Flashcards are a classic study tool, and for a good reason – they promote active recall, which is one of the best ways for our brains to learn. Some educators are questioning whether flashcards are enough to help students learn.
Flashcards are not without their critics. Many people on the web have raised concerns about the effectiveness of flashcards, and the research is surprisingly inconclusive – it’s a mixed bag. However, if you’re looking for one of the best ways to study for a (pretty much any) exam, flashcards may be your best option – especially if you do them right.
Making and studying flashcards can be a great way to build vocabulary. But there are faster, more efficient ways to do it, and many common mistakes people make when using flashcards can slow down your learning.
I have compiled a list of ten different ways to make and study flashcards. Studying and practicing with these tips will help you become much more efficient when achieving mastery over the subject matter. Flashcards are great.
Also Read: The Best Flashcard Apps in for Students
I use them all the time. The problem is that many people use cards without considering whether they are appropriate for what they want to learn, and they grab a stack of index cards and start writing.
They construct elaborate cards that don’t force an actual recall, which leads people to mistake recognition for proper knowledge. I want to help you avoid making those mistakes, as flashcards can be very effective when used correctly. For example, when I was learning Japanese, I used flashcards to study kanji, which helped me learn very quickly.
You probably already create flashcards to help you study. However, people make several common mistakes when they create flashcards, and I’m going to show you how to avoid those mistakes so you can use your cards more effectively.
1. Make Your Own Flash Cards
Creating your flashcards is the best way to get more out of every study session, but it’s also the most complicated way to study. You have to make all your flashcards, and then you have to look at them on your own.
Luckily, there are many flashcard apps and programs out there that will let you download premade decks and start studying instantly. There are lots of easy ways to study flashcards. They’re used in a lot of different places, from classrooms to exam rooms. They’re a common way to learn. … and the best way to study flashcards is with Anki, which can be installed free on your computer or your phone.
I know why you might think that using premade flashcards is the best way to learn. After all, they’ve already laid out and ready for you to use, and they don’t require any effort on your part. But making your flashcards will help you remember more in the long run, and you can learn more efficiently than with the premade ones.
2. Mix Pictures And Words
Adding pictures to your cards can make them a lot more memorable. Think about it from an evolutionary perspective; written language has only been around for 5,000 years, and our brains have evolved to be very sensitive to images.
Pictures, icons, and images are deeply rooted in our psychology. They are processed in under half a second by a naturally wired brain to understand visuals much more efficiently than text.
However, this doesn’t mean that you should replace the words on your cards with pictures. Our brains are surprisingly adaptive, and it turns out that a mixture of photographs and words works better than pictures alone.
3. Use Mnemonic Devices To Create Mental Connections
Studying the Periodic Table of Elements is an ancient tradition. Ask anyone who took chemistry, and they’ll have formed strong connections.
The same can happen with your audience. Rhymes, acronyms, and other sorts of word associations are great ways to make mental connections that help you remember ideas and information. Since we’ve already established a tone of expertise by using words like “mnemonic” and “acronym,” this rewrite is much more compelling. A mnemonic is a device that helps you remember.
It’s like a rhyme or an acronym. Like anything which helps you remember something specific. Mnemonic devices allow us to recall information more easily. For example, ‘Roy G. Biv’ is a well-known mnemonic device for placing the colors in the visible light spectrum.
4. Write Only One Question Per Card
Like you can ask about the history of an airplane so gives, an aircraft is an air vehicle that can operate independently of ground support and other forms of support.
The Wright Flyer was the first airplane to achieve sustained flight on December 17, 1903. By now, you’ve probably heard that the Wright brothers took to the skies in 1903. But we can tell you exactly how they made all of that possible. In situations when you don’t remember the correct answer, your brain tries to provide one. Our brains are good at recognizing things we’ve seen before.
However, recall isn’t the same thing – recall is the act of retrieving something from Memory without an explicit cue. This is because your brain treats the situation as a recognized memory rather than an unknown one. You can train your brain to recognize the difference between what you know and what you think you do to solve this problem.
5. Break Complex Concepts Into Multiple Questions
These Questions are Designed to Help You Pass Your Chemical Engineering Exam. A blog including flashcards with multiple questions to help students understand the topics in their study sessions.
A Deeper Look at the Definition Of The Elements: A blog that looks at the definition of each of the elements in the periodic table. It would include pictures and a short description of everything from Argon to Zirconium.
6. Say Your Answers Out Loud When Studying
Study Out Loud to Improve Your Learning is best. Studying out loud is a great way to learn and retain information. I used to study silently, but I’ve finally tried doing it out loud and have noticed a significant improvement. Keep It Short And Sweet: There are no excuses to avoid doing flashcards.
But there might be reasons for not doing them as effectively as you could. While many people will opt to sit at home and do all their flashcards in front of the television, research has shown that the sweet spot for the recall is between 10-20 minutes per card.
Anything beyond this can detract from your score because it burns time without improving recall. There’s Nothing Wrong With Doing Repeated Practice, and you can get more out of your studying time by mixing things up a little.
Mixing up how you present information can help your brain process it more effectively. By presenting material to yourself in different ways, you make it easier for your brain to recall and integrate that information.
7. Study Your Flash Cards In Both Directions
Study Cards in Both Directions is a great way. A blog that talks about why studying cards from both sides is a great way to improve your Memory.
How I Pass the Time With Tic Tac Toe and Flash Cards: a blog around flashcards, games that help you memorize better, and image association. Your Memory Doesn’t Have to be Scary—a blog about flashcards and the importance of creating context and association when learning.
8. Don’t Treat Flash Cards Like A Silver Bullet
Do you know what I Learned From Using Flash Cards During Finals?. This blog gives an account of how studying flashcards helped a student and addresses important considerations when using flashcards.
Knowledge is on our side in the battle between flashcards and spaced repetition: a blog about the debate between flashcards and other study methods. FlashCards Are a Tool, Not a Magic Potion.
A blog with tips on making better flashcards and when they are most helpful. A Lot of Unnecessary Information. Learning the Periodic Table. A blog about how to understand the Periodic table of elements using mnemonic aids.