How to Use Targeted Practice and Learn From Missed Questions

Choose a competency, work through a focused practice session, and save an editable flashcard from a missed answer in RD Study Lab.

By Mike Tulk, RD

Targeted practice lets you choose the area you want to work on. It is useful when a lesson, an assessment, or your own review has given you a specific question: “Can I apply this idea when I have to choose an answer?”

The competency controls and missed-question flashcards in this walkthrough require active Premium access. Free sample practice has a smaller scope.

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These are study-process examples, not real competency categories or bank questions.

Choose your focus

  1. Open Practice and find Drill a competency.
  2. Choose a Competency category.
  3. Leave Practice competency at its all option for broader coverage, or select one to narrow the session.
  4. Choose Start competency practice.

You can also enter practice from a competency page. Check the selected focus before starting so the session matches the topic you intended to revisit.

If there are no questions available for the selected area, try a broader category. Availability depends on the question bank; a narrow filter does not guarantee a session of a particular size.

Make the review specific

Work through the questions and open the completed session’s review. Read the explanation for missed answers and for answers you got right by guessing.

For each uncertain answer, write a short note in your own study notes:

  • What happened? — I chose an answer before checking the final sentence.
  • What did I overlook? — The prompt asked for the next action.
  • What will I try next? — Restate the task before comparing the options.

This is an original example of reviewing your process, not an explanation of a paid question. Your own note should identify the detail that actually changed the answer.

Turn one gap into a flashcard

On an answered, incorrect question in completed review, use the flashcard action. The editor starts with a blank front and an editable back containing the correct answer and rationale.

Write a question that stands alone. “Why was B correct?” will be hard to answer later without the original case. Include the context needed for recall, and edit the back to match the question you wrote. Check both sides before saving.

The card keeps the competency association when one is available. After saving, use the link to due review when you want to practise recalling it. This creates the card you edited; it does not automatically convert every mistake into a useful prompt.

Choose the follow-up

If you lacked the underlying knowledge, return to the lesson. If you overlooked a detail, make that part of your next question-reading routine. If you need more evidence, try another set in the same area and review the reasoning again.

Next: Read your Analytics or put the next session into your Study Plan.