Making flashcards

 


   Making flashcards electronically is a much quicker process, and they’re much easier to transport (I can access them all on my phone). They’re also better for the environment. I use an app called Flashcards Deluxe (this app is paid, but there is also a free version available). The app lets you create your flashcards, add pictures and sounds, and even download flashcards from other flashcard sites like Quizlet (this is the site that I use to create the sites but then they’re all downloaded onto the app). It has a great feature which lets you download auditory files so your device will actually read out your questions and then read out your answers as well. There are also testing modes, so that you can be tested on multiple choice questions (using your answers for other cards) and you can be timed on your answers as well (a kind of quick fire round). Below is a screenshot from one of my cards about vision. 

If you don’t want to use flashcards on your phone, but you still want to make electronic cards, I highly recommend using Quizlet. It’s got a really simple interface, and several games that can test you on the cards.

     Physical flashcards are made on pieces of paper or card. You can buy packets of ready-made flashcards, with the biggest available packs holding 1000 flashcards, but you can also make your own by cutting/ripping your paper/card to the size that you want it.  I usually buy my packs of cards from Paperchase (this pack specifically) and organise them in a clear plastic container (available here). I have used paper cards before and found it was useful to keep them all together on a small metal ring. When doing this, it’s also useful to use a hole reinforcers to support the holes (you can buy them here).

       Write your questions on the card. As I wrote the questions, once a side of card was filled up, I went through the questions to make sure that I wasn’t getting ahead of myself and then made the next card. I also printed some pictures/diagrams onto the cards if I felt that they were relevant to the topics/questions I was testing myself on. Here’s a small guide to printing on flashcards. And there’s another guide here (by winterevezakire)

I also used page tabs to mark the cards. I think blue page tabs meant that I kind of understood that card, but not fully and red/pink meant that I was hopeless on that card and it really needed looking at. This really helped me focus my studying on what I was struggling with.

         You can write answers on the backs of your flashcards as well. I tended to only do this if it was an answer that I knew I was really going to need help with or if I had already struggled to answer that question (as marked by the red tabs). 

The actual questions that I wrote were based on my lectures/readings. I tried to cover every topic. If I was struggling with a topic then it would be broken down into a lot of questions and then as I got more familiar with it, the questions would become more general. So for example, I have specific questions like “what is behind the cornea?” but when I get more used to this topic the questions will become more general things like “describe the anatomy of the eye” so that I’m not relying on my question wording or anything to retrieve the answer.

           I would give a word of warning about flashcards though. While I advocate their use, they shouldn’t be used in isolation. I find that flashcards are a very static approach to revision, which allows you to remember things and get a foundation knowledge, but they don’t help you understand because they don’t ask you to apply the knowledge, or question it, or see links between topics. To do that, other forms of revision are needed as well. 

Here are some links to some of my favourite flashcard sets for inspiration:

• Flashcards (by @aemiliana-studies)
• Flashcards (by studywithstyle)
• Flashcards (by avhoche)
• Flashcards (by sabitcher)
• Flashcards (by skyestudies)
• Flashcards (by reviseordie)
  
  BY: study well