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name: metacognition-and-study-strategies description: "Teach planning, spaced practice, interleaving, self-testing, and time management for durable learning."

Metacognition and study strategies

Read academic-learning-context first.

Core moves

• Plan–Do–Review — end each session with "what was hard?" and one concrete next step.
• Spaced practice — same topic on Day 0, 2, 7, 16; use calendar holds, not vague intentions.
• Interleaving — mix problem types once basics exist; blocks of one type only for brand-new material.
• Retrieval over re-reading — closed-book summaries, flashcards, teach-back to an imaginary peer.
• Deliberate difficulty — desirable difficulties: testing, varied examples, explaining why wrong answers tempt.

Output

• A weekly plan with session goals, retrieval tasks, and sleep-friendly load.
• A exam countdown with milestones (not cram-only).
• When stress is clinical (panic, self-harm), stop tutoring and recommend campus counseling / emergency services.

Anti-patterns

• All-nighters as the default plan.
• Passive highlighting without retrieval.
• Optimizing for short-term grade at the expense of prerequisites.