AQA A level Biology revision flashcards

I’ve been making bio flashcards since the start of yr 12 on Anki, but I haven’t made any notes. The flashcards have mark scheme specific points and most of the info covered in the spec. However a lot of people tend to do notes first, then flashcards, so i’m wondering if just flashcards is enough.

Would flashcards for a first revision resource, then practice questions be enough? Or should i go for notes then flashcards, then practice questions?

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 1

Violet24

I made notes from mainly one textbook but sometimes used more than one textbook if I needed to explain things. I would then learn the topic. Then I would make a summary sheet on the topic such as diabetes with key words and definitions. My flashcards would be things that I struggled to remember like definitions of different stages of photosynthesis in case I forget or got mixed up.
We all learn differently and I don't recommend you make notes on everything in case you don't learn you notes. I find it helps to learn things when it is written in your own handwriting. I then go back to textbook in class when they are going over a topic and be like I know this stuff.
I did however make flashcards with markscheme words but only when I knew the topic well
I did some times not learn my notes and end up writing the same ones again. Only make notes if it helps you to understand and learn the different stages in photosynthesis, parts of the kidney, structure of muscle during contraction etc.
I hope this helps

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 2

username4912958

Original post by Violet24

Thank youu. I’m not sure to make notes or not because my flashcards cover all the spec topics so far, so it’s basically like notes, but in the form of questions answers at the back. There’s a lot of flashcards but i seem to remember them only if i do spaced repetition. However would having notes be beneficial on top of the detailed flashcards?

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 3

Violet24

Original post by xocean23

I would make notes and learn them. An example is the stages of photosynthesis and the cofactors involved. I would then make summary sheet, single page A4 of key words and some definitions that you don't want to forget.
Then when I pick up the flashcards, I would expect to know the answer to the question. I would only get it wrong if my answer was not word specific to the mark scheme. Sometimes markscheme can have more than one example of an answer to a question. So it is good to learn a full definition to increase your chances picking up the marks in case you forget something on the day.

Reply 4

mxx454

Flashcards are fine! i’ve never made notes, find them a waste of time tbh and i’ve just discovered anki recently so am using the textbook & spec to put questions/answers then i’m going on to exam questions :smile:

. More effective seeing as you’re not wasting time making notes on content that you’ve probably already put onto the flashcards. Only time i’d say to make notes is for processes like respiration & photosynthesis where i’d do a sort of flow chart as it helps with understanding.

(edited 3 years ago)

Reply 5

CaptainDuckie

Study Forum Helper

Yep, I agree with @mxx454

Don’t make notes for biology, at most, find out what type of learner you are, for me, I’m a visual learner so I just implement diagrams on my Anki decks so whenever I need to recall something, I can just remember that specific picture in my head and just describe what i see. Notes are a major waste of time.

Reply 6

username4912958

Original post by mxx454

. More effective seeing as you’re not wasting time making notes on content that you’ve probably already put onto the flashcards.

Ye i was thinking the same thing. During the beginning of the year I wrote some notes, but for every end of unit exam it would be a pain to re read all the notes passively again.. So i’m not really sure if i should stick to the idea. I thought flashcards would be way more practical to use, but a lot of people say that writing notes is more useful. I just started using anki too, i’m switching from quizlet.