Effects of flashcards on learning authentic materials: The role of detailed versus conceptual flashcards and individual differences in structure-building ability.

Abstract

Little research has examined the fruitfulness of flashcards for improving learning outcomes of authentic classroom material. In Experiment 1, across different content areas flashcards did not significantly increase performance on a final test relative to the free-study condition. Experiment 2 investigated whether providing conceptual flashcards would aid participants' learning relative to detailed flashcards (the kind generated most frequently by participants). Conceptual flashcards produced superior short-answer test performance than detailed flashcards for less able learners (low structure builders) but not for more able learners (high structure builders). The limited benefits of flashcards appear to reflect several factors: the current sample of students generally recruited effective study strategies (in the free-study condition) and the preponderance of detailed flashcards in both textbook provided materials and studentgenerated flashcards. Consistent with the material-appropriate processing framework, detailed but not conceptual flashcards would be redundant with encoding normally invited by didactic materials.

Learning Introductory Biology: Students’ Concept-Building Approaches Predict Transfer on Biology Exams

“…For this content, instructors might guide students to generate and answer conceptual questions—questions that focus on knowledge about a target concept or require integration across various concepts and principles. Findings show that college learners can successfully pose such questions when instructed to do so (e.g., Bugg and McDaniel, 2012 ; Lin et al. , 2018 ).…”

User-generated digital flashcards yield better learning than premade flashcards.

“…Results involving more complex materials (e.g., anthropology texts; psychology course content) have also been mixed. Lin et al (2018; Experiment 1) found no significant differences between flashcard types as measured on a 20-min delayed test, whereas Cihon et al (2012) reported inconsistent results across two experiments as measured on weekly unit quizzes.…”

“…Moreover, there does not appear to be a single design feature that is responsible for the disparate results. For instance, Lin et al (2018) suggested that their study instructions may have been suboptimal, whereas in Cihon et al (2012), only the premade condition studied the exact information to be tested, thus leaving the user-generated condition at a disadvantage.…”

Becoming Better Learners, Becoming Better Teachers: Augmenting Learning via Cognitive and Motivational Theories

“…Do they make flashcards? It takes time to make them and takes extra knowledge to make and use them well (Lin et al, 2018). Of course, retrieval can be as simple as writing down everything one can remember (with or without additional supporting structures, such as concept maps; Blunt & Karpicke, 2014; O'Day & Karpicke, 2021), but our conjecture is that students need practice even with this simple strategy.…”