How to use it
Count the parts: chapters, lessons, lectures or problem sets. Estimate the time for one part the first time you study it. Then enter the time you have on a study day and the number of study days in a week.
If you have an exam or a deadline, enter the number of days until then. The calculator tells you if the plan fits. If it does not fit, it gives the minutes a day that you need.
“Use an Axo Path” fills the form with one Axo course: 16 Bites of 5 minutes.
How it calculates
The time to learn is the number of parts multiplied by the time for one part. The time to review is the number of parts, multiplied by the number of reviews, multiplied by one third of the time for one part.
The total is divided by your time on a study day. That gives study days, and your study days in a week turn them into calendar days.
Reviews are spaced. The reviews of a part come 1, 3, 7 and 14 days after you study it. So the plan cannot end sooner than the last review of the last part, and the calculator uses the later of the two dates.
What it assumes
A review takes one third of the time of the first study. This is a planning value, not a research result. A review by recall is short, because you answer questions and do not read the material again.
The review days 1, 3, 7 and 14 are the days that the Axo site uses in its model of the forgetting curve. They follow the rule from research on spacing: each gap is longer than the last.
The calculator does not know how hard your subject is. If your estimate for one part is wrong, the result is wrong by the same amount. Time one part, then come back and correct the number.
Why reviews are in the plan
A plan with no review is a plan to learn the material once. In a 2013 review of ten study techniques, practice testing and spaced practice were the two that were rated high. Both are review. The time for them must be in the plan from the start, or it does not happen.