Deadline versus depth
The faster plan may finish the entered scope inside the horizon while the deeper plan leaves pages open. The retention proxy shows why a slower plan can still be attractive, but it is only as credible as its evidence.
Education
Reading Plan Scenario Calculator
Compare two reading strategies by deadline completion, estimated effective retained pages, and time to finish.
READING PLAN SCENARIOS
Compare pace with the retention assumption it costs
A faster reading plan is not automatically the better plan. Compare two named paces over one horizon while keeping the retention proxy visible as an assumption rather than a hidden quality claim.
Plan A summary—
Plan B summary—
Effective-page difference—
Effective-retention leader—
Faster completion—
LIVE DECISION VISUAL
Reading Plan Scenario Calculator map
Choose a plan only after inspecting both the deadline result and the evidence behind its retention proxy; the page does not validate a person's recall percentage.
Enter valid values to populate the chart.
| Plan | Scheduled pages | Completed by horizon | Effective pages | Weeks to finish | Retention assumption |
|---|
LIVE CALCULATION PROCESS
Current values from formula to reconciliation
scheduled = pages/day × days/week × horizon; completed = min(remaining, scheduled); effective pages = completed × retention ÷ 100; weeks to finish = remaining ÷ (pages/day × days/week)
HOW TO USE
Compare two named reading strategies
- Set one shared remaining-page scope, horizon, and number of study days.
- Enter Plan A and Plan B pages per day from deliberate, observable schedules.
- Enter a retention proxy for each plan only when you can explain how it was estimated.
- Review deadline completion, effective retained pages, and weeks to finish as separate outputs.
- Choose a plan after checking the evidence behind its retention proxy; the chart is a trade-off map, not a winner generator.
SUBJECT FUNDAMENTALS
The scenario dimensions
- Remaining scope
- The pages both plans must address; holding it constant makes the comparison interpretable.
- Daily pace
- Pages assigned to one study day under a named plan.
- Horizon
- The fixed number of weeks used to test deadline completion.
- Retention proxy
- A declared percentage used to translate completed pages into an effective-page comparison.
- Effective pages
- Completed pages multiplied by the retention proxy; a planning proxy, not a measurement.
- Weeks to finish
- Remaining pages divided by weekly scheduled pages, without rounding away fractional time.
CALCULATION METHOD
Keep pace and proxy visible
scheduled = pages/day × days/week × horizoncompleted = min(remaining, scheduled)effective = completed × retention/100weeks to finish = remaining ÷ (pages/day × days/week)
Defaults give Plan A scheduled = 12×5×4 = 240 pages, effective = 240×0.78 = 187.2 pages, and 4.00 weeks to finish. Plan B schedules 180 pages, retains 158.4 effective pages, and needs 5.33 weeks. The effective difference is 28.8 pages.
DEEP ANALYSIS
Trade-offs hidden by a single pace
Do not double count review
If retention already includes a review check, do not add a second unlabelled bonus. Keep the proxy definition stable across both scenarios.
Shared assumptions matter
Changing days, scope, or horizon for only one plan turns a comparison into two unrelated forecasts. The page holds shared context constant.
RESULT INTERPRETATION
There can be two different winners
One plan can finish sooner while the other has more effective pages under the entered retention proxies. The page deliberately reports both leaders so the user can choose the decision criterion.
The grouped bars separate completed pages from effective pages. If the proxy is uncertain, treat the gap as sensitivity rather than precision.
EVIDENCE AND DATA LINEAGE
Document the retention proxy
Use recall checks, reviewed summaries, error logs, or a tutor's rubric to justify a proxy. Record whether the two plans use different note-taking or testing methods before comparing their percentages.
LIMITS AND EXCLUSIONS
Scenario boundaries
- The retention proxy is not a validated learning measurement or probability of remembering.
- The model ignores page difficulty changes, interruptions, fatigue, and non-reading assignments.
- Effective pages are not an official grade, transcript quantity, or mastery count.
TECHNICAL GLOSSARY
Scenario terms
- Horizon
- The fixed comparison window before a deadline.
- Scheduled pages
- Pages that the pace would assign during the horizon.
- Completed pages
- Scheduled pages capped at the shared remaining scope.
- Retention proxy
- An explicit estimate of how much completed reading remains useful under a chosen check.
- Effective pages
- Completed pages adjusted by the proxy for comparison only.
- Trade-off
- A choice where faster completion and deeper evidence point in different directions.
WORKED DECISION CASES
Use the result to ask better questions
Deadline-first plan
Plan A finishes the scope on time but has the lower retention proxy. The decision may be to add a short retrieval block rather than abandon the faster pace.
Depth-first plan
Plan B leaves pages unfinished by the horizon but produces a stronger effective-page proxy. The decision may be to negotiate scope or extend the deadline.
IMPORTANT NOTE
A proxy must remain a proxy
Do not turn the effective-page comparison into a claim that one learner or method is universally better.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Reading Plan Scenario questions
Why cap completed pages at the remaining scope?
A plan cannot complete more of the shared assignment than exists, but its uncapped scheduled demand remains useful in the ledger.
Can the slower plan win?
Yes. It can lead on effective pages if its declared retention proxy is high enough, even when it takes longer.
How should I choose retention?
Use a repeatable recall or explanation check and document how the percentage was produced.
Does this predict grades?
No. It compares schedule scenarios using a user-entered proxy and does not model course grading.
What if both plans use the same pace?
The schedule result ties; any effective difference comes only from the entered retention proxies.
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