Use Terms to boost confidence
Knowing the subject-specific terminology really helps
Smart Revise includes a set of pre-written flashcards for you to use.
Flashcards are often something that students create in preparation for exams. They include a key term on the front of the card and the information about that term on the back of the card. This is a great revision practice, but how can you be sure you have created the best deck of cards? That's why Smart Revise includes flashcards that have been written for you, and we call them, "Terms".
The best technique with flashcards:
1. Organise the cards into 3 decks:
Insecure
You don't feel confident about this term at all.
Slightly confident
You know some of the facts about this term.
Secure
You know all of the facts about this term.
2. Look at the cards in the decks shown on each day and try to recall the knowledge on the back of each card.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Day off
3. Move the card to the deck on the right if you correctly recall the knowledge or to the deck on the left if you don't.
This system is known as the Leitner system, named after Sebastian Leitner who invented the use of spaced repetition with flashcards. Smart Revise enables you to keep your cards on your phone and handles the process for you so that you can concentrate on recalling the knowledge instead of managing the decks.
How
Set the topic filters to all the topics you have learned so far. These may be controlled by your teacher if you have joined a class.
You can use the topic filters to focus on any number of topics at a time.
Choose Terms and use the deck builder to set Leitner mode.
Look at the term and try to recall what the term means, or what characteristics it has before selecting "Flip".
In the Leitner assessment box, select "Not confident" or "Confident" to move the card to another deck automatically.
The number of cards left to assess is shown on the bottom of each card.
You can see how well you are getting on using your personal revision report.
When should I start using Terms?
It's never too early to start using Terms. After you have learned the very first topic is good. However, if you are using Smart Revise at the end of your course, it is never too late either. Regular use for five days a week will significantly increase your chance of attaining a higher grade.
Mastery
Answering a question correctly once doesn't mean you will remember the answer over a long period of time. Mastery means answering a question correctly at least three times in a row.
As you use Terms you will become more confident resulting in more cards moving from the red to the green deck. This means the amount of work you will have on each day will change as the course progresses. Initially most on a Monday moving to most on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and at the end of the course most on a Friday.
Digging deeper
That's the basics but if you want to learn more about Terms, here you go...
- In the deck builder, Reflective terms only require you to flip the card and record a self-assessment. Interactive terms require you to write the definition or characteristics too. This is much harder, and takes much longer, but it is better practice.
Interleaving
Means mixing questions from different topics together. It has been shown to help memory retention more than blocking - looking at just one topic at a time.
Pseudorandom
Means a deterministic but seemingly random order. Random would mean the current question could possibly appear as the next question too. Pseudorandom order prevents this happening.
Spaced learning
Means a period of time elapses between seeing the same question again. Spaced learning has proven to enable the best memory retention effectively beating the forgetting curve.
- If you skip a day now and then, that's OK, Smart Revise will continue from the day you missed to ensure correct spacing of the cards.
Interleaving
Means mixing questions from different topics together. It has been shown to help memory retention more than blocking - looking at just one topic at a time.
Pseudorandom
Means a deterministic but seemingly random order. Random would mean the current question could possibly appear as the next question too. Pseudorandom order prevents this happening.
Spaced learning
Means a period of time elapses between seeing the same question again. Spaced learning has proven to enable the best memory retention effectively beating the forgetting curve.
- Remember the decks are only built from the topics you have selected using the topic filters. This enables you to focus on a particular topic if you want to. If your teacher is controlling the topic filters because you joined their class, you may not have access to all the cards.
Interleaving
Means mixing questions from different topics together. It has been shown to help memory retention more than blocking - looking at just one topic at a time.
Pseudorandom
Means a deterministic but seemingly random order. Random would mean the current question could possibly appear as the next question too. Pseudorandom order prevents this happening.
Spaced learning
Means a period of time elapses between seeing the same question again. Spaced learning has proven to enable the best memory retention effectively beating the forgetting curve.
- If your teacher is setting you tasks that include "define" questions, this can change your deck automatically. If you answer the question correctly, this will move the card to your green deck. If you get some of the marks this will move the card into your orange deck, and if you score zero, that will move the card into your red deck.
Interleaving
Means mixing questions from different topics together. It has been shown to help memory retention more than blocking - looking at just one topic at a time.
Pseudorandom
Means a deterministic but seemingly random order. Random would mean the current question could possibly appear as the next question too. Pseudorandom order prevents this happening.
Spaced learning
Means a period of time elapses between seeing the same question again. Spaced learning has proven to enable the best memory retention effectively beating the forgetting curve.
- Your teacher may also use Terms with you for baseline assessments, end of topic reviews and other things.
Interleaving
Means mixing questions from different topics together. It has been shown to help memory retention more than blocking - looking at just one topic at a time.
Pseudorandom
Means a deterministic but seemingly random order. Random would mean the current question could possibly appear as the next question too. Pseudorandom order prevents this happening.
Spaced learning
Means a period of time elapses between seeing the same question again. Spaced learning has proven to enable the best memory retention effectively beating the forgetting curve.