Use of the ANKI Software in Coastal Engineering Courses: Methodology and Results

Abstract

Many people believe that engineering subjects require only mathematical and physical abilities as well as space perception. However, some aspects of the syllabus, must be memorized to achieve optimal academic results. The pandemic situation has meant a reduction in face-to-face classes, which has made it difficult to highlight (through repetition by teachers) those concepts that must be learnt by heart due to their importance. As is well known, the Notecard Question and Answer Technique (NQAT, based on Leitner’s system) helps students to learn those important ideas that must be kept in the long term memory to remember when needed. Therefore, an educational project is presented here that contemplates the creation of a database of question-answer cards to facilitate the memorization of concepts, formulas and key values of different parameters essential for understanding coastal engineering problems. The methodology was experimented in different courses, related to Coastal and Port Engineering. These courses are included in the third year of the Marine Sciences and Civil Engineering Bachelor degrees as well as in the MSc degree in the University of Cadiz. The program chosen was the ANKI, of broad application, easy to use and free to access. As a collateral advantage, students became familiar with this software and were able to use it in other subjects. Through a selective distribution of the different topics, all the students participated in the task of preparing the cards. Their use was encouraged by a series of online tests and a “supplementary bonus” to the final examination. The results obtained between the current course (with flash cards) and the previous one (without flash cards) did not show any substantial change in the number of students who pass the subject. However, students reported that it took less time to memorize formulations and key concepts.