How much information to tailor into anki?

[chiddler]

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Hiya,

I really love Anki in theory. Long term retention makes the learning feel like time well spent rather than a learn/forget cycle. I spent the first week and half of school making detailed flashcards with anki, using images and everything. Realized it was too time consuming and not very sustainable, long term. So I'm trying to understand how to use anki effectively.

1. I did a little searching so please let me know if I understood this correctly:

I should keep an eye on FA as a resource to determine what is worth remembering from my classes. That information goes into card form. Else, it is left out. Then I should be studying constantly from both lecture notes/book (as reference) + anki.

2. If I am right, how is it that some people use anki almost exclusively after a pass or two through lecture notes? Is it just different strategy?

3. Anki should be only for concise, discrete facts and not for concepts?

Thank you's!

 

[Donald Juan]

I make anki cards during my first pass through the material. I don't go to class, and I make the cards while listening to lecture, which gives me the opportunity to pause when I need to slow it down. It takes me about 1:1 time at most to get through a lecture and make enough cards for it. I often hear people talking about how long it takes to make cards, but I'm not really sure what's holding you back. If you can type at a decent speed and have your class notes in adobe (snapshot tool for figures and pics) it shouldn't take any longer than someone else who writes down notes.

Anki's limitations are the same with any note card. I definitely think that physio is something that requires time spent doing practice problems on top of the discreet facts. However, I think most topics in med school aren't really that hard conceptually, it's the plethora of facts that weighs down on my brain during tests, which is why I like anki 🙂

 

[chiddler]

I make anki cards during my first pass through the material. I don't go to class, and I make the cards while listening to lecture, which gives me the opportunity to pause when I need to slow it down. It takes me about 1:1 time at most to get through a lecture and make enough cards for it. I often hear people talking about how long it takes to make cards, but I'm not really sure what's holding you back. If you can type at a decent speed and have your class notes in adobe (snapshot tool for figures and pics) it shouldn't take any longer than someone else who writes down notes.

Anki's limitations are the same with any note card. I definitely think that physio is something that requires time spent doing practice problems on top of the discreet facts. However, I think most topics in med school aren't really that hard conceptually, it's the plethora of facts that weighs down on my brain during tests, which is why I like anki 🙂

Thanks for the feedback. Though appreciated, I don't really know how to use your advice because you can make the cards so quickly. This is my primary difficulty which is why I was asking how much information to include. Can you explain how you decide what goes in card form and what is left out? I'm sure you don't include every single fact to be that quick.

 

[mehc012]

Thanks for the feedback. Though appreciated, I don't really know how to use your advice because you can make the cards so quickly. This is my primary difficulty which is why I was asking how much information to include. Can you explain how you decide what goes in card form and what is left out? I'm sure you don't include every single fact to be that quick.

If you would put it as a bullet point in written notes, it's a card.
If it's in a table in the text that makes you go "oh, I should study this before the test", it should be a card.
Actually, ANYthing that you can see that makes you think that, should be a card.

Even better is if you can connect a few ideas and make cards that require knowledge from a few separate sources.

Make templates. Seriously, if you know there are going to be a ton of structures or formulas or drugs with the same information about each, make a 'Card' type so that you just have to enter the basic information and several types of cards will be auto-generated from that. All I have to do is copy OIAI and some pictures from the textbook for each muscle and 6 cards are premade for me like that.

Think like the test...as you read over the material, think about what your prof (or the boards) could ask you about it. Then make cards of those questions.

Anything the professor repeats or emphasizes gets its own card.

Make cards with straightforward answers...they should be clear enough that a stranger could read them and answer them, if they know the material. When you're reviewing them, if you find yourself answering a 'different question' due to the phrasing, rephrase...the Edit button isn't just for show!

Tag as you go...it's invaluable later when you want to review specific topics.

Change the review intervals for new cards...if you're making them yourself, odds are you don't need to go over them 80 bajillion times to 'Learn' them. I prefer 1min (wrong) 2hrs (right) 2days (easy, or get it right 2x)...this keeps you from getting bogged down by new cards everytime you enter a batch.

 

[Donald Juan]

I second everything the above poster said.

I realize that early on it is difficult knowing what is pertinent and what is not. One thing is to realize that you should probably not be making more than 10-15 cards per hour of lecture...most of the time. Some topics may just lend themselves to having a lot (and these are usually the topics that flash cards are best for), but most shouldn't be that hefty and you should be questioning if you are accurately gauging the information if you're trying to make 30-40 cards per hour of lecture.

I also don't always try to ask every question possible on the cards, but I often have more information than the card is asking, just so it is there for handy reference. Example, I may ask "deficient zap-70 leads to what phenotype?" and instead of having just "T(CD4+, CD😎 B+ NK+" I'll also slap a diagram of the T-cell receptor activation pathway. That way, I'm not just reinforcing that simple fact. If I think, "wtf does zap-70 do again?" I have the information right there for a quick review.

 

[Datsyuk2472]

I'm in my 4th week of med school and experiment with anki. I can't decide if I like anki or memorizing my notes instead, and I don't have time for both. I like that my notes allow to organize the information in a logical way that allows me to see the big picture, however taking notes is fairly time consuming. Anki is much faster and the long-term retention algorithm is pretty cool but I just feel like I'm missing the big picture.

 

[mehc012]

I second everything the above poster said.

I realize that early on it is difficult knowing what is pertinent and what is not. One thing is to realize that you should probably not be making more than 10-15 cards per hour of lecture...most of the time. Some topics may just lend themselves to having a lot (and these are usually the topics that flash cards are best for), but most shouldn't be that hefty and you should be questioning if you are accurately gauging the information if you're trying to make 30-40 cards per hour of lecture.

I also don't always try to ask every question possible on the cards, but I often have more information than the card is asking, just so it is there for handy reference. Example, I may ask "deficient zap-70 leads to what phenotype?" and instead of having just "T(CD4+, CD😎 B+ NK+" I'll also slap a diagram of the T-cell receptor activation pathway. That way, I'm not just reinforcing that simple fact. If I think, "wtf does zap-70 do again?" I have the information right there for a quick review.

When I do that (include extra info for reference), I always try to make it obvious what is the discrete, expected level of answer. I find that, if it's unclear, I give myself too much wiggle room on what counts as getting a question correct. Generally, I put the quick, minimum answer in bold, with the extra info in italics. If I am missing any part of the bolded, it's a missed question. If I get the bolded AND the italics, I mark it 'Easy'. Keeps me from overestimating my retention!

Another option is to have a section of your card template for 'Explanation'. That way, it formats it all for you automatically...you just enter the question, the answer, and the explanation, and then your card will auto-format all of the bolding, the italics, etc and do it in a consistent way so that it's easy to breeze through the questions and know exactly what you're expected to know, but you still have extra info for those 😕 moments!

 

[chiddler]

Good input, but i'm finding it hard to understand. Short discrete cards that cover entire lectures but only 10-20 cards per hour? How can you condense information like this?

 

[mehc012]

Good input, but i'm finding it hard to understand. Short discrete cards that cover entire lectures but only 10-20 cards per hour? How can you condense information like this?

The short, discrete part is the bullet-point, take home message that you would write as a header in your outline notes. This is the minimum you want to say while reviewing the card.
The (for me italicized) explanation below it is the stuff that fills in the gaps and makes it click for you/connects it to other points. This is the stuff you should know before you start clicking 'Easy' when you review. In an outline, this is what you would write BELOW the header in your notes.

Personally, I don't make cards during lecture, or even while listening to it. I like to watch lecture, then Ankify everything on my own time following some other of text or video reference...that's largely because I feel that approaching info from two sources enhances learning. At any rate, I can't comment on the cards/hr thing (though it seems good and all of his other advice is spot on ime). However, I know that I tend to break things down farther than most people...I like 1 card on each factoid and then a few cards which force me to link the information. Other people prefer slightly longer megacards. In the end, it doesn't really matter beyond what works for you.

In my opinion, though, no matter how you do it, it is the act of parsing through that info, condensing it, and choosing what to prioritize that really helps you learn. The review afterwards is just gravy.

 

[mehc012]

dp. I hate Comcast so freaking much

 

[pathologyDO]

Well, I've been using anki for the past 2 weeks. We just had a midterm and I scored an A. Must be working!

I make anywhere from 15-60 cards per hr of lecture.

I may have 500-1000 cards to study every midterm/exam, but that beats the 112 pages condensed notes that I would otherwise have to study (keep in mind I'm semi-gunning, so if you're going for family/peds, you could get away with much less... but since you're here on sdn, you're prolly gunnin too 🙂

You may find that while its sometimes impossible to keep up with the professor when making cards, you are actively learning because you've got to listen-read/observe-type at the same time. This for me is like a review in itself and I retain more raw facts making notecards vs. just sitting there and listening. Anything I miss, I make note of on my ipad/paper. Like "pg. so and so" or "slide x" so I can add cards for what I missed in between lectures.

 

[mehc012]

I'm in my 4th week of med school and experiment with anki. I can't decide if I like anki or memorizing my notes instead, and I don't have time for both. I like that my notes allow to organize the information in a logical way that allows me to see the big picture, however taking notes is fairly time consuming. Anki is much faster and the long-term retention algorithm is pretty cool but I just feel like I'm missing the big picture.

Tag. Tag tag tag tag.
I liked to build my notes in layers...first the foundation material, then the details, then the connections. By tagging the crap out of everything, I can go back and study everything about subject x or y...or I can study ALL the basics, then the details and connections...or I can study 1 subject at a time, but in the order I made them, so that I build up the layers with each pass through the information, or...anything else. You can study the information in so many directions and with so many different types of information...IF you take the time to tag properly. Cram sessions are your friend, not for the volume of cards, but for the control you have over which cards you see when. (Don't forget to check 'reschedule cards based on my answers', or the program won't know what you've covered!) 👍

I basically forced myself to learn Anki, since I didn't have any method of studying prior to now. My goal was not only to do well in my current classes, but to really train myself with the program, and more importantly, with how to make good flashcards, so that I could hit the ground running in med school. It takes some time, but it's (imo) definitely a worthwhile skill to develop.

 

[t5Nitro]

What exactly does the reschedule cards feature do?

I watched an Anki tutorial and the only thing the student changed was the number of cards per day. He maxed it out at 9999.

 

[mehc012]

What exactly does the reschedule cards feature do?

I watched an Anki tutorial and the only thing the student changed was the number of cards per day. He maxed it out at 9999.

'Reschedule cards' is one of the options you can control when you make a cram deck.

Essentially, you click on a deck name, click "Custom Study", and then pick any of the options there...usually "Study by card state or tag".

This makes a cram deck with only a certain subset of cards in it. Within that deck, you can make specific options...you can set custom intervals (say this is a subset of cards you need to know REALLY WELL, so you set small learning intervals), you can change the search options (this allows you more flexibility than the initial creation window will give you...for example, you can pull in cards from another deck too), and you can change whether or not your answers in that custom study deck will update the review interval for those cards (if you're doing a last-minute cram session, sometimes you want to see ALL The cards several times without FUBARing your long-term review schedule).

If you just want to reschedule the cards manually, you can do that from the Browser under 'Edit'...but that's not usually very useful.

 

[Ebola4Breakfast]

Hiya,

I really love Anki in theory. Long term retention makes the learning feel like time well spent rather than a learn/forget cycle. I spent the first week and half of school making detailed flashcards with anki, using images and everything. Realized it was too time consuming and not very sustainable, long term. So I'm trying to understand how to use anki effectively.

1. I did a little searching so please let me know if I understood this correctly:

I should keep an eye on FA as a resource to determine what is worth remembering from my classes. That information goes into card form. Else, it is left out. Then I should be studying constantly from both lecture notes/book (as reference) + anki.

2. If I am right, how is it that some people use anki almost exclusively after a pass or two through lecture notes? Is it just different strategy?

3. Anki should be only for concise, discrete facts and not for concepts?

Thank you's!

Personally, I don't use Anki to study for my classes. The number of (unnecessary) lecture hours at my school definitely errs on the side of ridiculous. We get way too many research-centric PhDs who love to test us on the stupid, unproven minutia of their research efforts. Instead I use Anki for concise memorization of key high-yield material from trusted sources. I keep up with my review cards 24/7, but I generally only make new cards once we've completed a topic. At that point I'll break out a few trusted resources (First Aid, Pathoma, Rapid Review) and add new cards while meticulously tagging both content and source.