We know that for students to grasp complex scientific concepts, they need a solid foundation of factual knowledge. Flashcards in Sparx Science are specifically designed to supercharge students' knowledge recall.
What are Flashcards and how do they work?
What are Flashcards and how do they work?
Built on the principles of cognitive science and spaced retrieval, Flashcards make practice quick, effective, and targeted.
Meaningful Practice: If a student gets a question wrong, we show them the underlying knowledge statement. When the card reappears, it asks a new question on the same fact, promoting genuine understanding over memorisation.
Leveled Progress: As students answer correctly, cards progress from 'Learning' to 'Confident' and 'Mastered'. The more confident they are, the less often the card appears.
Available Anytime: As well as in homework, students can access their full deck in Independent Learning to practise anytime and earn XP. In Independent Learning, they get a deck of 10 cards to work through based on their previously set topics in HW and get 100XP for completing the deck of 10.
You can introduce your staff and students to Flashcards using this slide deck.
What does it look like for students and teachers?
What does it look like for students and teachers?
Student completion view:
Student task view:
Answer history in teacher view:
Independent Learning view:
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between confident and mastered?
What is the difference between confident and mastered?
Cards are kept in different states, which affects how often they are seen by students. These states are “Learning”, “Confident”, and “Mastered”. Students are most secure with the knowledge in the “Mastered” state. The number of cards in the “Learning” state is not shown to students.
Each Flashcard will move between these states based on the frequency of correct answers. Getting a card correct first time multiple times will move it to the “Mastered” state.
Can we see Flashcards progress and levels?
Can we see Flashcards progress and levels?
This is not currently available, but something we're mindful of as a future improvement.
Will this make homework any longer for students?
Will this make homework any longer for students?
No, the working time of students will remain the same. The rest of the homework will be slightly shorter so that the overall length is unchanged.
Can I turn Flashcards off for a specific class or student?
Can I turn Flashcards off for a specific class or student?
No you cannot; flashcards are a key part of science practice and are on for every student.
How do the flashcards align with the topics I am currently teaching?
How do the flashcards align with the topics I am currently teaching?
We have mapped the flashcards directly to the topics in Sparx Science. This means they will remain related to what you are teaching, just like all our other content.
What happens if a student keeps getting the same flashcard wrong? Will they get stuck?
What happens if a student keeps getting the same flashcard wrong? Will they get stuck?
When a student gets a flashcard wrong they will see the knowledge statement behind that card, then will see a new question about the same knowledge statement. To check their learning this card will also reappear later in their practice.
If they get a card wrong on multiple occasions they will keep seeing the knowledge statement, we are confident that any question will be answerable after seeing this and we therefore expect students to correctly answer the flashcard before completing this section of their homework.