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Is it worth making flashcards for A-level?

Hi, I am doing biology, chemistry and psychology (AQA A-level). I do not have concise notes on each topic yet and as it is coming near to the summer holidays i want to spend time making them. Is it better to make flashcards and sumary notes on each card? Or write notes in notebooks (I really should have started this along the way since the beginning of year twelve but i didnt know any better). I think it would be more time efficient to write it on flashcards so i can have time to do more practice question. If i were to make flashcards, would "save my exams" be good for biology and chemistry? or should i use my class notes. My main concern for using flashcards is the amount of content in my chosen subjects. Thank you!
Original post by Idahlia
Hi, I am doing biology, chemistry and psychology (AQA A-level). I do not have concise notes on each topic yet and as it is coming near to the summer holidays i want to spend time making them. Is it better to make flashcards and sumary notes on each card? Or write notes in notebooks (I really should have started this along the way since the beginning of year twelve but i didnt know any better). I think it would be more time efficient to write it on flashcards so i can have time to do more practice question. If i were to make flashcards, would "save my exams" be good for biology and chemistry? or should i use my class notes. My main concern for using flashcards is the amount of content in my chosen subjects. Thank you!

I made notes on mine through the year and read ahead...it helps alot because once i got into yr 13 I focused on making exam flashcards only (every 6/5/4 marker that has ever come up in bio- they're good for consolidating knowledge) and practice qs for chem

Hope this helps💙💙
Reply 2
Anki or Quizlet would be your best friend and what I like about Quizlet and Anki is that you can find premade flashcards or using your notes you can make ChatGPT make questions for you and you can turn them into flashcards make it quick to make them instead of taking your time writing them but if that works for you that's great! Also with Anki, it has space repetition and that is good for keeping those concepts in your head over a period of time
Reply 3
Original post by Idahlia
Hi, I am doing biology, chemistry and psychology (AQA A-level). I do not have concise notes on each topic yet and as it is coming near to the summer holidays i want to spend time making them. Is it better to make flashcards and sumary notes on each card? Or write notes in notebooks (I really should have started this along the way since the beginning of year twelve but i didnt know any better). I think it would be more time efficient to write it on flashcards so i can have time to do more practice question. If i were to make flashcards, would "save my exams" be good for biology and chemistry? or should i use my class notes. My main concern for using flashcards is the amount of content in my chosen subjects. Thank you!

I made flashcards on my phone (using studysmarter) at the end of each topic ( i did chem (year 1), physics, product design and maths (didnt do falshcards for maths) for reference). Mostly for definitions and small questions and key concepts. I think it's worth it as you can do long term memory things with this using spaced repetition especially if you're using an app/website as it tells you when to do them. Some people find flashcards useful some don't see what works for you
Yes, flashcards are great for active recall which is necessary to do well in a-levels due to the amount of content you have to remember. I made flashcards throughout year 12 after each lesson, but it's not too late to start making flashcards. If you're concerned about about the amount of flashcards you'll be using then use digital flashcards.

If you don't want to make your own flashcards, you can find pre-made flashcards on anki (I prefer anki) and quizlet. They also have reviews for pre-made flashcards so you can see how useful they would be.
Reply 5
Original post by Idahlia
Hi, I am doing biology, chemistry and psychology (AQA A-level). I do not have concise notes on each topic yet and as it is coming near to the summer holidays i want to spend time making them. Is it better to make flashcards and sumary notes on each card? Or write notes in notebooks (I really should have started this along the way since the beginning of year twelve but i didnt know any better). I think it would be more time efficient to write it on flashcards so i can have time to do more practice question. If i were to make flashcards, would "save my exams" be good for biology and chemistry? or should i use my class notes. My main concern for using flashcards is the amount of content in my chosen subjects. Thank you!


so i did my exams this summer. For chem id recommend making flash cards but for bio I wouldn’t. This is because the proportion of application questions in AQA bio is insane. I wouldn’t focus too much on flash cards and especially making them. Focus on the fact dyu know your content INSIDE OUT and if so are you able to answer exam questions based on that topic. I’d recommend to do some active recall or most importantly blurtttt. For chem I’d recommend using flashcards and this is because chem is so much more about memory as long as you know the content inside out you’ll get an A. To get the A* you need to make sure your exam technique is on POINT. This is because silly mistakes are the enemy of alevel chem eg forgetting to do 3sig fig or not reading the question etc. any more questions lmk and you can message on my TikTok acc @inteuu3. YOU CAN DO THIS ❤️
Original post by Idahlia
Hi, I am doing biology, chemistry and psychology (AQA A-level). I do not have concise notes on each topic yet and as it is coming near to the summer holidays i want to spend time making them. Is it better to make flashcards and sumary notes on each card? Or write notes in notebooks (I really should have started this along the way since the beginning of year twelve but i didnt know any better). I think it would be more time efficient to write it on flashcards so i can have time to do more practice question. If i were to make flashcards, would "save my exams" be good for biology and chemistry? or should i use my class notes. My main concern for using flashcards is the amount of content in my chosen subjects. Thank you!

Hi!

Using a bit of both would be good, as you may miss some information that you were told in class but didn't find on the website. And when it comes to content, putting information on the cards that you know will benefit you and would be useful such as key definitions/concepts, etc as some have said below. As there is a lot of information, writing what you feel is important, anything that you don't seem to remember or get wrong, and then going through them! But, seeing as these are your flashcards you could put what you like as it's about how useful they will be to you in the long run, and then you can always amend them along the way!

Both are great ideas as writing the flashcards and summary notes on the same card means you can have all the information on each card and all together. And writing the notes in the notebooks then that would also be good too, as long as it works for you!

Hope this helps,
Kind Regards,

-Wanita

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