How to write good flashcards

A lot of people use flashcards to study for the GMAT, and I am 100% behind this. I think it's a great idea! But it seems that some people don't use their flashcards very well. Let's talk a little bit about good flashcards versus bad ones.

Essentially, good flashcards should be:

• specific
• situational
• concise
• necessary 
• question and answer

A tutoring student of mine showed me a flashcard that looked something like this:

The definition of the word "integer" is any number that is a whole number with no fraction or decimal parts. Integers include positives, negatives, and zero. An example of an integer is 7. When an integer is added to, subtracted from, or multiplied by another integer, the result will always be another integer. When one integer is divided by an integer, the result may or may not be another integer.

The back was blank.

It wasn't her fault; no one had ever taught her how to make a good flashcard! So we spent some time going over why it wasn't a helpful study tool, and how it could be improved.

Basically, this flashcard met only one of my criteria -- it was specific. However...

1. It wasn't situational. How does this long paragraph of words connect to anything you'd actually see on the test? It doesn't look like anything you've seen in a GMAT question at all, does it?
2. It wasn't concise. I mean... just look at it! A person can't just expect to memorize an entire paragraph.
3. It wasn't completely necessary. My student had been studying for months and had learned the definition of the term "integer" completely -- she had no problems with that concept. The whole first half of the flashcard was a waste of her time.
4. It wasn't question and answer. If you expect to really learn this material, you will have to interact with it. Simply looking at a piece of information will not have the impact of asking yourself a question and answering it.


 I suggested this flashcard (below) as a replacement:

If x and y are integers, which of the following is not necessarily an integer?

A) x + y

B) x - y

C) xy

D) x/y

On the back it said:

When you add, subtract, or multiply with integers, you always get more integers. If you divide with integers, you may or may not get another integer. Therefore, x/y doesn't have to be an integer.

I gave my student the instruction that when this flashcard comes up in her studies, she wasn't supposed to just look at it and say, "yeah, it's D" and keep moving. She was supposed to actually say something like "it's D because if you divide with integers you might not get an integer, but with adding, subtracting, and multiplying, you do." And say it OUT LOUD. Before she looked at the back.

I will have to write some more posts on this topic, but I hope it's enough to get you started.