In two 2017 studies, college psychology students who were taught to create and use flashcards using a learning strategy called Flashcards-Plus (FP) scored significantly higher on exams than students who did not use the technique. Following the strategy, students write terms on one side of a note card and add their “textbook” definitions on the other side. Next, students define the term in their own words. Finally, students “generate a realistic example of the key term from their own lives that will increase application” (Senzaki et al., 2017, p. 255). These three steps allow students to engage in three levels of practice retrieval—retention, comprehension, and application.
Adding an image to a flashcard, although not part of the Flashcards-Plus strategy, is another way to deepen students’ understanding of key terms. See the example flashcard below, which details the formation of a waterfall for a geology course. The student must understand the process of waterfall formation and relevant terms in order to create an accurate diagram. Students benefit from adding diagrams or pictures to definitions since we tend to remember images and words better than words alone. There’s a concept called the picture superiority effect, which explains why pictures have advantages over words in regards to retrieval of stored memory.
Many students find the process of creating flashcards by hand easier than using digital tools, especially when diagrams or images are required. Requiring students to handwrite flashcards also has the added benefit of increasing students’ understanding and ability to recall new information. Two studies, one that employed neural imaging in its methods and the other that used behavioral analysis, found that handwriting information, rather than typing, improved participants’ retention and comprehension of conceptual information (Marano et al., 2025).
Research points to many potential causes of the relationship between handwriting and increased retention of information including that handwriting activates multiple senses known as the visuomotor network. There are also many variables that strengthen or weaken this relationship. For example, individuals who write in cursive rather than block lettering have higher comprehension and recall rates suggesting that cursive writing, where the writer must anticipate the next letter, requires increased cognitive engagement that leads to greater comprehension and retention.
In addition to physical cards, there are also many electronic tools available for making flashcards. One of the advantages of electronic flashcards is that they can be easily shared. Students can create flashcards for themselves and others, making it easy to spread out the work of creating a large deck of flashcards for a course. In addition to being easy to share, most digital flashcard creators incorporate adaptive learning features, meaning the software will continue to feed students questions they have missed until they demonstrate mastery. Another advantage of digital cards is that students can access digital flashcards from anywhere using their preferred device. Kahoot is one free tool that has a flashcard creator as part of its available study tools. This tool is now fully accessible and approved for use in classrooms.
For instructors wishing to create study resources for their students, iClicker and H5P, are both LSA licensed tools that offer capabilities for creating flashcards. Creating a course deck of flashcards is one way to ensure accuracy of the information students are studying. One collaborative learning activity instructors can use to create a shared course deck of flashcards is to have students select the best flashcard for each term out of multiple sets of cards. Usually, students work in small groups to narrow down a few sets of cards to an exemplar set. From the student selected exemplar cards, the instructor chooses only one card per term to transfer into an electronic course deck. Spending time creating a course deck of flashcards is especially useful for foundational courses where students need to learn a substantial amount of basic vocabulary and concepts.
For classes that already use iClicker Cloud with graded questions, students can create their own flashcards and practice quizzes using the poll questions from class. This is an efficient way for students to review relevant content that requires no assistance from the instructor. For more information about how your students can create flashcards from iClicker Cloud polls visit Helping Students Study Smarter with iClicker.
If you are interested in learning more about any of the recommended methods or tools for creating flashcards, the Learning and Teaching Consultants would be happy to meet with you.
References:
Herzing Staff. Do flashcards work for college students? Herzing University. https://www.herzing.edu/blog/do-flashcards-work-college-students
iClicker Cloud Study Tools. https://macmillan.force.com/iclicker/s/article/How-to-Use-iClicker-s-Student-Study-Tools
Senzaki, S., Hackathorn, J., Appleby, D. C., & Gurung, R. A. R. (2017). Reinventing Flashcards to Increase Student Learning. Psychology Learning & Teaching, 16(3), 353–368. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725717719771
The Neuroscience Behind Writing: Handwriting vs. Typing—Who Wins the Battle? https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11943480
Additional Information:
Related Posts:
If You Engage Them, They Will Come: Strategies to Increase Attendance
Creating a Syllabus Students Will Actually Use
Book Review: Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons From the Science of Learning
Learning Through Conflict: How Dialogic Pedagogy Transforms Learning Spaces
Ensuring Successful Group Work
