Use Flashcards

Use flashcards. Home-made version. Sound old-fashioned? Well it is. And here is why they’re effective:

1) You review while you are creating the cards. And you are not only reveiwing, you are making choices at the same time about how to categorize and identify information and what is most important to remember.

2) You review them repeatedly (we hope) later.

3) Can be shuffled randomly or arranged in different categories, or focused on ones you have trouble with.

4) They are very portable, can be taken for a few minutes of reiew when you are stuck on a bus, waiting in the car for someone somewhere, a few minutes at the end of a class, the 5-10 minutes after hoework before dinner.

5) Used optimally, you are engaging various parts of your brain: writing them out initially, reading if possible aloud to yourself as you study them, flipping the cards with your hands.

6) Remember not to cram too much information on one card. A “flash” is “an instant.” Flashcards are supposed to help you practice quick recall of essential facts and ideas.

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