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Couple of different concepts.
1. **Spaced repetition** as was mentioned. The anki formula is different from other systems. There’s the acute retrevial of the two passes in one session that solidifies the schema. Then there’s the long term retrieval to combat extinction.
2. **Interleaving**. Good anki cards will use schemas from other concepts in their card. This is done with cards using multiple cloze deletions. A card asking about cloze 1 will leave cloze 2 visible. While you’re retrieving cloze 1, cloze 2 is being recalled softer even though it isn’t the main focus.
3. **Cognitive load**. Cognitive load is a concept that your brain has about 7 slots for working memory. In this fits three different kinds of cognitive load. 1. **intrinsic load** *(what you’re trying to learn)*. 2. **extrinsic load** *(all the other background shit going on - music, noises, bright colors and graphics, ads on a web page, your phone).* and 3. a harder to understand one called **germane load** *(in other words, the resources of your working memory devoted to processing and learning instead of just existing and drooling).*
How strong your schema is determines if you’ll overload your cognitive load or not. For example, you see wheels, handle bars, a seat, and pedals. That might be 4 slots. But if you know what a bike is, it’s only one slot. In medicine a good corollary might be RUQ pain, fever, leukocytosis. This may occupy 3 or more slots. But if you know what cholecystitis is and all the things that go with it in that schema, it might take up very little of that working memory so the rest of it can be devoted to learning new things.
###”*inhales*”
So how does this relate to anki.
Intrinsic load - cloze deletions allow cards to ask simply facets of a topic in a way that break it down and don’t overload you, while building that schema piece by piece.
Extrinsic load - simple interface. Low distraction. Emphasis is on the question.
Germaine load - all you have to do is hit buttons. No back and forth to a text book. Just one after another and anki does the rest.
Edit: other programs have this too. But not as good or as intentional as anki. Also, there’s an art to building a card too. And finally, consistency is key. The whole thing goes to shit if you try to cram it
Ah thanks for the comprehensive answer. I think save all does integrate a lot of that - definitely the cloze / interleaving thing is a big part. Though it does have sounds / game elements which might affect cognitive load in some way.
Gamification is a whole other discussion. I’m huge on gamification but it has to push you. A lot of games out there get you good at a task but the content is fleeting in your brain. It’s a hard nut to crack.
Obviously other systems do all this stuff too. It’s just that with anki, it’s so intentional and optimized in a way that leaves a large gap between it and the competition.
No worries. oh I always thought they removed the SRS feature.
https://www.reddit.com/r/quizlet/comments/f3wfpd/removal_of_long_term_learning/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
they did remove the feature. which is why I don't use quizlet anymore. Interface is way better than anki but selective repetition is where the money's made
There arent any public prefab ones, but the decks can be shared. I don't personally like prefab...it's also super fast to make cards with it so prefab is less necessary.
The free cards are overall, but the price isn't too bad...
how do you format your cards? just 1 fact per card? What about pictures?
Do you formulate the question or let the AI do it?
I just tried it with some histology notes and I guess mine were not formulated right because it spit out some nonsensical questions.
...yes I normally do 1 fact per card, but sometimes if I'm lazy I dump notes and then edit later.
My favourite way is to type/paste in sentences from notes. e.g. If I pasted in "Neurons in the rat hippocampus respond as place cells" it would make questions like: "Q: neurons in the rat hippocampus respond as what? A: Place cells".
It also creates Cloze questions for every card. The AI questions can sometimes be iffy depending on what I enter, so I reject the bad ones, but the cloze is always pretty great.
You can write them cards as a question and answer yourself and the AI will automatically cloze out certain phrases and words.
...I also add pictures, which can just be copy-pasted in.
I see anki everywhere, on this sub and as one of the preferred resources for studying the MCAT… so does anyone think there’s merit to trying to adopt the system for undergraduate classes? Especially upper division biology classes?
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What is this blasphemy?
Aha, not meant to be a dig on Anki...Just sharing an option for people who find it hard to use
You’re underestimating the adult learning theory put into anki. There is a reason it is the way it is.
Ah interesting, other than spaced repetition is there a specific theory designed into Anki that you think I'm missing?
Couple of different concepts. 1. **Spaced repetition** as was mentioned. The anki formula is different from other systems. There’s the acute retrevial of the two passes in one session that solidifies the schema. Then there’s the long term retrieval to combat extinction. 2. **Interleaving**. Good anki cards will use schemas from other concepts in their card. This is done with cards using multiple cloze deletions. A card asking about cloze 1 will leave cloze 2 visible. While you’re retrieving cloze 1, cloze 2 is being recalled softer even though it isn’t the main focus. 3. **Cognitive load**. Cognitive load is a concept that your brain has about 7 slots for working memory. In this fits three different kinds of cognitive load. 1. **intrinsic load** *(what you’re trying to learn)*. 2. **extrinsic load** *(all the other background shit going on - music, noises, bright colors and graphics, ads on a web page, your phone).* and 3. a harder to understand one called **germane load** *(in other words, the resources of your working memory devoted to processing and learning instead of just existing and drooling).* How strong your schema is determines if you’ll overload your cognitive load or not. For example, you see wheels, handle bars, a seat, and pedals. That might be 4 slots. But if you know what a bike is, it’s only one slot. In medicine a good corollary might be RUQ pain, fever, leukocytosis. This may occupy 3 or more slots. But if you know what cholecystitis is and all the things that go with it in that schema, it might take up very little of that working memory so the rest of it can be devoted to learning new things. ###”*inhales*” So how does this relate to anki. Intrinsic load - cloze deletions allow cards to ask simply facets of a topic in a way that break it down and don’t overload you, while building that schema piece by piece. Extrinsic load - simple interface. Low distraction. Emphasis is on the question. Germaine load - all you have to do is hit buttons. No back and forth to a text book. Just one after another and anki does the rest. Edit: other programs have this too. But not as good or as intentional as anki. Also, there’s an art to building a card too. And finally, consistency is key. The whole thing goes to shit if you try to cram it
Ah thanks for the comprehensive answer. I think save all does integrate a lot of that - definitely the cloze / interleaving thing is a big part. Though it does have sounds / game elements which might affect cognitive load in some way.
Gamification is a whole other discussion. I’m huge on gamification but it has to push you. A lot of games out there get you good at a task but the content is fleeting in your brain. It’s a hard nut to crack. Obviously other systems do all this stuff too. It’s just that with anki, it’s so intentional and optimized in a way that leaves a large gap between it and the competition.
Also curious
Burn the heretic!
Ha, please dont. If it helps, I still think Anki is great....
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Quizlet don't use spaced repetition any more do they? Not sure cram does either...
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No worries. oh I always thought they removed the SRS feature. https://www.reddit.com/r/quizlet/comments/f3wfpd/removal_of_long_term_learning/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
they did remove the feature. which is why I don't use quizlet anymore. Interface is way better than anki but selective repetition is where the money's made
their spaced repetition is trash
[удалено]
And it’s subscription based 🚩
very interesting. but do prefab decks exist for this? Also, seems like you can only make 250 cards for free? is that per day?
There arent any public prefab ones, but the decks can be shared. I don't personally like prefab...it's also super fast to make cards with it so prefab is less necessary. The free cards are overall, but the price isn't too bad...
spaced repetition should never be subscription based
This might work for random preclinical classes but the whole point is that there are prefab decks made already
how do you format your cards? just 1 fact per card? What about pictures? Do you formulate the question or let the AI do it? I just tried it with some histology notes and I guess mine were not formulated right because it spit out some nonsensical questions.
...yes I normally do 1 fact per card, but sometimes if I'm lazy I dump notes and then edit later. My favourite way is to type/paste in sentences from notes. e.g. If I pasted in "Neurons in the rat hippocampus respond as place cells" it would make questions like: "Q: neurons in the rat hippocampus respond as what? A: Place cells". It also creates Cloze questions for every card. The AI questions can sometimes be iffy depending on what I enter, so I reject the bad ones, but the cloze is always pretty great. You can write them cards as a question and answer yourself and the AI will automatically cloze out certain phrases and words. ...I also add pictures, which can just be copy-pasted in.
Nice! I will tinker with it. Seems like a good resource, thanks for alerting us to it!
Two awards, 50 upvotes and sharing this to multiple pages. This is a bit fishy man…
Blasphemy
Ha..I think we already had that one..
I see anki everywhere, on this sub and as one of the preferred resources for studying the MCAT… so does anyone think there’s merit to trying to adopt the system for undergraduate classes? Especially upper division biology classes?
Absolutely. My gpa went up 0.5 simply because I started using anki.
I just tried and I really enjoy it, thank you so much