Last night it was just my son and I at home. It was a
lovely evening playing with his tennis ball and stacking his colorful blocks.
I just love my son and it has been an incredible release to come home to
him following a grueling day at medical school.
In the midst of
stacking blocks I was privileged to talk to my little brother who is working on
getting into the Business Program at BYU. He is incredibly busy as a member of
the BYU football team and active in a variety of other roles in life. Science
classes for him, is what accounting is for me; very meaningless. So, I sat with
him and taught him about ANKI, a flashcard app/program that uses space repetition algorithms
to plan your studies. The science behind the program is fascinatingly simple.
Here are some
highlights:
Why Anki?
Sebastian Leitner popularized a method of spaced repetition
with paper flashcards. By separating the paper cards up into a series of boxes,
and moving the cards to a different box on each successful or unsuccessful
review, it was possible to see at a glance a rough estimate of how well a card
was known and when it should be reviewed again.
The act of recalling
something strengthens the memory, increasing the chances we’ll
be able to remember it again
Why Anki?
Learn a language
Study for medical and law exams
Memorize people’s names and faces (which I am
currently working on for my medical school class)
Brush up on geography
Memorize facts before a business banquet
Master long poems
Even practice guitar chords
What’s the Science Behind ANKI?
Use it or Loose It
We forget about 75% of material learnt within a 48 hour
period
This applies to material we’ve studied hard to learn!
Spaced Repetition
Active Recall Testing
When we’re unable to answer
a question, it tells us we need to return to the material to review or relearn
it
Why I Like Anki
Anki
creates a drive to be honest with yourself. In undergrad I often found myself
saying things like, “Don’t worry, you’ll recognize it on the test.” Or “You
don’t really need to know that.” Statements such as these are
KILLERS for your test scores and for your learning. When I learn by using
ANKI, I demand myself to memorize the material no matter how many times I might
see that card in a study session. I am compelled to be honest with myself.
Another
reason I like ANKI is it’s editing ability. When I study flashcards I
especially like to write out pneumonics, silly phrases, or bizarre pictures to
help me recall the details more quickly.
An
example of this tactic is shown by Oligosaccaride Dolicol, That sugar means
nothing to me. However, I do need to know it and remember it for the test and
for an understanding of what happens to patient’s when it’s malfunctioning.
Oligosaccaride Dolicol is in the Endoplasmic Reticulum and flips to the outside
to grab glycosolated proteins. How do I remember that? I think “Ol
go sac” the glycosolated Protein that looks like a “Dol”. That phrase helps me
enough to remember the full name, “Oligosaccaride Dolicol” and the function of
the protein, “get glycosolated proteins”. Try it, it’s fun and it works.
To say
the least, my brother and I had a good evening figuring out how he can remember
the proposed theories of Molecules and Atoms. WE moved from the Continuous
Theory to Brownian motion and more. I loved helping my brother and
I hope you find ANKI helpful as you work on learning and memorizing for your
specific class or career.
Go ANKI!
-MLH
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