I used to question my students’ use of flash cards. Yes, I could see their value in language learning, but in a beginning communication course? In developmental English? My concerns did rest on a bit ...
This summary highlights an article in which Kornell and Bjork, educational psychologists, review findings mostly from their own research. Their work explores “self-regulated study,” which involves “decisions students make while they study on their own ...
Studies show that many students do a poor job of studying (Miller, 2017). Quite a few just scan the readings again or cram the night before a test in hopes that the information will last ...
Are your students using the internet to support their study efforts? In a recent survey of 139 first-year medical students enrolled in a physiology course, 98 percent reported that they were looking at physiology content ...
Many faculty (probably most who read this column) willingly do a great many things to help students learn. For example, we know that our courses are jammed with content and that it’s hard for a ...
I’m on a quest for ways to get students using those study strategies that make them better learners. When the strategy goes by the label “test-enhanced learning” it isn’t an easy sell, and it’s even ...
There’s plenty of good research on study strategies that promote learning. It’s also well-documented that students don’t always use them. As most of us are well aware, procrastination gets in the way of learning. Cramming ...
Download a self-check quiz for students, plus a look at key research findings Most of us need no research evidence to document that students are using their phones and attempting to multitask in class. We see ...
An article in a recent issue of the International Journal of STEM Education has got me thinking about study habits and how little we know about how students study. The article is open-access, and I encourage ...
When an exam approaches, virtually all students agree they need to study and most will, albeit with varying intensity. Most will study the same way they always have—using the strategies they think work. The question ...
I used to question my students’ use of flash cards. Yes, I could see their value in language learning, but in a beginning communication course? In developmental English? My concerns did rest on a bit of academic elitism. I thought college students should be using more sophisticated learning strategies. Some recent reading has changed my mind. Oh, flash cards are still misused. If a word is on one side and the definition on the other, and the student thinks about the definition, checks the back, and moves onto the next card—that process doesn’t do much for learning or retention.
We should be concerned because students—anywhere from 40 to 70 percent, depending on the survey—say they do use flash cards to study. And from my reading I’ve learned that a rigorous and complex use of flash cards does promote learning. As a form of self-testing they can effectively prepare students for exams and aid their retention of material after the exam. Here’s a quick rundown of the features of flash cards associated with positive learning outcomes.
I was wrong. It’s how students use flash cards that determines their impact. Flash cards can be a powerful self-testing strategy, significantly more effective than the students’ favorite study strategies. On the night before the exam, 68.8 percent of the students Wissman et al. surveyed reported that they’d restudy their notes, 36.4 percent that they’d review the text, and 38.4 percent that they’d use flash cards (assume some are using more than one strategy). But then how often do faculty recommend studying by self-testing with flash cards? The students surveyed said 22.5 percent of their faculty did so. If flash cards motivate students to study, then perhaps more of us should be helping students use them effectively.
Kornell, N. (2009). Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more effective than cramming. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23(9), 1297–1317. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.1537
Rawson, K. A., & Dunlosky, J. (2011). Optimizing schedules of retrieval practice for durable and efficient learning: How much is enough? Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 140(3), 283–302. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023956
Wissman, K. T., Rawson, K. A., & Pyc, M. A. (2012). How and when do student use flashcards? Memory, 20(6), 568–579. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658211.2012.687052