The method
Ten principles, applied literally.
Not “research-informed” as a marketing line. Each one changed a specific mechanism in the product, and most of them make the experience measurably less comfortable. The algorithms that carry them are listed underneath.
Retrieval practice
+50% vs re-reading
Students who retrieved material recalled around 50% more on a one-week delayed test than students who re-read the same passage. Even failed retrieval improves memory — as long as feedback follows.
Roediger & Karpicke (2006) — Test-Enhanced Learning, Psychological Science
What it changed
Answering is the primary activity, not reading. Every concept ends in questions, and there is no way to mark one complete by reading.
Spaced practice
g = 0.74
Practice distributed over days and weeks dramatically outperforms cramming.
Cepeda et al. (2008) — Spacing effects in learning, Psychological Science
What it changed
FSRS spaces reviews at expanding intervals — 1 day, then 3, then 8, then 21 — timed to your own forgetting curve. You never choose what to review.
Interleaving
+20–50% on delayed tests
Mixing topics rather than drilling one creates a desirable difficulty that forces you to discriminate between problem types — the skill an exam actually tests.
What it changed
Review sessions mix questions from multiple topics instead of blocking them by unit.
Generation effect
Free response beats recognition
Producing an answer builds a stronger memory trace than picking one from a list.
Slamecka & Graf (1978) — The generation effect: Delineation of a phenomenon
What it changed
Numerical input and short answer sit alongside multiple choice, so most questions make you generate rather than recognise.
Desirable difficulties
Harder practice, better retention
Spacing, interleaving and retrieval all feel harder than re-reading. Students prefer the easier methods because of fluency illusions.
Bjork & Bjork (2011) — Making things hard on yourself, but in a good way
What it changed
Onboarding says plainly that this will feel harder than a lecture, and explains why before you start.
Scaffolding and expertise reversal
Support that fades
What helps a novice actively hurts an expert. Support has to withdraw as skill grows.
Kalyuga et al. (2003) — The expertise reversal effect, Educational Psychologist
What it changed
New topics open with full worked examples; as mastery rises the scaffolding drops away on its own.
Cognitive load management
Less extraneous load
Working memory is the bottleneck. Anything on the page that is not the concept is competing with it.
Sweller (1988) — Cognitive load during problem solving, Cognitive Science
What it changed
One concept per lesson, 8–15 minutes. Text and diagrams sit together rather than apart, and nothing is presented in three formats at once.
Self-explanation prompts
Better mental models
Students who explain why an answer is right build more accurate models than students who simply move on.
Chi et al. (1994) — Eliciting self-explanations improves understanding, Cognitive Science
What it changed
After a wrong answer you are asked to say why the correct one works, before the next question appears.
Non-interference
Similar ideas kept apart
Related concepts learned too close together produce associative interference — the two blur into one.
What it changed
Price elasticity of demand and income elasticity of demand never appear in the same session.
Misconception targeting
Confronts wrong models
Standard economics instruction barely shifts common preconceptions. Naming the specific error works better than marking an answer wrong.
What it changed
Distractors are built from documented misconceptions, and a wrong answer is answered by name — never with “Incorrect”.
The algorithms underneath
What this is not
None of this is a claim that the app makes you learn faster. Spacing and retrieval make learning slower per session and more durable per month. If you want to feel fluent this evening, re-read your notes. If you want to still know it in June, do the harder thing.
Designed for economics, not adapted from math
Economics differs from mathematics in important ways. Our content and assessment are designed specifically for how students learn economic reasoning.
Graph literacy as a skill
Economics is uniquely graph-dependent. Supply and demand diagrams, cost curves, and market structure graphs are the visual language of the discipline. We teach graph reading as an explicit skill with consistent visual conventions — and price is always on the vertical axis.
Cohn et al. (2001) — The effect of economic literacy courses on student learning
Conceptual over procedural
Economics requires understanding why, not just how. Our questions test reasoning ('Explain why a price ceiling causes a shortage') rather than rote calculation. This builds transferable economic intuition that survives beyond exam day.
Simkins & Allen (2000) — Active learning in introductory economics
TUCE-aligned assessment
Our diagnostic and unit assessments are modeled on the Test of Understanding in College Economics (TUCE) — the validated standard for measuring economics comprehension. These items specifically target conceptual understanding, not surface-level recall.
Walstad, Watts & Rebeck (2007) — Test of Understanding in College Economics (4th ed.)
How this compares to other resources
Most students have already tried something else. Here is what Econ Academy does differently — and what it does not try to be.
Khan Academy
Free video library. Watch a lecturer explain, then try a few static problems.
Gap · Passive watching, no graph manipulation, no spaced review.
MRU Interactive Practice
Free question bank from Marginal Revolution University, with worked solutions.
Gap · Strong on problem sets, lighter on interactive graph manipulation. Skews toward macro and policy scenarios.
Textbook publisher platforms
MyEconLab, Aplia, Mindtap. Adaptive practice tied to one specific textbook.
Gap · Paid (students pay 80–120 dollars). Locked to the textbook the course adopted.
Econ Academy
Free, browser-only, built around active graph manipulation and FSRS spaced repetition. Aligned with standard intro microeconomics and AP Micro — not tied to one textbook.
What's different · Drag the graph, retrieve from memory, get reviewed again before you'd forget. The five algorithms above are running every time you study.
The learning loop
Every session reinforces long-term retention through a cycle of retrieval, feedback, and optimally-timed review.
Learn
Read the explanation and worked example
Practice
Answer questions with immediate feedback
Master
Get 2 consecutive correct to advance
Review
FSRS schedules spaced reviews automatically
Science-backed learning, free to start.
Free, forever. Evidence-based economics education built on learning science.