Study cards

Study cards suit anything with a short answer worth remembering: terms and definitions, vocabulary, dates, formulas. Recalling the answer before seeing it is what makes the practice stick.

There are two learning modes. In Self-study, students turn the card and judge for themselves whether they knew it. In Answer, they type the answer and Praktikal checks it.

1. In a worksheet, use the + and choose Study cards. If it does not open for editing, click its pencil.

2. Under Question settings, choose the Learning mode: Self-study or Answer. Tick Randomise card order if the cards should come in a different order each time.

3. Fill in each card. In Self-study, write the term on the Front and its meaning on the Back. In Answer, write the Prompt and the Accepted answers, separating alternatives with /.

4. Add card adds another card; Remove card deletes one.

5. Each card can also have an Image with an Image description, an Audio URL and a Hint. In Self-study there is also a Back hint.

6. Click the tick when you are done.

The Description field is shown to students above the cards in Answer mode. In Self-study it is not shown, so put the instruction in the item's title.

In Self-study, students read the front, think of the answer, and click Reveal answer. Then they choose I knew this or I did not know this. Each choice is saved as they make it; there is no submit button.

In Answer mode, students type their answer and click Check answer. They see Correct or Incorrect and the correct answer, then click Next. Capital letters and spaces at the start or end do not matter, and any of the alternatives you listed counts.

After the last card, the Round summary shows how many they knew, how many they did not, and how many Cards to study are left. Continue studying starts a new round with only the cards they did not know yet. When none are left, the deck is done. Start again resets their progress.

In the presentation, click Results on the study cards.

In Self-study, you see for each student the round they are on, how many cards they knew and did not know, whether they have Completed the deck, and their rating for each card in the latest round. These are the students' own judgements, not checked answers. The item counts as correct once a student has marked every card as known; until then it is not graded.

In Answer mode, you see each Prompt with the student's answer and the correct answer. The item is correct when every card is right and partly correct when some are.

• Keep each card to one term and one short answer. A long back is hard to judge honestly.

• Use Answer mode when spelling matters, and list the other acceptable forms with /.

• A hint on the front can nudge students without giving the answer away.

• Look at which cards most students did not know: those are the terms to go over again in class.