Flashcards: An effective learning and self-testing approach

What are flashcards, and how do they help students learn?

Flashcards are tiny note cards that playfully help you retain some key information in your memory. There’s 2 sides to a flashcard - one side has a hint, and the other side has the answer. Flashcards may include names, word tests, concepts, formulae, procedures, or general knowledge questions. For example, one side of the card may say ‘China’, and the other side may say ‘the third largest country in the world (by area)’.

Various vital pieces of information, lesson summaries, and key facts can be learnt better with flashcards.

Learning becomes more productive and fun when students are encouraged to take charge of their learning process, and using flashcards is one the many effective ways of learning and self-testing approaches.

Flashcards can spruce up your child’s study plans

A teacher can make Maths more interesting using Sudoku, or make Science more fun through hands-on experiments. Encouraging students to focus on enjoying the learning process on top of their academic performance can be a real motivator. Flashcards are a great way to stimulate and motivate children, and can be accommodated in short amounts of time that are available to you during the day.

Constant quizzing helps in active recall, which creates stronger neural connections in the brain. Even as you create flashcards, you are learning, gathering information, and challenging yourself as you delve into which information to write on either side of the card.

Advantages of using flashcards

Flashcards advance many skills and attitudes that are useful for personal, interpersonal, and practical aspects. They enhance a child’s understanding of the world through providing an opportunity for better learning, joy, reflection, and wonder. Active recall helps improve one’s memory much faster than is the case with passive recall. This also makes online education much more exciting and not just limited to listening to lessons passively.

How you can begin using flashcards

Old-school flashcards can be made with notecards and a pencil. It takes longer than online flashcards, but writing information down enables a child to remember the lesson better. You can also have a printout from a template.

Several flashcard websites exist that enable you to make and study flashcards on their website or application. One can also learn flashcard ideas from other users, which can help save time in creating good flashcard ideas. Learning from others is a big advantage of going online. It can be perfect for handling concepts such as Mathematics formulas that a child finds hard to memorise. Geniebook is one such platform that offers creative ways for your children to learn through flashcards and other fun activities!

Wrapping up

• Place the right amount of information on your flashcards. Avoid bombarding the cards with all the facts learnt in class. Try making a deck of related facts or formulas. Through understanding what to write on either side of the flashcards, your child can speed up their learning process.
• Your child can collaborate with their friends during group study sessions and test each other using the flashcards they created. They can easily discuss which concepts they think are worthwhile to be learnt through flashcards and why.
• Connections can be built between singular or groups of flashcards to create mind maps that can make the learning process much more fun to grasp.
• Keep in mind to only select topics that can be easily learnt through flashcards.
• Use images that stimulate your child’s memory in their flashcards. Use hints they are familiar with and can understand easily.

Flashcards are an impactful way of learning the fundamentals of any subject, and they are one of the many creative tools that can be used to help children internalise important concepts and also prevent any scope for monotony. Try them out for yourselves today!