After a tutoring session: how to consolidate a concept within 24 hours

Why the 24 hours after a session are useful without being “magic”

At the end of a session, a lot still seems obvious. The tutor’s reasoning has just been heard, the corrected exercise is right there and the steps seem logical. That is precisely why it is hard to know what has really been retained.

The best test is to gradually remove these aids. A few hours later or the next day, the student can try to rebuild the essentials of the session on their own. If they manage it, the information is accessible without the tutor immediately supplying the clues. If they get stuck, they discover exactly what needs reviewing.

Research on learning supports the value of this active retrieval. In a review published in the Annual Review of Psychology, Kathleen McDermott points out that retrieving information shortly after learning it can slow down forgetting, and that this effect has been observed with a variety of content and learners.

It would be going too far, however, to conclude that a 24-hour delay is optimal in every case. Research on distributed practice shows instead that the right spacing depends, among other things, on what is being learnt and on how long you want to retain it. A large meta-analysis on distributed practice showed that the interval between two reviews and the delay before the final test interact: there is no single ideal spacing for every situation.

The right principle is therefore simpler: go back over the session soon enough that it does not become a vague memory, but in a form that forces you to produce something without support.

Step 1: put it into your own words without looking at the lesson

The first action should take place before opening your notes, a revision sheet or a replay. For a few minutes, try to answer three questions from memory:

• What did I learn during this session?
• Which important method, rule or idea do I need to be able to recall?
• Which point am I still unsure about?

The form obviously depends on the subject. In maths, you can rewrite the steps of a method. In history, rebuild the causes and consequences of an event. In Philosophy, rephrase a distinction or an argument. In a language, explain a rule and then produce an example.

This first attempt does not need to be perfect. On the contrary: hesitating gives you useful information. It shows the difference between what seems familiar and what you can actually retrieve on your own.

This is the central idea of active recall: searching your memory for the information before reviewing it. John Dunlosky and his colleagues rank practice testing and distributed practice among the most robust learning strategies in their review; rereading, by contrast, produces more variable benefits and does not directly check what the student will be able to retrieve later. An accessible presentation of these findings is available in American Educator.

Step 2: review only what is missing

Once you have made the attempt, it becomes much easier to know what to check. Then open the corresponding material: notes, a document worked on with the tutor, a correction or the relevant part of the session when a replay is available.

The aim is not to go back over the whole session just to be safe. Look for the answer to the difficulty you have just identified.

If you no longer remember why a formula applies, find that justification. If a step in a proof is missing, reread it. If you can start an exercise but not finish the calculation, focus on that transition.

Working this way avoids a common trap: spending twenty or thirty minutes on things you already understand simply because they are in the lesson. Useful revision is not the kind that gets through as much content as possible; it is the kind that removes a specific uncertainty.

When a NOEO session has been recorded with the required Replay consent and a replay has actually been made, it can be used to find a particular part of the session. There is no need to watch it in full. Without valid Replay consent, the session takes place normally with no recording and no replay.

Step 3: apply the concept straight away

After checking, close the material again. Now you need to use the concept.

This is the step that distinguishes “I understand it when I see it” from “I know how to use it”. Jeffrey Karpicke and Janell Blunt showed in particular, in a study published in Science, that activities requiring students to retrieve and reconstruct knowledge could produce better delayed results than certain forms of elaborative study. This study is obviously not enough to set a universal method for all students, but it clearly illustrates the value of actively rebuilding what you have just learnt.

The application should resemble what you will actually need to be able to do:

Type of content	Possible application after the session
Formula or rule	Use it in a new example without looking at the model
Maths method	Solve a similar exercise with different data
Concept or definition	Explain it in your own words, then give an example
Argument or reasoning	Rebuild its steps, then apply it to another question
Mistake corrected during the session	Redo the task from the beginning without looking at the correction

If you only succeed at the exact exercise corrected with the tutor, be careful: you may have memorised part of the route. A small variation lets you check whether you really recognise the method when it appears in a different form.

Step 4: create a few recall questions for next time

Consolidation within 24 hours should not be your last encounter with the concept. After putting the lesson into your own words and applying it, prepare a few points to retrieve again later.

These can be three very simple questions: “what are the steps?”, “when does this formula apply?”, “what mistake should I avoid?”. You can write them on a sheet of paper or turn them into flashcards when the content lends itself to it.

A good flashcard is mainly for information that can be tested clearly: a definition, vocabulary, a formula, a date, a distinction, a condition for applying something or a step in a procedure. For a complete line of reasoning or problem solving, it becomes a complement to the exercise, not a replacement for it. Our guide to flashcards explains this distinction in detail.

What matters next is coming back to these questions after an interval. Consolidation in the first 24 hours starts the process; it does not claim to complete memorisation in a single session.

A simple protocol between the end of the session and the next day

When	Action	Purpose
At the end of the session	Identify the main concept and the work set for next time	Know exactly what is worth consolidating
That evening or the next day	Spend a few minutes putting it into your own words without support	Test what is really still accessible
Straight after	Check only what was forgotten or misunderstood	Fix gaps without rereading everything
Then	Do an exercise, explain or apply	Check that the knowledge can be used
Before finishing	Prepare a few questions to come back to later	Create the next opportunity for retrieval

This sequence does not need to last an hour. For a targeted concept, ten or twenty minutes can sometimes be enough. For a complex skill or several significant difficulties, more time may be needed. The length should come from the work to be done, not from an arbitrary quota.

Study sheets, flashcards or quizzes: do not expect the same thing from all three formats

These formats can complement each other, provided they are not used mechanically.

A study sheet is useful for rebuilding an overview, checking a structure or finding a missing element. It becomes passive if the student just rereads it several times.

Flashcards suit knowledge that can be turned into short questions. Their value depends above all on the effort made before revealing the answer.

A quiz can serve as a quick check to reveal gaps, provided the mistakes are analysed rather than stopping at the score. Our article on quizzes and gaps explains how to use a wrong answer as a diagnosis.

On NOEO, the student can choose to create a Learn pack from an eligible session. It contains a study sheet, flashcards and a quiz. Creating it is voluntary: it does not appear automatically after every session, and the tutor does not create it in the student’s place. It also remains separate from any work or exercises the tutor may set in the session report.

How to prepare for the next session from this first revision onwards

Consolidation also helps improve the next tutoring session. At the end of the revision session, write down one thing you have now mastered and one question that remains open.

For example: “I can expand and then simplify an expression, but I don’t always recognise when to factorise”; “I know the causes of the crisis, but I still mix up two consequences”; “I can build my outline, but I can’t manage to formulate a precise central question”.

This record is much more useful than a vague “I didn’t understand the chapter”. It gives the tutor a starting point for the next session and lets the student see whether the difficulty is changing.

On NOEO, the session report can record, among other things, the topic worked on, strengths, areas for improvement, work to prepare and a recommendation for what comes next. The documents linked to the session and, where one exists, the replay then make it possible to find the context of the session again. How everything works before, during and after the session is set out in How does NOEO work?.