Menu
Flashcards may be used for learning at any age - from the cradle to the grave. Their universal nature make it possible to learn foreign phrases, complex formulas, vocabulary, pieces of art and much more. Use our online flashcard maker to generate your own sets of educational or information flashcards for any purpose. Share the cards online as. How to create revision flashcards that boost your memory. This post was sponsored by Ryman the stationers. Flashcards are a fantastic way to break your revision of content heavy subjects up into bite sized chunks and to test yourself on your knowledge. A common mistake students make with flashcards; How to boost your memory by 55% with one simple tip; Top tips for designing powerful flashcards; How to level up your revision so you can remember what you learn. Use a 2×2 table in order to create 4 flashcard templates on one page. Resize the table so it completely fills your document. Go back to the Insert tab and insert a text box. The fact that I prefer Digital flashcards doesn’t mean Paper flashcards aren’t great. If you’re studying a subject requiring only a hundred or so cards, paper works fine. But unless you have a printer, you won’t be able to use images you create digitally. You could draw colorful images though.
There is much to be said on the topic of how to create strong and efficient online flashcards. After all, that is the whole point of this website. But we need to start somewhere, and what better way to begin than by giving you the ultimate guide to creating something truly useful and valuable.
So without further ado, here are 5 golden rules to help you get the most out of your flashcards.
Golden Rules to make your own flashcards
Rule No. 1: Short and simple is the key.
Your aim should be to find the smallest amount of information possible to put on the card, yet make sure that it still contains the most important facts – and only those. If you are quizzing yourself about US history, a good question might be: “Name the first five US presidents.” The answer card may then contain the names of all the men in question, as well as perhaps the years they were in office. If you also need to know what party they belonged to and who was vice president during their tenure, you should create separate flashcards.
Rule No. 2: Stick to what is truly relevant.
Not all simple facts – like the above mentioned party affiliation or terms of office – are relevant. While it may be important to know when a president was in office, do you really need to know when he was born? The political context during those times – and during the years of his presidency – may be much more relevant than the exact year(s).
Rule No. 3: Break down content into units.
No matter how short all individual facts may be, if you try to cram too much onto one card it defeats the purpose of quick revision. Not to mention the fact that you may not be able to simply rattle off the answer to ”Name all living US presidents”. Why not find smaller units to break your content down? Start off with the most recent presidents, from 1945 until today.
Rule No. 4: Increase readability with bullets.
The question “What was the context of Harry S. Truman’s presidency?” may lend itself to an answer phrased as a lengthy paragraph. But when you are revising, are you really going to read through of all it? Make a list of keywords (post-WWII, atomic bomb, Marshall Plan, Cold War, etc.), which you are much more likely to recall and can then put into context.
Rule No. 5: Choose variety in posing questions.
Not all subjects come in an already-made Q&A format. That does not mean that you cannot use flashcards to study. Sometimes it will be necessary to become creative when you create your cards. Find different ways to ask the same question: Instead of simply asking “How did Truman become president in 1945?”, choose to “Describe the circumstances that led to Harry S. Truman’s presidency.” Or take a completely different approach: “Describe the circumstances surrounding Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death and the resulting effects on the office of president.”
If you follow these basic steps when using an online flashcard maker, your learning experience with flashcards will be smooth and efficient, just the way it is supposed to be. Perfect for making the most of a powerful tool like Brainscape the best flashcards app.
How To Make Flashcards App
Brainscape is a web & mobile education platform thathelps you learn anything faster, using cognitive science. Join themillions of students, teachers, language learners, test-takers, andcorporate trainees who are doubling their learning results. Visitbrainscape.com or find us on the App Store .
Do you know how to use flashcards effectively?
Flashcards are a valuable revision tool for any university student. They allow you to test your knowledge of definitions and key ideas – an essential part of successful exam preparation.
![Flashcards Flashcards](https://thelearningcafe.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/flashcard-requirements-e1535564607528.jpg)
- A common mistake students make with flashcards
- How to boost your memory by 55% with one simple tip
- Top tips for designing powerful flashcards
- How to level up your revision so you can remember what you learn.
But first, sign up to my free resource library where you can download my Revision and Exam checklist to get you as prepared as possible for your exams. You’ll also get access to TONS of other printables and worksheets to help you become a happier, more confident and more successful student.
What are flashcards?
Flashcards are sets of small, double-sided cards used to learn and revise details, keywords and vocabulary. They are useful for learning the relationship between two pieces of information You write a question or key term on the front and then the answer or definition on the back.
1. Flashcards are for testing not summarising
I’ve seen some people use flashcards incorrectly. Flashcards should be used to test your knowledge, not just as a way to condense your notes further. I’ve seen people list bullet points on flashcards that they carry around with them to reread. Rereading notes is a passive learning activity so is not an economical use of your revision time.
Instead, use flashcards as a quick way of testing what you know.
1. On the front of the card, write a key term or question
2. On the back of the card, answer that question or write the definition for the term
3. Try to guess the answer/definition on the front before checking the answer on the back.
How To Make Flashcards Word
There is some value in summarising your notes. Creating notes in your own words requires you to process the information and create connections in your brain. Summarising these further requires you to draw out the key points and choose between pieces of information. But the value does not continue as you reread your notes over and over.
Once you have notes written in your own words and summarised – move onto testing yourself quickly.
2. One idea, one flashcard
Your goal isn’t to fill your flashcards with points to make the most of the space. The most effective flashcards include one question followed by one answer (or one term followed by one definition).
Don’t force your brain to remember a complex and wordy answer. It’s easier for your brain to process simpler information so split up your longer questions into smaller, simpler ones.
You will end up with more flashcards this way but your learning will be a lot more effective.
You may only remember part of a wordy answer so you could trick yourself into thinking you understand it all. Or you could waste time repeating a long question over and over to try and remember all parts perfectly. Moneywiz 2 personal finance v2 0 4. Splitting the information allows you to learn each part separately at your own pace which should save time and improve your memory retention.
3. Boost your memory by combining pictures and words
The Pictorial Superiority Effect (PSE) explains that our brains find it easier to recognise and recall visual inputs – pictures are easier to remember than words. John Medina, memory expert (and developmental biologist), explains that text is pretty inefficient as words are actually viewed by our brains as lots of tiny little images that it has to process to find meaning. This takes time so pictures beat text – especially in the revision world.
Medina discovered in his research that, after three days, someone is likely to remember around 10% of information they read. If an image is added to text this figure increases and 65% of information is remembered.
Image from 'Cool Infographics ' by Randy Krum
For you to gain the memory benefits of PSE, add pictures and diagrams to your flashcards.
You may not think you can come up with pictures for a lot of your revision material – but here’s some ideas.
· Authors and people – draw a simple portrait or stick figure
· Places – a quick map
· Figures and data – a chart or graph
· Dates and sequences of events – a timeline
· Process or system – a flowchart.
![Make flash cards with pictures Make flash cards with pictures](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vj8TjV_igvE/maxresdefault.jpg)
These pictures should not be works of art – quick and simple sketches are great.
4. Use spaced repetition to memorise your flashcards
Great revision strategies share the same principle: testing your learning multiple times.
Flashcards are simple to create and quick and convenient for testing yourself. You can only realise the power of flashcards if you give yourself enough time to review them multiple times.
But testing yourself with each flashcard ten times could be a waste of your precious revision time. There will be some concepts you struggle to learn and remember, but others you might become confident with quickly. This is where spaced repetition comes in: a technique to help you revise what you need to, when you need to.
Spaced repetition is the technique of testing yourself multiple times, at intervals dependent on how well you know the concept. The concepts you should retest most often are those you’re struggling to learn and commit to memory. The time between these retests should be low. Therefore, the concepts you feel confident you understand and remember should be retested less frequently. Once confident, you should retest these flashcards just enough to not forget them.
A simple way of implementing this tip is to sort your flashcards as you revise with them.
Pdfelement pro 6 7 6 ocr. After you answer a flashcard, put it into one of three piles:
· I have no clue about this
· I’m not too sure about this
· I really know this
The ‘no clue’ pile should be tested soonest. As you retest your knowledge, your flashcards should change piles until (hopefully) all of them are in the ‘I really know this’ pile.
5. Don’t just use flashcards
Flashcards are a great revision tool but they do have disadvantages like every other technique. Flashcards allow you to learn the answers to simple questions and the relationship between two pieces of information. What they don’t allow you to do is apply this information to situations, understand it in depth or in a wider context.
I definitely think flashcards should be part of your revision formula – but you need to add other techniques too.
How To Make Flashcards On Word
Mindmaps can illustrate all the key ideas and details of a concept or topic.
Quizzes can test your knowledge of broader and deeper ideas.
Practice exam questions allow you to apply your knowledge to a situation or example, engage in critical analysis, synthesise ideas to create new understandings…and practice for your exam!
For super powerful and effective revision, recognise the value flashcards can bring to your exam preparation and use these alongside other active revision techniques.
- Why flashcards are a valuable revision tool
- What to include on your flashcards to boost your memory
- How to study your flashcards in the most efficient way
- Why you should revise using other methods alongside flashcards.
And don't forget to sign up to my resource library and grab alllll my best resources to help you save time each week, improve your study skills and achieve the grades you've always wanted.