STOP USING ANKI!
Slightly clickbait title but it's partially true...
You see, Anki promotes rote learning. It promotes memorisation > understanding. It promotes little to no interleaving of different methods.
I"m sure there's plenty of people who would argue that Anki is amazing, and it is, but what we need to understand is that there are better methods.
Perhaps use mind maps, or some other form of inquiry based learning, to understand content, and Anki to learn any facts that you get wrong in practice papers - don't use it as your sole revision tool.
And don't forget Anki's main marketing point: it makes revision more efficient. Do thousands of flashcards count as efficient? Does constantly tweaking your settings and rearranging your tags count as efficient? Does getting a backlog of Anki cards count as efficient? No, that's why I believe we should minimise our usage of it.
Please comment any additions or challenges to my view of Anki; I wrote this in 5 minutes so I have no doubt that there's A LOT wrong with it.
EDIT:
Adding a comment I made...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z7frfjiEcM&t=888s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk4718yjJM4&t=523s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FatnXnlwAc4&t=112s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYp-64ZB4oU&t=478s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg4K2Np1ybk&t=149s
The links are some youtube videos to watch if you want to see the science behind what I'm saying - they're useful for refining your own system if you still use Anki as well. Also, I'm not saying Anki is redundant, just that there are equal or even better methods.
I think Anki is useful for top 10% students, but top 1%? Top 0.1%? Surely they need to find something different...
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FACTS
Whilst I agree that using any method as your sole revision tool is a bad idea, it is foolish to ignore memorisation. We use the alphabet all the time and that was memorised. Physics equations and biology facts need to be memorised.
I suggest that understanding could lead to memorisation without the need of constant repetition.
A useful video would be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYp-64ZB4oU&t=480s
And did you take your GCSEs yet and get straight 9s? Anki is amazing and I was able to get all high 9s in subjects I used Anki for. I didn't tweak any settings or use tags, nobody who wants their revision to go efficently actually does. Anki revision can help a whole range of subjects like econ where I got 144/160 (highest in my school) and maths where I got 197/200.
Predicted all 9s (although I haven't achieved them so don't take what I say as fact); I'll address a few points in your post:
Settings are important for Anki, Anking has a useful video on this.
Tags are preferable to decks as cards can belong in multiple tags but only one deck, so you can do more customisable study sessions.
Also, having too many decks could crash Anki, but tags will make little to no difference.
Everything I've said is REALLY small and won't make much of a difference but is still useful to know.
Also, revising for a levels will be drastically different to gcses, so it may be worth looking into other study methods as a precaution! :)
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no spaced repetition
Whenever I go on quizlet they pester me to make an account or buy a subscription so I just avoid it
I can also use anki on my phone so it can do it wherever which is really convenient
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I mean some subjects call for a lot of memorisation and anki serves this purpose well
Should you use it as your main or sole revision method? Absolutely not. Should you use it to memorise things like flame tests? Absolutely. It fills a nice niche that every student needs
Personally I have hundreds of different proteins and enzymes I need to know the names of so anki can really help with learning them
I find using Anki as my main works quite well, but I do use past papers along side it so I guess it isn’t my ‘primary’ revision resource
Hi again can you explain how to use anki?
For the mobile version, you just create a folder and make cards one by one. It shows you the front of the card and the back of the card and you can fill in both with whatever you want. Then you just press review and it tests you on them at random and after every card you can rate how well you know the answer (bad, ok, good, easy) and it will show you certain cards more or less based on your ratings
The way I use Anki causes me to disagree with this, I make sure to learn my content before memorization like I’ll watch the video before hand or read the page beforehand, and once I understand o make flash cards on it
I might just be weird, but I have flashcards that make me recall an equation, followed by (in all caps) "NOW DERIVE IT!"
While it is important that you understand, there is a lot of content that calls for memorisation. For example, you may get a question that asks you to define a word. That's memorisation, as you may not necessarily understand the definition, but you might've memorised it anyways. However, i doubt someone is using anki and JUST anki for their revision
That person you doubt is me but I do use past papers with it so I guess it isn’t my sole revision resource
Guys, if you like anki then use it.
Sure use other methods on top, but anki is my main form of revision in uni and if I’d known about it during GCSEs I’d have definitely made it my sole method. You can easily use anki to increase understanding, just have to write the right sort of flashcards.
Anki is definitely useful for medicine at uni... after all, there are quality resources like zanki and anking. But is it as useful for other subjects? Partly, but is partly enough? Definitely good to use as part of your revision though.
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understanding is not that important, if you just want the grades you can pretty much do it through just memorisation. i remember for biology i understood fuck all of the content but i had seen enough mark schemes and made anki cards out of them to be able to just memorise answers to typical 6 markers and things like that
this worked for a levels as well
Interesting, although I do still think that promoting understanding is a good habit to have, especially for students aspiring to go to Oxbridge.
Icl though, it's actually common sense to understand the concept ur trying to learn. I never knew people would simply try memorising smth without actually trying to understand what they are memorising to begin with 🤣. Anki isn't at fault here, it's the people who use it that are to blame. It does exactly what its meant to, and it is my main memorisation strategy, coupled with exam questions and stuff, nothing comes close.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg4K2Np1ybk&t=149s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zT_2aBP6vM
Agreed - although there are definitely ways to understand concepts faster (I like mindmaps) as illustrated by the videos above.
Are you fucking stupid. Guys don't listen to this kid he doesn't know what he's talking about.
Anki is scientifically proven to work, it uses spaced repetition, and if used correctly, can engrain your mind.
Sure, some people don't like flash cards, but to under play it as a whole is ludicrous.
Do some research before spreading misinformation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z7frfjiEcM&t=888s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bk4718yjJM4&t=523s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FatnXnlwAc4&t=112s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYp-64ZB4oU&t=478s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wg4K2Np1ybk&t=149s
The links are some youtube videos to watch if you want to see the science behind what I'm saying - they're useful for refining your own system if you still use Anki as well. Also, I'm not saying Anki is redundant, just that there are equal or even better methods.
Interestingly, a lot of study youtubers who use Anki (Revishaan or Udoka, for example) tend to do worse at a level than gcse, e.g AAB compared to all 8s and 9s. Due to Anki? Probably not. Worth looking deeper into? Definitely.
However, Anki does work - youtubers like ray amjad are proof of this - I'm not disagreeing there. I just use the SRS differently.
Is anki better than quizlet?
Yeah - the spaced repetition system and all of the add ons are amazing.
Yes if you’re consistent, you can message me if you want some help with it
Used it during my GCSEs and I'm in year 13 now. I used to go through every spec point and turn it into a flashcard. Terrible idea for the reasons OP has mentioned, but it turned out well in the end. Should you use Anki to memorise the definition of first enthalpy of electron affinity? Absolutely yes. Should you use Anki to memorise how to calculate percentage uncertainty or the entire cardiac cycle? That depends, but pastpapers are your bestfriend. My advice: use Anki for definitions and formulae but prioritise memorising things like biology sequences through pastpapers then flashcard anything you get wrong. Don't use it as your main source of revision and don't spend too much time on it
sorry but if i stopped using anki, i would fail my a-levels.
too much content in bio to remember