What To Write On A Flash Card

A flash card is a physical (or virtual) card bearing a small amount of information, made for pupils to see as an aid to learning.

Here, in this post, we’ll try to answer a few common questions related to the content of a flash card like:

• What should you write on your flash card?

• How should you write your information snippets on a flash card?

• Should you include rough sketches (wherever applicable) for easier comprehensibility?

So, what are we still waiting for? Let’s begin without further ado.

1. Be brief and right to the point

Keep the content of your flash card short and right to the point at all possible costs.

Remember, flash cards aren’t textbooks. You just cannot overload them with paragraphs after paragraphs of information. Your primary objective should be to design your content in such a manner that you can absorb it in a jiffy.

• Flash cards can be the most useful learning tool for you if you use them for learning vocabulary, dates, scientific terms, historical events and any other information that is easy to memorize.

• Flash cards are NOT appropriate for an in-depth analysis of the subject matter.

1. It’s advisable to have ONLY one term per card

It’s a quite well-known fact that your brain cannot absorb a whole lot of information at a single glance (which is actually the purpose of using a flash card).

Hence, it’s advisable to keep ONLY one term per card to make things easier for yourself.

For example,

If you are learning French, do not put “Bonjour, Au Revoir” (Hello, goodbye) on a single side of the flash card. Use two individual cards for two those two individual words.

Meaning, reserve a card for “Bonjour” (Hello), and reserve another for “au revoir” (Goodbye). You will get better results through this particular tactic of yours.

1. Use pictures in your flash cards

Studies show that the addition of pictures to your flash cards can help to make them more memorable in comparison to the ones without the same.

That’s because of the magic of visual information (AKA the picture superiority effect).

Visual information is the most enlightening information of all. It helps to create the maximum impression on people in general. So, the use of visuals (such as photographs or sketches) in your flash cards will do you more good than harm in the long run.

Remember, it takes our brain only thirteen milliseconds to recognize an image. So, we can naturally conclude from this statement of ours that the use of images in flash cards can help you remember information faster than the way it was before.

• Always choose only those images that are relevant to the information present on your flash card. Meaning, if you are making a Bacteria flash card, do not draw the diagram of a Euglena on it.

• And do note that these little images don’t have to be a great work of sketch. Just make sure it’s identifiable enough from your point of view, and that would do.

How should you use your flash cards?

So the “creation” part of the job is done and dusted. Now we will switch over to the ways through which you can use your flash cards in the best possible manner.

• Review your flash cards at least three times a day: Turn this practice into a habit of yours. This can really help you a lot in the long run.

• Keep your flash cards close: Keep your flash cards in easily accessible places (such as in your backpack or inside your purse) so that you can get your hands on them whenever you want it. So learning during intervals, coffee breaks, train journeys, etc. ceases to be a problem anymore.

• Find a study buddy: Studying with a friend can help to improve your motivation to succeed. So why don’t you do the very same thing? It can go a long way indeed.
   

With that, we’ll bring this post to a close. Hope you had a great read.