Flashcards are one of the simplest ways to test yourself. They work because they make you produce an answer before you see it, which is exactly what you have to do in an exam. Used badly, they become another way of reading notes. This page covers how to make them and how to use them so they do their job.
Make one card ask one question
A good flashcard is small. The front asks one question and the back gives a short answer you can check quickly.
- Ask a question, not a topic. "What does the mitochondrion do?" works. "Mitochondria" on its own does not, because you cannot tell whether you knew enough.
- Keep the answer short. If the back needs a paragraph, split the card into several cards.
- Go both ways for key terms. One card asks for the definition from the word, another asks for the word from the definition.
- Use your own words, unless the exact wording matters, as with a quotation or a formula.
- Add a diagram or example where it helps you recall, such as a labelled sketch of a cell or a worked line of a calculation.
Answer before you turn over
This is the step that makes flashcards work, and the step most people skip.
Look at the front. Say the answer out loud or write it down. Only then turn the card over and check. If you were wrong or only half right, count it as wrong. Turning the card over the moment you feel unsure gives you the feeling of revising without any of the benefit.
Use the box system to space your reviews
You will remember far more if you review a card just as you are starting to forget it. A simple way to do that by hand is to keep cards in a few boxes or piles:
- Box 1: cards you got wrong. Review these every day.
- Box 2: cards you got right once. Review every few days.
- Box 3: cards you got right twice in a row. Review once a week or so.
When you get a card right, move it up a box. When you get it wrong, move it back to box 1, however high it was. Your time goes on the cards you do not know yet, and the cards you know well come round just often enough to keep them. Many flashcard apps do this scheduling for you.
Shuffle and mix
If you always go through cards in the same order, you start remembering the order instead of the answers. Shuffle every time. Once you know a topic reasonably well, mix its cards with other topics so you practise recalling things without the clue of what topic you are on.
What flashcards are good for, and what they are not
Flashcards are good for things with a short, definite answer:
- key terms and definitions
- formulas and units
- dates, names and case-study facts
- quotations for English Literature
- vocabulary for languages
They are much weaker for explaining processes, applying ideas to new situations or writing longer answers. For those, answer exam questions and check them against the mark scheme. A good mix is flashcards for the facts and questions for using them.
Mistakes to avoid
- Copying whole paragraphs onto cards. If you cannot check the answer at a glance, the card is too big.
- Reading both sides together. You have to answer first.
- Only reviewing the cards you like. The cards you keep getting wrong are the ones that matter.
- Making cards and never using them. A small set used every day beats a large set left in a drawer.
Where DoRevision fits
DoRevision modules test you in the same way, asking you to answer before showing you, but with more kinds of question than a card can hold: matching, ordering, sorting and working out values. For example, Periodic Patterns tests the trends in the periodic table and Search Party tests search algorithms in Computer Science. Every subject on the revision pages is organised by its specification, which is also the best checklist for what your flashcards should cover. How to revise for GCSEs explains how flashcards fit with the rest of your revision.