Every student knows this problem: You have to learn 500 lecture slides, but the creation of the flashcards costs you more time than the lecture itself. So how can you learn effectively?
The burden will be so overwhelming that you’ll end up rolled up with a pizza and a movie at home and just keep pushing this horror in front of you for as long as possible. But it can also be easier!
In our blog we have already shown you which learning methods are best for flashcards. But if you are looking for a study group to share flashcards with, you have many more advantages, which we will explain to you now.
1. Save time by sharing your flash cards
It is clear that by sharing the effort, it will be split in half. One thing that is really annoying about flashcards is the time you have to invest to create them at all. This often leads to the biggest mistake: It takes an eternity to create, so there is no time left for learning them. This problem is easy to solve. Find yourself a study group with people who are taking the same course and split the work. All you have to do is create index cards for three topics instead of ten.
Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
Even better, you now have so many tools you can use to create digital flashcards that can be shared instantly with your team. So you can share, edit and correct the tabs without having to write a whole new one!
2. Take responsibility
One of the biggest problems students face today is staying focused and motivated throughout the semester. We all know that voice inside our heads telling us to watch just one more episode. If you have a deadline and others are counting on you to finish the job, you’ll probably be more motivated to do it so you don’t disappoint your team members.
3. Have fun
Learning with friends in a study group is much more fun. When a joke is thrown into the round from time to time, it brightens up the gloomy mood. And that doesn’t necessarily distract you, it can also improve the quality of your learning. When learning takes place in a relaxed atmosphere, the learning material is remembered much better, because more associations with the learning material arise during the cramming session.
4. Improve your understanding
In order to create good flashcards, you need to understand the content very well and recognize the important points. This is another thing that your group members can help you with. During the learning session your fellow students will explain to you what you missed or misunderstood. And vice versa, every time you explain some learning content to your fellow students, you learn it better yourself. This is how you use the so-called Feynman technique.
5. Encourage competition by sharing index cards
In addition to motivation, competition is another advantage of teamwork. Everyone in the group naturally wants to show how well they can do the content and this can only be achieved by learning continuously. You could make it interesting by including prizes and asking each other questions so that it’s like a real competition. An additional bonus is the motivation to get to the top.
6. Read aloud and improve your memory
It is also known that it is much more advantageous to read the learning material aloud instead of going through it in one’s head. Learning groups can also be practical. So you practice the flashcards more effectively together because you use several areas of the brain at the same time: seeing, hearing and speaking.
7. Generate exam questions
Normally, through learning with fellow students, one also considers examination questions that your professor might possibly ask. Since each student has a different focus in the courses, together you will cover more possible questions and leave fewer gaps. This will prepare you directly for your exam.
It is clear that flashcards are not everyone’s cup of tea. But now you know that time is really not an issue when you find your team, because you share the effort as well as the index cards.
Do you have other tricks to quickly create flashcards & learn effectively?
