You already have cards in Quizlet or Anki. Flipping them feels like progress. But an exam does not show you a term and wait for you to flip it. It asks questions in other shapes. This guide shows how to export your cards and turn them into a practice test with mixed question types.
Why a test beats only flipping cards
Flipping cards is a kind of self-testing, and that is good. But it has two weak spots.
- You see each card from the same side, in the same words, every time. You learn to answer that card, not the idea behind it.
- It's easy to flip too early and tell yourself you knew it. Nobody checks.
A practice test fixes both. A multiple choice question makes you pick the right answer from close options. A true or false question checks if you can spot a wrong claim. A fill in the blank makes you produce the word with no hint. Each shape tests the same fact from a new side.
Research supports testing. Roediger and Karpicke (2006) found that testing yourself beats rereading for memory a week later. Mixing also helps. Kornell and Bjork (2008) had people learn the styles of different painters. People learned the styles better when the paintings were mixed together. Seeing one painter at a time worked less well. A test that mixes formats and topics is also closer to a real exam.
Step 1: Export your Quizlet set as text
Quizlet can export a set as plain text. Menus change from time to time, so the exact buttons may move. Open the set on the Quizlet website and look in the set's menu for Export.
The export gives one card per line. The term and the definition sit on the same line, with a tab between them. Copy all of that text. You'll paste it in Step 3.
Step 2: Or export your Anki deck as a text or CSV file
Anki can export a deck as a plain text file. The desktop app is the easiest place to do it. Look for Export in the File menu, pick your deck, choose a plain text format, and save the file.
If you keep your cards in a spreadsheet instead, save it as a CSV file. Put one card on each row, with the front in one column and the back in the next.
Cloze cards, and cards with pictures or audio, may not come across well as text. Open the file and check a few lines before you use it.
Step 3: Turn the cards into a practice test
Now paste the Quizlet text or upload the Anki or CSV file. In Quizfix, a pasted Quizlet export works as is. It builds multiple choice, true or false, and fill in the blank questions from your cards. Each answer says why it is right.
The Quizlet to practice test tool and the Anki to quiz tool both work without an account, 3 runs a day per device.
You can also do this by hand. Take ten cards. For each one, write a multiple choice question with three wrong options that look close. Then write a true or false version that changes one key detail. It's slow, but thinking up wrong options is good study too. For help, read how to write good multiple choice questions.
Step 4: Use the test to find weak cards
Take the test cold. Don't flip through the deck first. Your score shows which cards you really know.
Watch for questions you got right by guessing. Count those as misses. Then look for patterns. Maybe you know every definition but mix up two similar terms. Maybe you can pick an answer from a list but can't produce it in a fill in the blank. Those patterns tell you what to study next.
In Quizfix, the Fix round turns your misses into flashcards and drills them. In Quizlet or Anki, you can star, flag, or tag the cards you missed and study only those. For a full review plan, see what to do after a practice test.
Step 5: Keep both habits
You don't need to stop using your cards. Cards are good for daily review, mostly with spaced repetition. A practice test is good for checking. They do different jobs.
A simple rhythm: review cards most days, and take a mixed test every few days. Before the exam, take a timed test to practice under pressure. If your exam is close, see how to study for an exam in a week.
What to watch out for
- Short or vague cards make weak questions. A card with one word on each side gives a test little to work with.
- Wrong cards make wrong questions. Shared decks from other people can have mistakes. Check odd answers against your class material.
- A big deck makes a long test. Split it by chapter or by week.
- Your cards are not your whole course. If the exam covers your slides and readings, test from those too.