How far ahead of an exam should I start?

As early as you can. The review schedule runs 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days after you make a video, so topics you understand two to four weeks out get several rewatches before the test. A week is still enough to fix your weakest topics.

Does Isotoon give me practice questions?

No. It explains ideas and lists your videos for rewatching. For retrieval practice, use your textbook's problems, past exams from your class or flashcards you make yourself.

Will Isotoon remind me when it is time to review?

It does not send reminders. Your notebook shows which videos are due to rewatch, so open it at the start of each study session.

Is cramming the night before ever worth it?

Light review is worth it: rewatching a few videos and going over past mistakes. Learning new material late at night usually costs more sleep than it gains, and sleep helps you remember what you studied.

Can I use it for a cumulative final?

Yes. Make a video for each topic you are unsure about across the whole course, starting with the earliest units, and work through the notebook's rewatch list as the final gets closer.

Exam prep: understand each topic, then keep it until the test

Good exam prep has two jobs: make sense of each topic, then keep it until test day. Isotoon helps with both halves of that by turning each confusing topic into a short video and listing it for rewatching 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days later; the practice questions are still yours to do.

Ask the question you're stuck on

A real one

2D video · 32 seconds

How is meiosis different from mitosis?

Follows one cell down two paths: mitosis makes two identical diploid copies (2n to 2n), while in meiosis homologous chromosomes pair up and cross over, the pairs split in meiosis I, and the cell ends as four genetically unique haploid gametes (2n to n).

Scenes, in order:

Same cell, two fates
Mitosis: perfect copies
Partners pair up
Pairs split, not copies
Four unique gametes

A plan for the week before

Seven days is enough time to fix the topics that worry you, if you start by finding them. Here is one way to spend the week:

Day 1: Go through the syllabus or study guide and mark every topic as solid, shaky or lost. Be honest; the shaky ones are where the points are.
Day 2: Take the lost topics one at a time. For each, type the exact question you can't answer into Isotoon, watch the video and ask a follow-up if a step is still unclear.
Day 3: Do the same for the shaky topics, then do a short set of practice problems on Day 2's topics without looking anything up.
Day 4: Work a full practice exam or a past exam if your class provides one. Write down every question you got wrong or guessed on.
Day 5: Turn those misses into questions and make videos for the ones that came from not understanding, rather than from a careless slip. Rewatch the videos from Day 2.
Day 6: Mixed practice across all topics, closed book. Rewatch anything you missed again.
Day 7: Light review only. See the night-before section below.

For a longer version with more detail on each day, read how to study for a final in 7 days.

Understand first, then practice retrieving it

Rereading feels productive because the material looks familiar. Familiar is not the same as being able to produce it on a blank page. Exams ask you to produce it.

So split the work in two. First, understand the idea. This is where Isotoon helps: a video on meiosis vs mitosis shows homologous chromosomes pairing and separating, which is hard to get from a table of differences. Second, practice pulling it out of your own memory. That part is retrieval practice, and Isotoon does not do it for you. Close the book and answer practice questions, work past exams or quiz yourself with flashcards.

Watching a video is not retrieval. Use the video to get the idea right, then test yourself on it.

The review schedule, and why spacing works

Every video you make goes into your notebook, which lists it to rewatch 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days after you made it. The gaps grow because each time you come back after some forgetting, pulling the idea back up strengthens it more than another look right away would. Learning researchers call this the spacing effect, and it is one of the more reliable findings about how memory works. Our psychology page on how memory works covers the basics.

In practice, start early. A topic you first understand three weeks before the final gets several spaced rewatches before the exam. A topic you first meet the night before gets none.

The notebook is a list of what to rewatch and when. It does not quiz you or send reminders, so check it at the start of each study session.

The night before

Don't start new material. A topic you are meeting for the first time tonight will be shaky tomorrow, and the attempt costs sleep.
Do light review: skim your list of past mistakes and rewatch the videos for the two or three topics that worried you most.
Do one short closed-book check, like writing out a key process or derivation from memory, then stop.
Sleep. Memory consolidation happens during sleep, and a tired brain retrieves worse. An extra hour of cramming usually costs more than it gains.

Where to start by subject

Each subject page lists common sticking points and questions worth a video: biology, chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, calculus, statistics, computer science, economics, psychology and earth and environmental science.

For an AP exam, the course pages go unit by unit: AP Biology, AP Calculus, AP Physics 1, AP Statistics and AP Psychology.

Guides with more on method: how to study for exams without forgetting, how to study for organic chemistry exams and how to study for AP Biology. All of them are collected in guides.

Getting started

Your first video is free. After that, Basic covers videos up to 30 seconds and Pro covers up to 60 seconds plus interactives; see plans. If you want to know what makes a question produce a good video, read about the study video maker, or see how Isotoon compares as an AI study tool.

Questions

How far ahead of an exam should I start?: As early as you can. The review schedule runs 1, 3, 7, 14 and 30 days after you make a video, so topics you understand two to four weeks out get several rewatches before the test. A week is still enough to fix your weakest topics.
Does Isotoon give me practice questions?: No. It explains ideas and lists your videos for rewatching. For retrieval practice, use your textbook's problems, past exams from your class or flashcards you make yourself.
Will Isotoon remind me when it is time to review?: It does not send reminders. Your notebook shows which videos are due to rewatch, so open it at the start of each study session.
Is cramming the night before ever worth it?: Light review is worth it: rewatching a few videos and going over past mistakes. Learning new material late at night usually costs more sleep than it gains, and sleep helps you remember what you studied.
Can I use it for a cumulative final?: Yes. Make a video for each topic you are unsure about across the whole course, starting with the earliest units, and work through the notebook's rewatch list as the final gets closer.