Understanding means you can produce and adapt the idea without the page in front of you. Five short tests check this and tell you what to study next.
This resource is part of the student study resources. If you pass examples but fail new questions, I understand examples but cannot answer new questions goes deeper.
What are the five tests?
| Test | What you do | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Blank page | Write what you remember, notes closed | Recall |
| Teach it | Explain aloud to an imaginary Form 3 student | Clarity |
| Change it | Alter a number or condition and solve | Flexibility |
| Why | Ask “why does this step work?” three times | Depth |
| Mix | Solve it inside a question from another topic | Connection |
How does it run on a real topic?
Here is an original run on the topic “work done”, W = F × d in Physics, for a student who has just studied it.
- Blank page. She writes: W = Fd, unit joule, force times distance. She forgot that the force and the distance must be in the same direction.
- Teach it. She says, “Work is how much energy you transfer when a force moves something.” Good, but she cannot say why lifting a bag and carrying it level give different answers.
- Change it. A 50 N force pushes a box 4 m gives 200 J. She changes to a 30° angle and gets stuck, because she never met the angle case.
Three tests, three specific gaps. Her next step is not “revise work done”, it is “direction of force and distance, with the angle case”.
What do I do with the results?
Count the failures. If two or more tests fail, go back to the explanation and examples. If only “Change it” fails, practise varied questions. If only “Mix” fails, combine this topic with another one in a question.
The prerequisite gap finder helps when the failure traces back to an earlier skill.
A self-check you can do now
Pick a topic you studied last week. Close the book, write three lines from memory, then change one number in a past example and solve it.
If both go well, test again in three days. If not, you have found where to put your next 30 minutes.
Why retest after a few days?
Memory looks strong straight after study. A second test after three days shows what survived. Use retrieval cards that test understanding to keep the tested ideas alive.
When might a teacher help?
If the tests keep failing on the same type of step, a one-to-one teacher can see how you reason through it and fix the faulty idea. The one-hour trial class (from RM50) works well for this. Bring the topic and your results from these tests.