How to make flashcards from your lecture notes that you will actually use

Flashcards are one of the simplest ways to test yourself. You read the front, try to answer, then flip the card to check. The catch is that a badly made deck is easy to give up on. Cards that are too long, too vague or copied word for word from the handout turn revision into reading again.

Here is how to make cards that do their job.

One idea per card

If the answer on the back of a card is a paragraph, it is really several cards. Split it up. A card should have one clear answer you can say in a few seconds.

Instead of this:

Front: Explain the theory of computation.

Try a few smaller cards:

Front: What are the three branches of the theory of computation?

Back: Automata theory, computability theory and complexity theory.

Front: What does complexity theory measure?

Back: How much time and memory a solution needs.

Ask a question on the front

A card with a single word on the front, like “DFA”, invites you to recognise the term instead of recalling anything about it. Phrase the front as a real question, such as “What does a DFA read at each step?”

Questions that ask why or how are especially useful, because they make you connect ideas instead of repeating a definition.

Put it in your own words

Copying a sentence from your lecturer’s slides is quick, but it means you only practise recognising their wording. Rewrite the answer the way you would explain it to a coursemate. If you cannot do that, it is a sign you need to go back to the notes first.

Keep the cards you get wrong

The point of a deck is to find what you do not know yet. When you get a card wrong, keep it close and see it again soon. When you get it right a few times in a row, it can wait longer before you see it again.

Do not delete a card just because it is annoying. The annoying ones are usually the ones that will be on the exam.

Use pictures and examples

Some topics are easier to remember with an example. If a definition is not sticking, add a small worked example to the back of the card, or a quick sketch of a diagram from the lecture.

Let Revvy make the first draft

Writing a deck for every lecture takes time, and that time often comes out of actual revision. In Revyse, Revvy can make flashcards straight from the material you upload for a course. Use that as your first draft. Go through the deck once, rewrite any card that does not make sense to you, and add your own for the parts you keep forgetting.

How often to go through your deck

Short and often beats long and rare. Ten minutes with your deck most days will do more than a two hour session once a week. Go through the cards you got wrong first, then the rest, and stop while you can still concentrate.