first documented by Hermann Ebbinghaus in the 1880s. Without review, you might forget 50% of new information within a day and up to 90% within a week.
However, each time you successfully recall information, the forgetting curve becomes flatter. The first review might extend your retention from 1 day to 3 days. The next review extends it to a week. Then two weeks, then a month. Eventually, the information becomes part of your long-term memory and requires only occasional review to maintain.
The key insight is that the optimal time to review is just before you would forget the information. Reviewing too early is inefficient (you waste time on something you already remember well). Reviewing too late means you have forgotten it and need to relearn it from scratch. Spaced repetition systems target the sweet spot.
Implementing Spaced Repetition for the FE Exam
Using Flashcard Apps
Digital flashcard applications automate the scheduling of reviews based on spaced repetition algorithms. When you review a card and mark it as correct, the app schedules the next review further in the future. When you get a card wrong, it resets to a shorter interval. This ensures you spend the most time on the cards you find hardest.
Manual Spaced Repetition
If you prefer physical flashcards, you can implement spaced repetition manually using a box system:
- Box 1: New and difficult cards. Review daily.
- Box 2: Cards you got right once. Review every 3 days.
- Box 3: Cards you have gotten right twice. Review weekly.
- Box 4: Cards you have gotten right three times. Review every two weeks.
- Box 5: Well-known cards. Review monthly.
When you get a card wrong, move it back to Box 1. When you get it right, move it to the next box.
What to Space
Spaced repetition works best for factual knowledge that needs to be recalled quickly. For FE exam preparation, use it for:
- Formulas and their conditions of application
- Key definitions and concepts
- Unit conversion factors
- Important constants and material properties
- Classification systems and criteria
- Problem-solving procedures and decision trees
Spaced repetition is less effective for complex problem-solving skills, which require practice problems and worked examples rather than flashcard review.
Integrating Spaced Repetition into Your Study Plan
Start your spaced repetition system at the beginning of your study period, not the end. As you study each topic, create flashcards for the key information and begin reviewing them immediately. By the time you reach the end of your study plan, the earliest cards will have been reviewed multiple times at increasing intervals and will be firmly in your long-term memory.
Allocate 15 to 30 minutes per day for spaced repetition reviews. This is a small time investment that produces outsized returns in retention. Do your reviews at a consistent time each day (morning is ideal) so they become a habit rather than something you have to remember to do.
Combining with Other Study Methods
Spaced repetition is most effective when combined with other active learning techniques:
- Initial learning: Study the topic through textbooks, lectures, or review materials
- Active recall: Create flashcards and begin spaced repetition
- Application: Solve practice problems that require using the knowledge from your flashcards
- Review: Continue spaced repetition reviews throughout your study period
This cycle of learning, memorizing, applying, and reviewing creates multiple memory pathways and produces the deepest, most durable learning.
How Many Cards per Day?
Start with 10 to 15 new cards per day. As your deck grows, the daily review load will increase because you are reviewing both new and older cards. If daily reviews start exceeding 30 to 45 minutes, reduce the number of new cards you add until the review load is manageable. Consistency is more important than volume: reviewing 10 cards every day is better than reviewing 100 cards once a week.