Four actions, one after another: S·O·A·R
SOAR is a learning method proposed by educational psychologist Kenneth Kiewra, with empirical support behind it. In Soar it becomes a few things you actually do every day.
The method itself
Four steps, each one turned into an action.
Each step starts with what Kiewra's research says, then what you do in Soar.
Select · extract
Start with a complete, accurate set of learning material — the more complete your notes, the better your results, a correlation found again and again.
Every class comes with a complete transcript; in a foreign-language class, the original and translation sit line by line.
Handouts, web pages and class transcripts all go into a notebook, so everything you need to read is in one place.
Organize · structure
Turn linear notes into charts and networks of relations; once the structure shows, memory has something to hang on.
After class, the lesson is organised by topic into a summary and key concepts.
The same material becomes a handout, slides or a table in one click.
Associate · connect
Link ideas to each other and to what you already know; isolated facts are the easiest to forget.
The concept map links the ideas from every class.
When you ask the AI, it answers from the classes you took and your materials, and shows which one it used.
Regulate · self-test
Use self-testing to steer your learning; knowing what you don't know matters more than reading it again.
Saved words and questions come back a few at a time each day for review.
Questions you get wrong in a quiz go into your mistake book, where the AI explains what went wrong; answer them right in a row and they leave the book.
In a single day
Four moments in a day.
Before class, in class, after class and in the evening — one right thing at each.
Put today's handout in a notebook: the AI has already marked the key points, and hard words open into explanations.
Two languages, line by line; tap the sentence you missed to ask about it; when the teacher turns the page, your slides turn too.
Summary, key concepts and the full transcript are laid out; to dig into a sentence, keep asking the AI.
Saved words and questions come back a few each day; for the ones you got wrong, the AI explains.
Sources
Academic source
Kiewra, K., SOAR learning model, University of Nebraska–Lincoln (kiewra.unl.edu/soar-success).
Review intervals
Reviews are scheduled with the open-source FSRS algorithm: the better you know something, the longer until you see it again.
Learn the method, and you already know the software
Every step has a feature in Soar that you'll actually use.