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### Learning Schedules

One of the aspects of Mental Case that sets it apart from a simple note taking application is that it has advanced study scheduling capabilities. For each stack in your library, you can choose a study schedule; when you do this, notes in the stack become due for study at some later date. You then study them in a slideshow, after which they will be rescheduled for future study.

Mental Case supports several different types of learning schedule, tailored to different study goals. There is a long-term learning schedule based on spaced repetition, which is a very efficient, scientifically-based approach to learning. If your goals are more immediate, there is a cramming mode, which is based on the well-known Leitner System of moving study cards between boxes. This is a good option if you have to learn some notes as quickly as possible, such as in the lead up to an exam.

There is a second short-term learning algorithm that is exclusive to Mental Case: the date-targeted learning schedule. It is similar to the long-term method, but is adapted to target a particular date, such as the day of a test or exam. Mental Case adjusts the time intervals of the standard spaced-repetition algorithm so that you have a very good probability of knowing your notes on the target date.

Another aspect of study scheduling that is unique to Mental Case is that combinations of note facets are scheduled separately. For example, if you have some language notes with English and Spanish facets, you need to know the notes in two different orders: English-to-Spanish and Spanish-to-English. Mental Case schedules these combinations as if they were separate notes. If you always get the English-to-Spanish combination right, and the Spanish-to-English wrong, the Spanish-to-English will be due much more often to help you learn it better.

By default, Mental Case only updates the due status of notes once per day, around midnight, or whenever you launch the app. If you make changes to a learning schedule, the due status of the notes involved will update, but otherwise no more notes will become due until the next day.

Sometimes you may want to force an update to the due status of your notes. Perhaps you finished all of your study, and want to allow some more notes to become due so you can study them now, rather than wait until the next day. You can force an update of the due notes using items in the Notes menu.

#### See also

Scheduling Topics
Setting the Learning Schedule
Refreshing Due Status