Vet Revise
OVERVIEW
Vet-Revise (http://vetrevise.com) is a flashcard application targeted towards veterinary students, that implements a spaced repetition algorithm to minimise time studying, and maximise recall.
Being a veterinary student isn't easy. We have a vast amount to learn over a short period of time, and coping with this can be challenging.
As a vet in practice, being able to retain and recall relevant course material can be crucial for making diagnoses and acting in emergency situations.
SPACED REPETITION
Spaced repetition is a proven strategy for improving retention of knowledge, and encourages users to study little and often instead of cramming before exams. Memory intrinsically has a spacing effect, whereby each time something is seen, the length of time you will remember that information increases. By reviewing material at increasing intervals, we can take advantage of this effect and greatly optimise our time studying and retain information indefinitely.
Unfortunately, humans (and students especially!), are very bad at organising their work in this manner! But thankfully, computers are much better at this, and Vet-Revise uses an algorithm to schedule a student's study in the form of flashcards. They are presented to rekindle memory just before the student is most likely to forget them.
Not only is good recall crucial in practice, it also aids learning during the course. Revisiting modules is far less daunting, and students make links themselves between disparate parts of the course, improving understanding.
STUDENT COLLABORATION
There are already several flashcard applications available that utilise the spacing effect. So what makes Vet-Revise different?
At present, spaced repetition remains a niche solution; current software isn’t as approachable as it could be, and rarely "just works". Vet-Revise is a concerted effort to package the system in a way that veterinary students can easily use it and understand the benefits.
Also, unlike other applications, cards are seamlessly shared between students, giving users a brilliant resource of veterinary focussed material. Finding relevant medical information online can be difficult and frustrating as a vet student. The vast majority is human-specific, but this is of limited use for many of the species we have to worry about! Flashcards contain bite sized knowledge that is easy to search through and understand.
Because the database of cards is written by actual students as they move through their course, the content they create closely parallels the teaching they have had each year. Fellow students can filter decks by their institution, course and year of study to have instant access to cards they know are relevant to them.
CURRENT PROGRESS
Currently there is a beta version of the website live. We have had over 600 users, 3000 decks and 50,000 unique cards created.
This is without any significant marketing and only by introducing it to a couple of year groups at the RVC.
HOW WILL THE GRANT HELP?
I am the sole creator and maintainer of Vet-Revise, and due to my course, my time is limited. Jobs that are secondary to development, but crucial to the user experience, such as writing marketing material and documentation, often get left by the wayside. I believe that by using the grant money, I can bring in help to accelerate the development process and deliver a finished product much earlier.
These are the main aspects of development I would like to work on:
• Marketing pages, user documentation & help material • Offline support, and increased usability on tablets/phones • Collaboration tools • Many other features!
Offline device support, in particular, is an area where I would greatly benefit from external expertise. There are so many areas where network access isn't good, and students should be able to study anywhere. Offline is now the standard that users expect, but data syncing is a very hard problem, and I do not want to compromise user data. In these early stages of implementing the feature, some expertise of best practice would be highly beneficial.
SUMMARY
• A better way to learn with spaced repetition • A database of veterinary specific, course-related content • A platform for student collaboration and peer learning • The grant would help me deliver a better product, more quickly
FAQ
Q: Vet-Revise has a veterinary focus, but the software could be used in other subject areas. Are there plans to open it up to a wider audience?
A: As a vet student myself, I am most interested in getting the best out of fellow veterinary students, and that is what I would like to focus on first. Once I have a more complete product, I will be considering introducing it to other subjects/courses.
Q: Where can I read more about spaced repetition and the spacing effect?
A: There is an in-depth article concerning spaced repetition at gwern.net: http://www.gwern.net/Spaced%20repetition
Q: Where can I find other existing spaced repetition flashcard software?
A: http://ankisrs.net, http://mnemosyne-proj.org, http://memrise.com
Q: How does the focus on veterinary content improve Vet-Revise?
A: In terms of features, Vet-Revise's veterinary focus allows me to add features relevant to vet students, that would not make sense in a traditional flashcard package. For example:
• A public database of cards entirely relevant to the user’s subject area
• Easily add relevant scientific symbols
• Seamless access to a database of veterinary histology/anatomy images
• Searching uses a list of synonyms to make it easier to find the card you want.
◦ Eg: Mitral valve, bicuspid valve, left AV valve = all the same thing
Q: What is a more complete list of features that you are working on?
A: There are many, but here are the ones I will be tackling first:
• Offline support
• Marketing pages, user documentation & help material
• Collaboration tools
• Automatically suggest relevant cards to add as users create their own deck
• Mobile specific design for phones & tablets
• Allow users to upload their own images & media
• Integrate database of anatomy/histology images from OVAM & Wikivet
• Import of veterinary flashcards from other sources
◦ Already done with Wikivet
• Improved SRS algorithm
• Further data security/safety measures
• Card memorandums (eg: LEFT kidney is LOWER)
Q: How much will the finished product cost users?
A: I would like Vet-Revise be a free service for any veterinary student who would benefit from it. There are server costs that I currently pay myself, but as Vet-Revise grows, this may be unrealistic for me to continue. There are several possibilities to how I would fund the service in that case, such as advertising/sponsorship or providing a premium membership with extra features.
Q: Why does Vet-Revise require logging in with Facebook?
A: By using Facebook authentication, I do not have to store user’s passwords, and students can sign up to Vet-Revise much more quickly. I also think reducing anonymity by using real names, benefits student collaboration.
In the future, I may change this to allow conventional user accounts or sign up via Google or Twitter, but for now, I am happy with the current setup.
Q: How can students rely on the material created on Vet-Revise being factually correct?
A: The vast majority of information on Vet-Revise has been added by students, and mistakes may be present. Students should assess the material they find, as they would any other source. To mitigate this, it is suggested that students use the system to augment their current teaching, rather than learning straight from Vet-Revise. If they are already familiar with the topic, they will likely see any errors within the cards and correct them accordingly.
Additionally, measures will be put in place where if a student picks up an error, they can report it to the original author with suggested changes. And vice versa, if the original author wishes to amend their cards, any user who has a copy of them, will be notified of the change. This process improves the general quality of content, and helps students catch their own mistakes.
There are also plans to have verified packages of content, assessed to be of high quality, that students can have a higher level of trust with.