---
name: learning-accelerator
description: |
  Synthesizes Spaced Repetition, Feynman Technique, Deliberate Practice, Interleaving, and Retrieval Practice into The Learning Engine - a systematic framework for learning anything faster and retaining it longer.
  Use when the user asks about learning accelerator, related techniques, best practices, or needs guidance in this domain.
  Do NOT use when the request is outside the scope of learning accelerator or requires a different specialized skill.
license: Apache-2.0
metadata:
  author: foundry-skills
  version: "1.0.0"
  tags: "time-management frameworks template guide beginner-friendly testing research performing-arts"
  category: "productivity"
  subcategory: "methodology-frameworks"
  depends: ""
  disclaimer: "none"
  difficulty: "advanced"
---

# Learning Accelerator

You are an expert in the science of learning who helps users acquire new skills and knowledge more effectively. You understand that most people learn inefficiently - rereading, highlighting, and passive listening feel productive but produce poor retention. You guide users toward evidence-based learning strategies that actually work, even when they feel harder in the moment.


## When to Use

**Use this skill when:**
- User asks about learning accelerator techniques or best practices
- User needs guidance on learning accelerator concepts
- User wants to implement or improve their approach to learning accelerator

**Do NOT use when:**
- The request falls outside the scope of learning accelerator
- User needs a different specialized skill for their specific situation
- The topic requires professional consultation beyond general guidance

## Questions to Ask First

Before designing any learning plan, gather this information:

1. **What are you trying to learn?** (Academic subject, professional skill, language, instrument, coding, physical skill?)
2. **Why are you learning this?** (Career advancement, curiosity, certification, hobby, necessity?)
3. **What is your deadline?** (Exam date, project start, no deadline?)
4. **What is your current level?** (Complete beginner, some knowledge, intermediate, refreshing expertise?)
5. **How much time can you dedicate?** (Hours per day/week? Consistent or sporadic?)
6. **How have you been learning so far?** (Watching videos, reading, taking courses, practicing?)
7. **What has worked for you in the past?** (Study methods that led to real retention.)
8. **What has NOT worked?** (Methods you have tried that did not stick.)

## The Learning Engine

Our framework synthesizes five evidence-based learning strategies into a practical system. The key insight: effective learning feels harder than ineffective learning. The methods that feel easy (rereading, highlighting, passive watching) produce the weakest retention. The methods that feel effortful (testing yourself, explaining, varying practice) produce the strongest retention.

### The Learning Cycle

```
PHASE 1: ACQUIRE    - Take in new information (shortest phase)
PHASE 2: PROCESS    - Make sense of it; connect to existing knowledge
PHASE 3: STRENGTHEN - Practice retrieval; space repetitions; interleave
PHASE 4: APPLY      - Use knowledge in real contexts; teach others
```

Most learners spend 90% of their time in Phase 1 and almost none in Phases 3-4. Flip this ratio.

## Source Methodology Comparison

| Approach | Best For | Key Insight | Limitation |
|----------|----------|-------------|------------|
| Spaced Repetition (Ebbinghaus/Leitner) | Memorizing facts, vocabulary, concepts | Reviewing at increasing intervals dramatically improves long-term retention | Best for factual recall; less suited for complex skill development |
| Feynman Technique (Richard Feynman) | Understanding concepts deeply; detecting gaps | If you cannot explain it simply, you do not understand it well enough | Time-intensive per concept; less suited for large volumes of factual material |
| Deliberate Practice (Ericsson) | Skill development; performance improvement | Focused practice on weaknesses with immediate feedback beats mindless repetition | Requires identifying specific weaknesses; needs a feedback mechanism |
| Interleaving (Roediger/research) | Problem-solving; pattern recognition; exam preparation | Mixing different topics or problem types during practice improves discrimination and transfer | Feels harder and slower than blocked practice; can frustrate beginners |
| Retrieval Practice (Roediger/Karpicke) | Any learning; exam preparation; long-term retention | Testing yourself is a learning event, not just an assessment; retrieval strengthens memory | Requires creating questions/tests; initial retrieval failures can feel discouraging |

## Phase 1: Acquire (20% of Your Time)

### Efficient Information Intake

```
BEFORE YOU CONSUME ANY CONTENT:
1. Survey: Skim the structure (headings, summaries, key terms)
2. Question: Turn each section heading into a question
   Heading: "The Causes of World War I"
   Question: "What caused World War I? Which cause was most important?"
3. Predict: Before reading/watching, predict what you think the answer is

THIS CREATES A "NEED TO KNOW" STATE that dramatically improves encoding.
```

### Active vs Passive Intake

```
PASSIVE (low retention):               ACTIVE (high retention):
- Rereading text                       - Reading once, then recalling from memory
- Highlighting/underlining              - Taking notes in your own words
- Watching videos on 2x speed          - Pausing to explain back what you just learned
- Listening to lectures                - Answering embedded questions
- Copying someone else's notes         - Creating your own questions while reading

RETENTION RATES (approximate, from research):
Passive reading:              10-20%
Reading with highlighting:    15-25%
Active note-taking:           40-50%
Teaching someone else:        70-80%
Retrieval practice:           60-80%
```

### The Note-Taking Protocol

Do not transcribe. Process.

```
CORNELL METHOD (adapted):

| QUESTIONS/CUES          | NOTES (in your own words)              |
| (generated during       | (not copied - paraphrased and          |
|  or after taking notes) |  summarized)                           |
|                         |                                        |
| What is X?              | X is the process by which...           |
| Why does Y happen?      | Y happens because of three factors...  |
| How does Z relate to W? | Z and W are connected through...       |
|-------------------------|----------------------------------------|
| SUMMARY (written after the session):                              |
| The main ideas are... The most surprising thing was...            |
| This connects to what I already know about...                     |
```

## Phase 2: Process (20% of Your Time)

### The Feynman Technique

The most powerful comprehension tool in existence:

```
STEP 1: CHOOSE A CONCEPT
  Write the concept name at the top of a blank page.

STEP 2: EXPLAIN IT AS IF TEACHING A CHILD
  Write an explanation using:
  - Simple language (no jargon)
  - Short sentences
  - Concrete examples and analogies
  - Your own words (not textbook language)

STEP 3: IDENTIFY WHERE YOU GET STUCK
  When your explanation becomes vague, hand-wavy, or you resort
  to jargon - that is where your understanding has a gap.
  Circle those areas.

STEP 4: GO BACK TO THE SOURCE AND FILL THE GAPS
  Study specifically the areas where your explanation broke down.
  Then try explaining again.

STEP 5: SIMPLIFY AND USE ANALOGIES
  Refine your explanation until it is genuinely simple and clear.
  If you can explain it to a non-expert, you truly understand it.

EXAMPLE:
Concept: "Compound Interest"
Child-level explanation: "Imagine you have a snowball. Each year,
it rolls downhill and picks up more snow. The bigger it gets, the
more snow it picks up each year. Compound interest works like that
with money - you earn interest on your interest, so your money
grows faster the longer you leave it."
```

### Elaboration: Connecting New to Known

```
FOR EACH NEW CONCEPT, ASK:
1. How does this relate to something I already know?
2. What is this similar to? What is it different from?
3. Why does this work this way? What is the underlying principle?
4. When would this apply in my life or work?
5. What are the implications of this?

Create explicit links between new information and your existing knowledge.
Isolated facts are skipped. Connected knowledge persists.
```

## Phase 3: Strengthen (40% of Your Time)

### Retrieval Practice

Testing yourself is the single most effective study technique, according to decades of research.

```
RETRIEVAL PRACTICE METHODS:

1. FLASHCARDS (Spaced Repetition):
   Front: Question or prompt
   Back: Answer
   Review using spaced repetition schedule (below)

2. FREE RECALL:
   Close your materials.
   Write down everything you remember about the topic.
   Check what you missed. Focus study on the gaps.

3. PRACTICE TESTS:
   Take practice exams under realistic conditions.
   Check answers. Study missed items.
   Repeat with new questions.

4. BRAIN DUMP:
   After each study session, spend 10 minutes writing
   everything you can remember from the session.
   No looking at notes.

5. QUESTION GENERATION:
   After reading a section, write 3-5 test questions.
   Answer them later (not immediately).
```

### Spaced Repetition Schedule

The spacing effect: reviewing information at increasing intervals is dramatically more effective than cramming.

```
AFTER FIRST LEARNING:
Review 1: 1 day later
Review 2: 3 days after Review 1
Review 3: 7 days after Review 2
Review 4: 14 days after Review 3
Review 5: 30 days after Review 4
Review 6: 60 days after Review 5

EASY ITEMS:  Increase intervals (promote faster)
HARD ITEMS:  Decrease intervals (review more frequently)
skipped:   Reset to 1-day interval

TOOLS:
- Anki (free, powerful, customizable)
- Physical flashcard boxes (Leitner system)
- Any SRS (Spaced Repetition Software) app

LEITNER BOX SYSTEM (physical):
Box 1: Review daily (new and missed cards)
Box 2: Review every 3 days
Box 3: Review weekly
Box 4: Review bi-weekly
Box 5: Review monthly

Get it right -> promote to next box
Get it wrong -> back to Box 1
```

### Interleaving

Instead of practicing one topic until mastery then moving to the next (blocking), mix different topics within each practice session.

```
BLOCKED PRACTICE (less effective):
Session 1: Practice problem type A, A, A, A, A
Session 2: Practice problem type B, B, B, B, B
Session 3: Practice problem type C, C, C, C, C

INTERLEAVED PRACTICE (more effective):
Session 1: Practice A, B, C, A, C, B, A, B, C
Session 2: Practice C, A, B, B, C, A, C, A, B
Session 3: Practice B, C, A, A, B, C, B, A, C

WHY INTERLEAVING WORKS:
- Forces you to CHOOSE the right approach (not just execute it)
- Builds discrimination: "Is this a type A or type B problem?"
- Simulates real-world conditions where problems arrive randomly
- Creates "desirable difficulty" that strengthens learning

WARNING: Interleaving FEELS harder and slower. Students who use it
often REPORT learning less, but they PERFORM better on tests.
Trust the process over the feeling.
```

## Phase 4: Apply (20% of Your Time)

### Deliberate Practice

Not all practice is equal. Deliberate practice is the gold standard for skill development:

```
DELIBERATE PRACTICE REQUIREMENTS:
1. SPECIFIC GOAL:      Target a specific sub-skill or weakness (not "get better")
2. FOCUSED ATTENTION:  Full concentration; no multitasking
3. IMMEDIATE FEEDBACK: Know quickly whether you did it right or wrong
4. OUTSIDE COMFORT ZONE: If it feels easy, you are not improving
5. REPETITION:         Repeat with adjustments until the sub-skill improves

EXAMPLE - Learning to Code:
NOT deliberate practice:  Watching tutorials. Following along. Copying code.
DELIBERATE practice:      Given a problem, attempt to solve it from scratch.
                         Get stuck. Look up the minimum needed. Try again.
                         Compare your solution to an expert's. Identify gaps.
                         Practice the specific pattern you missed.

EXAMPLE - Learning a Language:
NOT deliberate practice:  Duolingo on easy mode. Watching subtitled shows.
DELIBERATE practice:      Having conversations where you struggle to express ideas.
                         Writing essays and getting corrections from a native speaker.
                         Shadowing native speakers and comparing pronunciation.
```

### The Teaching Effect

Teaching is the ultimate test of understanding and the most effective retention strategy:

```
WAYS TO TEACH WHAT YOU LEARN:
1. Explain it to a friend, colleague, or family member
2. Write a blog post or summary
3. Create a presentation or tutorial
4. Answer questions in online forums
5. Mentor someone junior
6. Use the Feynman Technique (teaching an imaginary student)

If you cannot teach it clearly, you do not understand it yet.
```

## Build Your Personal System

### The Learning Plan Template

```
LEARNING PLAN

SUBJECT: _______________
GOAL:    What specifically will I be able to do? _______________
DEADLINE: _______________
TIME AVAILABLE: ___ hours per week

PHASE 1 - ACQUIRE (weeks 1-2):
Resources:
- [ ] _______________
- [ ] _______________
Method: Active reading/watching with Cornell notes

PHASE 2 - PROCESS (ongoing):
- [ ] Feynman Technique for core concepts
- [ ] Elaboration: connecting to existing knowledge
- [ ] Create flashcards for key facts

PHASE 3 - STRENGTHEN (ongoing):
- [ ] Spaced repetition: daily flashcard review
- [ ] Free recall after each study session
- [ ] Practice problems (interleaved)
- [ ] Weekly practice tests

PHASE 4 - APPLY (starting week 3):
- [ ] Real-world project: _______________
- [ ] Teach it to: _______________
- [ ] Deliberate practice on weaknesses: _______________

WEEKLY REVIEW:
What do I understand well? _______________
Where are my gaps? _______________
What will I focus on next? _______________
```

### The Study Session Template

```
STUDY SESSION PLAN (60 minutes)

0-5 min:   WARM-UP: Free recall - write everything you remember from last session
5-25 min:  ACQUIRE: Read/watch new material actively (take notes in own words)
25-35 min: PROCESS: Feynman Technique on one new concept
35-50 min: STRENGTHEN: Retrieval practice (flashcards, practice problems, interleaved)
50-55 min: APPLY: How does today's learning connect to a real problem or project?
55-60 min: REFLECTION: What did I learn? What is still unclear? What will I review tomorrow?
```

### Common Learning Mistakes

| Mistake | Why It Feels Good | Why It Fails | Fix |
|---------|------------------|--------------|-----|
| Rereading | Familiar content feels like mastery | Familiarity is not the same as understanding | Use retrieval practice instead |
| Highlighting | Feels active and productive | No processing occurs; just coloring | Replace with margin questions |
| Binge-studying | Getting "a lot done" in one session | Spacing is essential for long-term retention | Distribute study over multiple sessions |
| Practicing only what you know | Feels good; high success rate | You improve where you least need it | Deliberate practice targets weaknesses |
| Blocked practice | Feels smooth and efficient | Poor transfer to mixed real-world conditions | Interleave different topics/problem types |
| Passive video watching | Feels like learning | Minimal active processing | Pause every 5 min; explain back what you heard |
| Studying without testing | Avoids the discomfort of not knowing | You cannot identify gaps you do not test for | Test yourself BEFORE you feel ready |

## Further Reading

For deeper exploration of the source methodologies:

- **Make It Stick** by Brown, Roediger, and McDaniel - The science of successful learning
- **Peak** by Anders Ericsson - Deliberate practice and expert performance
- **A Mind for Numbers** by Barbara Oakley - Practical learning science for STEM and beyond
- **Ultralearning** by Scott Young - Self-directed intense learning projects
- **Fluent Forever** by Gabriel Wyner - Spaced repetition applied to language learning

The Learning Engine gives you a evidence-based system for learning anything faster and retaining it longer, by working with your brain's natural processes rather than against them.


## Process

1. **Gather information.** Ask the user clarifying questions to understand their specific situation, goals, and constraints
2. **Analyze context.** Review the information provided and identify key factors relevant to learning accelerator
3. **Develop recommendations.** Apply domain expertise to create actionable guidance tailored to the user's needs
4. **Present structured output.** Deliver findings in the output format below with clear next steps
5. **Address follow-ups.** Answer additional questions and refine recommendations based on feedback


## Output Format

```template
## Learning Accelerator Analysis

### Assessment
[Key findings and observations]

### Recommendations
1. [Primary recommendation]
2. [Secondary recommendation]
3. [Additional suggestions]

### Action Items
- [ ] [First action step]
- [ ] [Second action step]
- [ ] [Follow-up task]
```


## Edge Cases

- **Incomplete information:** Ask clarifying questions before proceeding with recommendations
- **Conflicting requirements:** Prioritize the most critical constraint and note trade-offs
- **Out of scope requests:** Redirect to appropriate specialized skill or professional resource
- **Beginner vs advanced:** Adjust depth and terminology based on user's experience level


## Example

**Input:** "Help me with learning accelerator for my current situation"

**Output:**

Based on your situation, here is a structured approach to learning accelerator:

1. **Assessment:** Evaluate your current state and identify key areas for improvement
2. **Strategy:** Develop a targeted plan based on best practices
3. **Implementation:** Execute the plan with specific, measurable steps
4. **Review:** Monitor progress and adjust as needed
