You may have noticed that every flashcard on FunnelBrain has a tab just below each question and answer labeled “Explanations and Mnemonics.”  Let’s talk about the purpose of that tab (which you can see here), and why you should be making extensive use of it.  It’s important, because it is one of the keys to turning FunnelBrain into a powerful learning system.

The purpose of the “Explanation” part is probably pretty obvious to you, but let’s examine it a little more closely.  Of course, it’s there to give you a place to explain the question and answer on the flashcard, but why should you take the time to create explanations?  There are at least three really good reasons why you should.  First, it’s the best way to learn the material.  Second, it will help your fellow FunnelBrainers who may not have as keen an understanding of, say, AP Physics, as you do.  And last, but certainly not least, it’s your shot at immortality.  Not convinced?  Give me a minute to make my case.

A good flashcard typically presents a very granular, discrete piece of information in brief question and answer form.  This brevity is important.  First, it’s brevity that allows you to review your material quickly, and when you’re preparing for your mid-terms or finals or the AP Exams, speed matters.  Second, the very process of condensing a complex body of knowledge into pithy statements helps insure that you have learned the material well.  In fact, if you don’t understand the material well in the first place, it’s impossible to do a good job of condensing it into  short statements, let alone pithy ones.   However, those pithy statements will often cry out for a more fulsome explanation, and you should answer that cry.

First, as I said, providing an explanation, and I mean an explanation in your own words, not something copied from a textbook, may be the single best way to learn the material.  Someone smart once said the best way to learn something is to teach it.  There is a lot of truth in that statement.  Why?  Because to teach something, you have to be able to explain it in clear, simple terms to someone else.  I know you’re ahead of me here:  you can’t explain something clearly unless you really understand it.  By the way, the converse is also true: if you can’t explain something clearly, you don’t really understand it.  For this reason alone, you should add explanations to your flashcards.  Then you will know that you really know the answer to the question.  Don’t stop with the questions and answers you write yourself.  Add explanations to flashcards that others have written too.

Second, adding explanations will help your fellow FunnelBrain members.  Believe it or not, not everyone is as smart as you.  Perhaps you are studying AP Biology.  There are lots of complex topics in AP Biology.  Child’s play to you, I know.  But another student, perhaps even one in your own class, while reviewing the excellent AP Biology Exam Review deck created by Robert Dennison, will be stumped when he comes to the question “What is the second law of thermodynamics?”  Being stumped, he will click “Show Me the Answer” and he will read “the entropy of an isolated system will tend to increase until the system reaches equilibrium.”  And this will not help him, because he doesn’t know what entropy is, or what equilibrium is, and he’s not to sure what an isolated system is either.  However, if you have been kind enough to explain these things, he will be saved.

Okay, why should you care about helping the other guy on FunnelBrain?  Because that’s what FunnelBrain is all about.  It’s all about collaboration.  FunnelBrain is a community of learners helping each other.  When everyone contributes, everyone gets more out.  That’s what makes FunnelBrain a special place.  And when you do come across that rare answer that even you don’t understand, you’ll be glad the FunnelBrain community is there to help you out with an explanation.

Lastly, there’s the whole immortality thing.  A well crafted explanation that simplifies and elucidates a complex topic, is a thing of beauty that will be valued for a long time, maybe even forever.  And there are a lot of complex, confusing, confounding topics out there just begging for well crafted explanations.  If you record a few nice video explanations, bestowing your wisdom on your struggling classmates, they will be grateful.  And guess what?  That FunnelBrain group for Mr. Ariail’s AP Biology class that you and your classmates are enjoying this year will still be there next year, and the year after that, and so on.  So Mr. Ariail’s 2019 AP Biology class may one day be watching your video explanation and thinking, “Wow, kids were smart back in 2009.”

In my next post, I’ll talk about mnemonics.