00:00so a lot of students swear by flash
00:01cards and we were no exception we even
00:04started a flash card app but being so
00:06deep in this craze revealed to me how
00:08terrible my flashcards actually were yes
00:10it's a great way to study but it's not
00:12easy to do well and flash cards can
00:14actually be detrimental to our grades if
00:16done incorrectly so in today's video
00:18which is part of our study skills series
00:20I'll be sharing our ultimate flashcard
00:22tutorial it consists of three parts and
00:25it's important to learn them in order so
00:26don't skip ahead part one is to
00:28understand the role of flash cards and
00:30how they fit into the overall study
00:31system flashcards help us rope memorize
00:34Standalone pieces of information or
00:36isolated facts what they don't do is
00:38help us understand Concepts or piece
00:40them together to see the big picture so
00:42there's this Paradox with flashcards the
00:44more we make the more time we have to
00:46spend reviewing them and the less time
00:48we have to spend towards actually
00:49understanding and learning the main
00:51Concepts so it's important to know if
00:52and when to make flash cards so before
00:54I'm tempted to make flash card I ask
00:56myself two questions have I tried to
00:58group the information together in
01:00pharmacology we have to know all these
01:02drugs and instead of making 20 flash
01:04cards for 20 different medications we
01:06want to take some time to group them
01:08first are there any underlying
01:09relationships between these drugs for
01:12example these meds here all end in the
01:15same suffix sartan because they help
01:17with blood pressure in a particular way
01:19so what I would do is group them all by
01:21name and just make one flash card for
01:23all of them or all these drugs are safe
01:25for pregnant patients or these work
01:28really fast and are used for emergencies
01:30so taking time to understand
01:31relationships allows me to make far
01:33fewer flashcards that are actually more
01:35memorable and the second question is
01:37this piece of information important
01:39enough to memorize not all information
01:41is created equal most exams follow the
01:4480 20 rule meaning 80 percent of the
01:46exam comes from only 20 percent of the
01:48material and that 20 percent is usually
01:51the main Concepts and that's where we
01:53want our attention to be the rest of the
01:55material are details and yes some
01:57details are more important than others
01:59and there are always going to be facts
02:01that are so obscure and so isolated from
02:04the rest of the material that you
02:05literally just have to roll memorize
02:07things like random dates or abstract
02:09names like medications enzymes rare
02:12diseases equations or anything your
02:15teacher says will be on the test the
02:17list goes on so this is why we recommend
02:19making your own flashcards as opposed to
02:21using pre-made decks from someone else
02:23that way you're forced to understand the
02:25material and draw your own conclusions
02:27before you blindly commit everything to
02:29memory all right now we're on to part
02:30two this is making your flash cards so
02:33creating quality flashcards takes a lot
02:35of practice and you have to be very
02:37intentional with every card or else
02:39you'll waste a lot of time so we'll
02:41start with some terrible flash cards and
02:43level them up using our framework here
02:45Point number one is to make flash cards
02:47as simple and specific as possible and
02:49this is usually achievable with only one
02:51topic per card it should be black and
02:54white right it should be super clear
02:56what the card is asking for if it's not
02:58then you haven't broken down concept
03:00deeply enough for example our terrible
03:02flash card reads what does blood do this
03:05flash card is super vague right it
03:07raises a lot of additional clarifying
03:09questions like which specific component
03:11of blood plasma white blood cell red
03:13blood cell where in the body the lungs
03:16the heart the vessels we know it's a bad
03:18flash card when the answer is a long
03:20list because when you study lists you
03:22might recall some but not all the facts
03:25and this causes us to incorrectly gauge
03:27what we know and what we don't know so
03:29to make this flash card better let's add
03:31a few clarifying words like what is the
03:33role of red blood cells at the
03:35peripheral tissue okay this is much more
03:37specific at the peripheral tissue red
03:39blood cells deliver oxygen in exchange
03:41for carbon dioxide so these one-to-one
03:43cards Force us to understand Concepts at
03:46the fundamental level and leaves no
03:48question whether or not we know the
03:49facts tip number two is to include
03:51answer context so on the back of my
03:53flashcards I like to include extra
03:55details or references or contacts that
03:58help me understand the bigger picture so
04:00in our example I can improve the card by
04:02referencing a page in the lecture slide
04:04or in the textbook or I could put a
04:06diagram or image or a comparison table
04:08differentiating between the three I
04:10could even link a YouTube video but
04:13there's a two-fold benefit here first is
04:14that I have a reference to help me
04:16refresh my knowledge if I need it but
04:18more importantly I'm actively trying to
04:20relate this card to all the other
04:22Concepts and forcing myself to always
04:24think of the big picture and point
04:26number three is to add memory techniques
04:28using flashcards to remember memory
04:30techniques is next level it's like
04:33Inception you're memorizing how you
04:35memorized we have a whole video about
04:37memorization techniques that I can link
04:39here or in the description but basically
04:40if you have a mnemonic or an image
04:42acronym mind Palace story or any other
04:46creative way to trigger your memory it
04:48should be put on the flashcards again
04:50check out that memory techniques video
04:51where we go into much more detail in
04:53point number four make digital flash
04:55cards and as someone who started a flash
04:57card app this should go without saying
05:00but you want to have mobile access as
05:02well because digital flashcards allow us
05:04to quickly search for any card we need
05:06we can organize our cards by folders and
05:09tags we can make custom decks like for a
05:12midterm or we can combine multiple decks
05:14for a final exam we can study anytime
05:17anywhere from the convenience of our
05:19phones and most importantly digital
05:21flash cards can use space repetition
05:23this is basically a built-in algorithm
05:25that schedules your review for you based
05:28on how well you know your flashcards
05:29which helps in overall retention but not
05:32every flashcard app has space repetition
05:34capabilities so be sure to check I'm not
05:36really going to recommend any specific
05:37apps but I do suggest you try out
05:40multiple and then you pick the one that
05:42you enjoy using the most not the one
05:44with the fanciest features as you'll see
05:46why in the next section part three is
05:48studying our flash cards our tools are
05:50only as powerful as the way we use them
05:52so let's talk about the key ingredients
05:54to get the most out of studying our
05:56flash cards I like to schedule in time
05:57and practice every day and it doesn't
05:59even have to be that long maybe like
06:00five to ten minutes just to start
06:02building The Habit some common questions
06:04that we've gotten are how am I supposed
06:06to finish all my flash cards in five
06:08minutes a day or how many cards should I
06:10do every day and the answer is it
06:13doesn't matter as long as you're
06:14consistent remember that flash cards are
06:16just a rote memorization tool right
06:18they're not really a substitute for
06:20learning the information if you find
06:21yourself spending more time practicing
06:23flash cards than understanding main
06:25Concepts like using mind maps or past
06:28papers or something and you're
06:30practicing too many flashcards so that's
06:31why I recommend pairing our flash card
06:33studying with a routine that we already
06:35do on a daily basis for example always
06:38doing your flashcards when you're
06:39brushing your teeth here is a list of
06:42other examples also consider practicing
06:44flash cards in all the random pockets of
06:46time throughout the day like waiting in
06:48line or writing past your princess with
06:51your bro here's another list of examples
06:52also consider pairing it with something
06:54you enjoy or rewarding yourself like
06:57only allowing yourself to drink Boba
06:58while you're doing flashcard at the same
07:00time here's a list of other examples
07:02that you can reward yourself with after
07:04doing your flash cards our biggest goal
07:06is to try to reduce the total number of
07:08cards in Our Deck whenever possible
07:10because we don't want it to get to
07:11critical mass at which point you're
07:12making more flash cards than you are
07:14learning from them I'd recommend using
07:16the rule of three if you've gotten
07:18flashcard correct three times in a row
07:20you're probably not going to forget it
07:21so just archive it if you get a flash
07:23card wrong three times in a row then
07:26it's probably time to rethink that card
07:27maybe it's too vague it needs to be
07:30Rewritten or maybe it needs to be
07:32further broken down into multiple cards
07:34or maybe you need to add a memory
07:36technique to that card speaking of which
07:38memory techniques really help me level
07:40up my flash card game if you haven't
07:42seen our ultimate memorization guide I
07:44recommend you check it out plus at the
07:46end of that video we share a cool trick
07:47on how to condense information to
07:50further reduce the amount of flash cards
07:51that you need to make if you have any
07:53questions let me know in the comments
07:54below and I'll see you in that video
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