<p>Another student in my class studies with index cards and really likes it. I want to try it but I am not sure how it is done.</p>
<p>I am not sure how to set up the index cards for subjects like psychology where there is SO MUCH information about one topic. For example, if there are 4 pages of notes on Bipolar Disorder how would I set up index cards to cover all the facts?</p>
<p>How would I review the cards? In the same order always?</p>
<p>Thanks for any help!!</p>
<p>When you sit down to study, take one index card and tape it over the screen on your cell phone. Then take several more and tape them over your computer screen, and over your TV screen.</p>
<p>Really whatever works best for you. I’d suggest using highlighters or colored cards to keep topics sorted. You can also have a subject heading(s) on each card. There’s no one right answer.</p>
<p>
from [Mister</a> McIntosh Says - Study Card Ideas for Better Test Prep and Review](<a href=“http://mistermcintoshsays.org/2011/06/05/study-card-ideas-for-better-test-prep-and-review/]Mister”>http://mistermcintoshsays.org/2011/06/05/study-card-ideas-for-better-test-prep-and-review/)</p>
<p>[Using</a> Flash Cards as a Study Skill](<a href=“http://faculty.bucks.edu/specpop/flash-card.htm]Using”>Using Flash Cards as a Study Skill) A site with pictures - don’t misspell Somalia like in their example though!</p>
<p>Flash cards are great for learning or memorizing a lot of facts and information. For math classes they can help you memorize the equations you need, but you will still need to work a lot of procatice problems until you understand all the concepts.</p>
<p>This is what worked for me:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Working my way through each day’s lecture notes, I’d make one flash card per fact or thing to be learned. </p></li>
<li><p>To study for the mid-term, I’d take this large stack of cards and work my way though them - mentally asking each fact and then flipping the card over to see whether I got it right.</p></li>
<li><p>As I got each fact down cold I’d remove it from the stack. This way you get an ever-dwindling pile of cards to flip through that eventually gets down to nearly nothing. Just before the exam I’d go back through the entire stack again to make sure I hadn’t forgotten any.</p></li>
<li><p>After the mid-term I set this stack aside and start over creating a new stack for the next block of material, and repeat the above process.</p></li>
<li><p>For the final exam I’d combine all the stacks into one one grand stack and repeat the learning/reviewing process.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This method turned me from a B- student into a straight A student. I also used it to learn stuff for Jeopardy.</p>
<p>^^ I love your system, Hunt!</p>
<p>While I’m serious about my prior answer, I’ll give a somewhat more serious one: I think cards are useful for memorizing discrete pieces of information. For example, I used them in law school when I had to remember a lot of specific court decisions. They’re not as useful when you are trying to get the big picture.</p>
<p>Talk to the student who uses them. Find out how s/he does it. Then decide if this system would help you. You may gain a friend/study partner in the proces.</p>
<p>My son uses studyblue dot com . It’s a free online flashcard generator. You can use them online, your smartphone, or print them out. He uses them online to study. If you don’t get distracted by other online things (fb, twitter, etc) this is a nice option as you can also have them available on a smartphone. I agree to try a few things and see what works for you.</p>
<p>LOL Hunt! Good advice. I did not find flash cards useful in psychology, unless you’re memorizing definitions. For foreign language, they’re priceless.</p>
<p>S1 did not use flash cards. Instead,he would type a list questions/answers on his computer,print it out then read them over and over while walking across campus (big state u. + off campus housing=lots of walking/study time.</p>
<p>Transpose class notes onto index cards. Divide the info with questions on one side and answers on the other.</p>
<p>Do word on one side and definition on the other. Or do a question or fill in the blank and answer on back. Then go through your notecards and put memorized in one pile and ones you do not know in another. Or take 5 to 10 notecards at a time and memorize those. Then memorize the next set. Then shuffle the cards and go through both sets together to make sure you have memorized it. Then take another set of 5 to 10 cards, memorize them. Then add them to your bigger pile with the ones you memorized and go through them again to make sure you do not forget the first words you memorized. Repeat process. It works well with definitions.</p>
<p>Just word of warning in case relevant (and may not be): don’t assume you just need to memorize facts. It’s quite possible to memorize a lot of details and not actually understand the material you’ve memorized. Given you have struggled in past to get grades you want, this may be relevant to you but I have no idea if it is.</p>
<p>Using your example: memorizing 10 index cards covering 4 pages of facts about bipolar disorder may be necessary but not sufficient to do well. If you really understand it well, it may be extremely easy to hold onto the material and require less raw memorization.</p>
<p>I’ll try to use your example of BD (but realize I have no idea about the content, I’m merely trying to help you think beyond memorization with some made up content): </p>
<p>If you are asked a question about how BD relates to, or is distinct from, X will you be able to do so? Especially if there isnt a paragraph in the text that tells you this answer! </p>
<p>Suppose you had a question that asked you this: BD is to Schizoid disorder as xxxx is to narcissistic personality disorder and you had to find xxx could you do that (even if none of these disorders are ever discussed together in the text book? Or if you were given descriptions of symptoms, could you separate out the diagnosis of BD from other diagnoses? Again, even if such an activity does not exist in your book or notes.</p>
<p>Now maybe your course is simply mindless memorization and regurgitation, in which case ignore this advice. But if it’s more than that, you may not do well if you focus solely on ‘learning facts’ only when others are doing that and developing a deeper understanding of the concepts and theories.</p>
<p>I see this time and again among my students- they are all great memorizers and that had worked in the past for them, but they may entirely miss the boat on assessments that require understanding something at an abstract level, applying it, or relating it to other learned material…and they do not understand why they did not do as well as their classmates.</p>
<p>OP, for subjects like Psych, my D found highlighting and notetaking to be much more useful than cards. You can try cards, but bear in mind that different techniques work for different people.</p>
<p>D used index cards mainly for subjects like Chemistry, where the answers are concise and objective. She said that, for her, the main value in the cards was making them. Putting them together forced her to focus on the text, pick out what was important, synthesize it into bite-size pieces, and write it down. All that thought and activity around a concept cemented it into her brain, apparently.</p>
<p>The above posters are right. I use notecards for facts but you actually have to understand what you are memorizing and you should be able to make connections. Notecards are good for getting the basics, but I also take notes, highlight in my book, etc. If you are a visual person, try using flowcharts or diagrams or different colored pens or paper.</p>