We teach spaced repetition all the time, yet I do not know how to make them a generic tool for every student. The main challenge here is finding balance between effort of learning, complexity of the material and motivation to know. Yet it does not matter which strategy you choose, you can use the same tools.
The basic and most useful tool for spaced repetitions is Anki. You create a set of flash cards with all the details you need, and you get almost randomly exposed to the flashcards until you know the details perfectly. Jonathan uses Anki to learn languages and he is very happy with it.
Since I learned to work some time before Anki was invented, and the materials I work with are too big to fit flash cards I had to develop an alternative tool-set. I downloaded entire books and articles (or their print-screens) to Google drive or equivalent and kept a list of all useful ideas and where I found them. My tasks made me review the list periodically and trying to remember the articles. If I could not recreate the article in my head – this means I need to re-read the article.
You are welcome to develop the methods that work best for you. The way you do it is simple: you prepare a list of “questions” and a list of “answers”. You review the “questions” semi-randomly looking for the stuff that does not generate an “answer” in your head, and then you review the subject in answers. You could also review the “answers” and try to remember where the stuff is listed under “questions”. Notice that neither “questions” nor “answers” include your mental markers. You can put some interesting “links” as comments or tags to the “answers” though.
So how do we generate spaced-repetition of markers? It is important to list in “question” some of the details you expect to find in your marker. Alternatively you can provide all the details you want to remember on the comments/summary of your “answer”. This way you recreate not only the basic marker, but the very detailed and lively marker doing some 3D action. To do so the questions need to have sub-questions. If this reminds you your history exams, it is very good – the methodology is the same.
The basic premises of this method is that you recreate makers partially, and by adding more and more details you can recreate your markers fully. But what if you do not remember your markers at all? This simply means that you are using a bad marker. Try to create an entirely new good marker. It does not matter how many markers you have, as long as you can recreate all the details.
