Retrieval practice with flashcards

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Kraut
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Retrieval practice with flashcards

Postby Kraut » Thu Aug 26, 2021 3:07 pm

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/retrieval-practice/

Flashcards
These can be a powerful retrieval tool in class or at home, but students need to be taught to use them correctly:

Once a card has been mastered, keep it in the deck a while.
Research has shown that students tend to “drop” cards out of their decks too soon after they have mastered them (Karpicke, 2009). Ideally, a fact should be successfully retrieved three times before a student moves on from it.
Actually retrieve.
Karpicke’s research also found that when students see a familiar prompt on a flashcard, they have a tendency to tell themselves they know it, then flip it over to see the answer, rather than taking a few extra seconds to actually recall the answer—and ideally, say it out loud—before flipping the card over. The difference in timing is subtle, but important: Students will not get the same benefits from flashcards unless they actually retrieve the answer before seeing it.
Shuffle the deck.
Keeping the cards in the same order makes them predictable. Once a deck has been gone through a few times, it should be shuffled to make it more challenging.
For more tips, take a look at College Info Geek’s excellent post on effectively using flashcards:

8 Better Ways to Make and Study Flash Cards
https://collegeinfogeek.com/flash-card-study-tips/

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Bidirectional translation can be seen as a step away from flascards to a more demanding form of retrieval practice in language learning, with highly rewarding efficiency.
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