The Intuition 3-step Cycle

🤔 The Forgetting Problem

Every student knows the feeling: you study hard, score well, and feel confident—only to find weeks later that the details have slipped away. This isn't a sign of laziness or poor memory. It's simply how the brain works.

In the late 1800s, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered what's now known as the Forgetting Curve.

His research showed that memory fades quickly—within an hour, we can lose half of what we've just learned, and within a week, up to 90% of it. Without effort to reinforce it, knowledge leaks away like water from a bucket.

Almost straight away our brains are setup to forget

So, how do we make learning stick? At Intuition, we use the 3-Step Learning Cycle: Learn, Practice, Consolidate.

Revision and refinement updates our retention and allows us to retain knowledge and not forget. The 3-step cycle allows us to tap into the brains ability to retain knowledge and lead to mastery

It's not just a set of classroom activities—it's a proven method designed to outsmart the Forgetting Curve.

This cycle leverages the insights science has provided over the past century regarding memory and applies them in a modern context.

By moving knowledge from short-term recall into long-term mastery, students don't just “cram and forget”—they actually understand, apply, and keep what they've learned.

🏆 Grounding the Cycle in Mastery Learning

The Foundation: Mastery Learning

Before diving into the three steps, it’s essential to understand the philosophy behind them: Mastery Learning. First introduced by educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom in 1968, it revolutionised the traditional classroom model.

In the old system, time is fixed (in terms of a term or a semester), and achievement is variable. Some students excel, many sit in the middle, and others fall behind.

Mastery Learning flips this equation. Instead of time being the constant, the goal of mastery—reaching an 80–90% understanding—becomes the non-negotiable standard. What varies is the time and support students receive to get there.

What This Means in Practice

This approach shifts the focus from blaming students for “not being good at a subject” to improving the teaching and support they receive. It’s a cycle:

• Strong initial teaching provides every student with the opportunity to succeed.
• Quick check-ins (quizzes, homework, feedback) help identify who has mastered the content and who needs more help.
• Tailored support (“corrective instruction”) fills the gaps before students move on.

Students who already grasp the material go deeper with enrichment. Those who need more time get personalised support—so everyone has the chance to reach mastery, not just “keep up.”

How This Shapes the Intuition Cycle

The Learn and Practice steps in Intuition’s 3-Step Learning Cycle match Bloom’s model of initial teaching and formative assessment.

The Consolidate step—small-group tutorials, targeted feedback, and unlimited re-marking—is our way of delivering Bloom’s “corrective instruction.”

This isn’t just good pedagogy; it’s about fairness. Traditional classrooms sort students along a bell curve, often reinforcing disadvantage.

Mastery Learning rejects that. Instead, it treats academic struggle as temporary, something that can be overcome with the proper support.

The result? A growth mindset, more substantial confidence, and real long-term success for every student—especially those who might otherwise have been labelled “low-achieving.”

📖 LEARN — Setting the Brain Up for Success

The first step in any learning cycle is about how new information enters the brain. This stage, called encoding, works best when teaching is designed to match how our memory actually functions.

Our brains have a huge long-term memory (where everything we know lives), but the entry point is the working memory—a narrow bottleneck that can only juggle 4–7 ideas at once. If we overload it, learning breaks down. That’s why the “Learn” step focuses on three key ingredients: expert teachers, worked examples, and small classes.

1. Expert Teachers — Keeping It Clear

Expert teachers don’t just know their subject; they know how to explain it in a way that avoids overload. Using Direct Instruction, they break difficult topics into smaller, logical steps and guide students through them clearly.

This structure prevents confusion, keeps the brain focused on what matters, and builds confidence. Research shows this approach doesn’t just lift academic results — it boosts self-esteem, especially for students who might otherwise fall behind.

2. Worked Examples — Learning by Seeing It Done

When you’re new to a topic, solving a problem from scratch can be overwhelming. Instead of wasting brainpower guessing, students learn faster by studying a worked example — a step-by-step solution with clear explanations.

This approach helps students build mental models (schemas) they can recall later. Once these models are stored in long-term memory, solving similar problems becomes far easier, freeing up brainpower for more complex thinking.

3. Small Classes — The Amplifier

Small classes (8–12 students at Intuition) are the secret ingredient that makes everything else work better. In a small group, teachers can:

• Spot misunderstandings quickly
• Give personalised feedback
• Adjust the pace for the group

Students also feel more comfortable asking questions and joining in discussions. This sense of safety and attention makes the learning process more responsive and effective.

How It All Fits Together

These three features — expert teaching, worked examples, and small classes — aren’t separate perks.

They work together. In a small class, teachers can deliver clear explanations and worked examples at just the right pace, ensuring no student is left behind or left bored.

🏃 PRACTICE — Making Learning Stick

Learning something once isn’t enough — as the Forgetting Curve shows, new knowledge fades fast.

The Practice step is the antidote. It turns fragile memories into strong, long-lasting knowledge through three key tools: deliberate practice, retrieval practice, and personalised feedback.

1. Deliberate Practice — Smarter, Not Just Harder

Not all practice helps. Just repeating a task over and over doesn’t guarantee improvement. Deliberate practice means breaking skills into smaller parts, working on them with purpose, and steadily building up to harder challenges.

That’s why Intuition’s weekly homework progresses from basics to complex, exam-style questions. It’s also timed carefully with spaced repetition — revisiting material at regular intervals.

Each return interrupts forgetting and strengthens memory, making it much more likely to stick long-term.

2. Retrieval Practice — The Power of Remembering

One of the most powerful (and surprising) ways to learn is through recall, not review. Research shows that actively pulling information out of your memory strengthens it far more than re-reading notes or highlighting.

This is why quizzes, challenge questions, and especially mock exams are central. They create “desirable difficulty” — the struggle of recalling signals to the brain that the knowledge matters. Mock exams in particular act like heavy lifting for the brain: they force students to retrieve and apply a wide range of content under pressure, forging memories that last into the real exam.

3. Personalised Feedback — The GPS of Learning

Practice alone isn’t enough. Students need feedback that is timely, specific, and actionable. The best feedback comes quickly (within a day or two), while the task is still fresh in memory.

Instead of vague comments like “good work,” effective feedback pinpoints what was done well, highlights exactly what needs fixing, and gives clear next steps. This turns mistakes into stepping stones — every error becomes a chance to grow stronger.

Why It Matters

The Practice step replaces passive study habits (like re-reading or highlighting) with active, science-backed strategies. Students stop mistaking “familiarity” for mastery and instead build knowledge they can recall, apply, and adapt under exam pressure.

Even better, they learn how to learn — skills that will keep serving them well beyond the classroom.

🙋 CONSOLIDATE — From Understanding to Mastery

If “Learn” gets knowledge into the brain and “Practice” strengthens it, the Consolidate step is where mastery is achieved. This is where gaps are closed, misunderstandings are corrected, and students walk away confident that they own the knowledge.

1. Tutorials — Closing the Gaps

The heart of this step is a weekly small-group tutorial with no more than three students, average of two students. In this setting, tutors focus directly on each student’s mistakes from homework or mock exams.

Instead of treating errors as failures, tutors use them as diagnostic tools. They model the correct process, guide the student through it, and then have them try again until the skill is secure.

This is mastery learning in action: targeted, personalised, and highly effective.

2. Unlimited Re-marking — Redefining “Failure”

At Intuition, students can resubmit work as many times as needed until they get it right. Instead of a grade being the end of the story, it becomes part of the learning journey.

This transforms mistakes into opportunities. Students stop seeing errors as proof they “can’t do it” and start viewing them as steps towards success. This approach nurtures a growth mindset, lowers exam anxiety, and builds resilience — traits that matter far beyond the classroom.

3. 24/7 Support — Building Independent Learners

Learning doesn’t follow a timetable, so support shouldn’t either. With Intu AI and Ask-a-Tutor, students can get help the moment they need it, whether that’s late at night or right before class.

This teaches students how to self-regulate their learning. When they get stuck, they learn to pinpoint the problem, seek help, and move forward.

This metacognitive skill — thinking about one’s own thinking — is what sets up students for success in higher education and lifelong learning.

Why Consolidation Matters

In most systems, assessments just generate a grade, and students move on with their weaknesses unaddressed.

In the Intuition Cycle, every quiz, homework, and mock exam generates data for improvement. That data feeds directly into the tutorial and re-marking process, guaranteeing gaps are closed and mastery is verified.

🏅 Conclusion: The Virtuous Cycle of Deep Learning

The Intuition 3-Step Learning Cycle — Learn, Practice, Consolidate — is more than just a teaching routine. It’s a carefully designed system where each stage builds on the last, creating a loop of continuous growth.

• In Learn, expert teaching, worked examples, and small classes make sure new knowledge enters the brain clearly and effectively.
• In Practice, deliberate and retrieval-based activities strengthen memory, combat forgetting, and generate rich insights into each student’s progress.
• In Consolidate, personalised tutorials, unlimited re-marking, and 24/7 support close gaps, confirm mastery, and build independence.

Together, these steps form a cycle that doesn’t just help students “get through” the syllabus — it ensures they truly master it.

Every week, students move through the cycle again, carrying forward stronger skills, deeper knowledge, and greater confidence.

Rooted in Science, Designed for Students

This cycle isn’t based on guesswork. It draws on over a century of research in cognitive science and educational psychology — from Cognitive Load Theory and the Forgetting Curve to Mastery Learning and the Testing Effect. The result is a system that:

• Works with the brain’s limits instead of against them
• Systematically combats forgetting
• Builds resilience, confidence, and independence

Why It Matters

Where traditional study often produces short-term recall that fades after the test, the Intuition Cycle produces deep, durable, flexible knowledge. It gives students more than grades: it equips them with the mindset and skills to keep learning for life. True academic growth doesn’t come from cramming harder — it comes from learning smarter, within a system that makes mastery possible for every student.

References

1. Ebbinghaus's Forgetting Curve: How to Overcome It.
2. Mastery learning - Wikipedia
3. Mastery Learning: The Educator's Guide (2024)
4. Unlocking the Secrets of Memory: The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve
   
5. Long-Term Benefits from Direct Instruction
6. Benefits of Small Class Sizes | Ferris State University
7. Strategies for Effective Feedback in Education
8. Mastery-Based Learning Work Group 2021 Report
9. What is Deliberate Practice, and why should you care?