Tired of School

Many students have made and used flash cards to increase knowledge. Flash cards use a strategy of memorization called repetition. You repeatedly look over one side of a card and try to remember what is on the other side. Then you do it again…and again…and again, hoping that you will recall more each time. However, by examining your learning style, you can make the flash card learning process quicker and more effective.

For most people, learning visually is much more effective than learning by words. For example, if you were in a maze, and someone told you to memorize a list of “lefts and rights” so you could get out, you would have repeat the correct path ad nauseam to get out on your first try. However, if you were given a map of the maze to look at, you could remember the correct path much more quickly by visualizing yourself walking through the maze correctly several times.

The sneaky trick to try with your flash cards is to visualize the answer, not just try to memorize the answer in words. On the answer side of the card, draw a simple picture and write the information you want to learn in it, on it, or around it. It would be great if the information you are learning lends itself to a picture. For example, if you are learning state capitols, you could draw a rough picture of the state and write the capitol on it.  However, it is not necessary to match the picture to the context.

In fact, if your topic does not lend itself to drawing specific pictures, then you can draw anything you like. Perhaps you can draw pictures of animals that start with the same letters of the words you are learning. “Cantata” could just be a drawing of a cat with the definition written on the tail. When you sit down to the test and see “cantata,” first you will remember the cat, then you will remember that the only definition you saw on a cat’s tail was “vocal composition with instrumentation.” Visual learning strikes again!

Ok, the last topic is as controversial as flash cards get…  Should you buy premade flashcards or write them yourself? I fall in the camp that making them yourself is better but unrealistic. If you have the time to make them yourself, the muscle memory and exposure is helpful for learning. However, I don’t believe I am wrong in saying that there are many more “A” words from the ACT study list than “Z” words that have found their way onto flashcards. If you choose to go the premade route, then still draw your pictures on the back of the cards to help with that visual association we have been talking about.