Study tip: use good ol' fashioned note cards

A while ago I put out a call on Facebook asking my friends for study and productivity advice. Several people responded that their advice is not to forget about note cards. They’re low-tech and time-consuming, so we might be tempted to think they’re useless. But note cards remain a great way to organize your thoughts and retain things you want to remember.

I require my Art History students to make note cards for works they’re supposed to remember. And the students hate it; they often complain about how time-consuming they are. However, I get notes from former students every year telling me how effective the note cards were, and students continue to use note cards for college classes.

There are a number of online flashcard programs out there. They certainly have their uses (I use one on my iPad to practice blackjack), but you potentially lose a lot of the value of note cards when you take away the tactile elements.