Breakfast thought: sometimes cheatsheets are better than flashcards.
@Rovine like what?
@Absinthe I started Unity module of my course today, with learning the editor's UI being my current priority.
Something like that, where I'm learning a tool, requires me to actually use the tool to learn about it. That means looking at a flashcard of, say, a hotkey shortcut to zoom in scene window, doesn't mean much when I pull out the mobile flashcard in the toilet, or queuing up in Greggs. I gotta actually be there at my laptop and use the zoom tool.
I remembered that the way I learned to play Dwarf Fortress was pretty much playing it alongside the wiki. DF menu itself is also structured like a cheatsheet of hotkeys.
I think scenarios where you're learning a tool, flashcards won't contribute as much, but scenarios where you're learning knowledge are where flashcards shine.
@Rovine I see what you mean. I can't imagine flashcarding for an editor would be all that effective. But working through the commands certainly does help a lot. When I would teach a new program to people, I wouldn't let them write anything down while I was showing them what to do. I made them hit the keys I was telling them, and later when we were done, if there was something that was particularly un-rememberable they could go back and make a note. Usually those notes fit on a sticky note instead of a legal pad :)
@Rovine maybe, but I would guess you will only mostly use a subset of them. After a little time of using it they will be in your muscle memory. The rest, you will either never use, or won't ever bother remembering and just look them up when you need them.
@Absinthe Yeah exactly. Although similar to flashcards, making your own cheatsheet is still very beneficial. The act of making your own note, be it flashcard or cheatsheet, is an important ingredient of learning difficult things along with practice.
This is the DF menu I was talking about and it looks like it could fit on a sticky :D