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April 17, 2006
Productive Repetition
I've written before about hand-writing flashcards as a two-time-winner study method because they increase reptition and form a product you produce. Here are some ways that you can improve your notecards as you go through them:
Complete both sides. I generally make the first draft of my flashcards during lecture. This is a good time to do it, because it keeps me engaged in the lecture, thinking critically, and offers many stimuli to associate to the information. However, I don't always get the question and the answer written. If I got most of it, I probably managed to write down the answer. If I didn't really get it, I try to at least write down a question. This can be a good thing. I can go back later and fill in the other half, which also makes the review a meaningful use of time.
Annotate the bottom left corner with the subject, block, lecture number (or date) and page numbers of books and notes. The more of these you can fill in, the better. Particularly write in table and figure numbers if the lecturer indicates these during lecture. Understand these figures.
Expand abbreviations and acronyms. This is particularly helpful if you have a helper
(spouse, significant other, particularly smart pet, whatever), who can read the flashcards for you, but who may not actually understand the material.Write two to five questions and answers on each card. Write your flashcards in pencil and keep some of those white erasers handy. If you wrote multiple facts on the answer side, think of multiple questions to ask on the other side. This increases the number of associations you've made. Don't, however, make simple questions if you can make easy complex questions. "What's the difference between amylose and amylopectin" is a better than splitting the content into two questions "Describe amylose" and "Describe amylopectin".
Underline keywords in the answer so your helper (if you have one) can know if your right even if you don't regurgitate the exact same sentence that you wrote in the answer. I use a red fountain pen for this. I find I can easily filter it out if I'm reading the gray pencil markings, it doesn't smear the pencil markings, like highlighter would, and, again in favor of red over highlighter, it doesn't affect the background of the words indicated.
Rewrite questions and answers for natural language (e.g., use contractions) and active voice. There's a very simple formula for converting passive voice to active voice: "Hydrogen ions are produces by the parietal cells." is passive. Remove the linking verb, and by; then reorder the remaining components as subject, transitive verb, direct object: "Parietal cells produce hydrogen ions." Besides being shorter and more vigorous, it is more accurate, e.g., hydrogen ions may enter the stomach from sources other than parietal cells.
>Lay out all the handouts and lecture notes. Put the associated note cards on top of each set of handouts and notes. Look for glaring deficiencies in the piles, then go through each lecture and make sure your flash cards have all the right stuff.
Put all the flashcards in order.
Copy diagrams into your flashcards where you feel they add information. Keep in mind that the test will surely have more words than pictures.
Identify the questions by placing an E, M, or H in the lower right corner of the question side, opposite the subject and lecture notes (see above), for easy, medium, and hard, respectively.
As you get closer to the test, review all the flashcards and set aside the ones you obviously know. Just repeat the ones you don't know. This saves time and helps you organize your endgame as the test gets closer.
Write comparitive questions. They are a more efficient use of mental space because they encourage you to form connections rather than just memorize more facts. A comparitive question, like "Does acetylcholine act faster or slower than serotonin?" requires you to know three things, while the two questions "Does acetylcholine act fast or slow" and "Does serotonin act quickly or slowly?" requires you to remember a total of four things, two of which, the rates of action, are actually quite vague standing on their own. Acetylcholine is quick compared to what?
Posted by Niels Olson at April 17, 2006 11:25 PM
Comments
AAAAUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!! Are you going to have your notecards bronzed for posterity.
Posted by: Dr. Ray at April 19, 2006 12:47 PM
Uh, no... Thanks for commenting though ;)
I had never figured this stuff out before. I suppose most people figure out how to study very early on, or are simply smart enough to not need to do things like this. I wanted to record where my thought process is now, sort of a trail of breadcrumbs. I wanted to put the ideas down in a publicly accessible way because I know people arrive at this site from search engines looking for answers to questions like this. And I find writing in and of itself to be a useful synthetic learning method. Cheers,
Posted by: Niels Olson ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://nielsolson.us/Haversian/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 19, 2006 1:59 PM
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