Candidates preparing for the NPTE often ask about buying or selling NPTE flashcards. While some find them useful, others don’t and some don’t even use them after buying them. Premade flashcards or searching for flashcards that are made online may not be as helpful since these cards may not focus on exactly what YOU need to pass this exam.
Aren’t all NPTE flashcards the same? Yes and no. Most of the physical flashcards are the same in that they focus on the academic content of terms and definitions, such as the flash cards made on the quizlet or other online flashcards. Some flashcards are just miniaturized versions of the study guide with the same information on them. There are others that take the time to create their own and have other information than just terminologies.
While repetition is good; the brain can shut down when the material isn’t very exciting or when you are focusing more on recall and memorization. Just reading the terms and then flipping to know if you got them right without engaging makes this review more passive. Your brain can be like “yep, know this one….next” however, it may not be able to apply the information on the actual NPTE. So, why not create your own NPTE flashcards? Here, you’ll learn how you can create more effective flashcards for yourself.
Why Create Your Own NPTE Flashcards?
Creating your own NPTE flashcards is similar to creating your own individualized NPTE study plans. You know how you learn best, whether you are visual, auditory, or kinesthetic, so it’ll be better to create your own meaningful flashcards. This allows you to focus on your areas of strengths and weaknesses by actively learning by doing and through repetition.
What Should Be Put on the NPTE Flashcards?
Most candidates put down the terminology and the associated definition, which is fine; however, I would encourage you to add clinical or functional examples for better retention. Even adding where you may see the terminology can be helpful.
Make Connections
As you are learning, take the time to make connections to help you retain information better for the NPTE. The size of the flashcard challenges you to write down concepts in your own words or even to simplify. This can help weed out the nice-to-know information, leaving the more important information that could show up on the PT exam.
Less is More
To help remember information, limit what you put on the NPTE flashcard. The academic mindset mistake is to cram in as much information as possible, however, it can be overwhelming and not as productive. The key to utilizing these flashcards is putting down only the common things tested or relevant information. Remember, not everything will be tested on, so start with your missed NPTE practice questions to help guide your studying.
General Overview
Some NPTE questions will test your general knowledge of the information. You can create high-level or general overviews on your NPTE flashcards as well. It’s a quick reminder of how things work or reinforcement of the overall picture of the information. This keeps you from getting bogged down with so many details and focused on being able to apply or see general concepts.
Getting Specific
Once you have the general information, you can then get specific with your NPTE flashcards. This means you can have more than one card dedicated to a particular topic or area. This allows you to reinforce the information in multiple ways. Here’s where you can add more details, yet still focus on important information.
Drawing Helps
If you are a visual learner, drawing out the information can help you remember the information better. This can help put pieces together and get a better understanding on how things work. After the drawing is done, you can label and add more details as necessary. As you learn more information, you can add to the drawing.
These are just some examples of what you can do to make your learning easier and be tailored to your needs while studying for the NPTE. Some additional ideas for NPTE flashcards are to create brain dumps for the NPTE practice exams. While buying pre-made NPTE flashcards may be faster, taking the time to create your own cards will help you to retain the information better. Let me know what other ideas you have used for making your own NPTE flashcards.