Brainscape 101: What Makes It So Powerful

That study tool comes in the form of an adaptive flashcard app that leverages the learning power of spaced repetition, active recall, and metacognition to make Praxis test prep as fast, efficient, and convenient as humanly possible! (Something that future teachers could pass on to their own students someday!)

It’s a mission we’re proud to share with ETS because the world needs more teachers. And so we worked with them to distill the knowledge tested by their various Praxis exams into neatly-organized collections of digital flashcards. (You can see our collection of Praxis flashcards here.)

Right off the bat, this saves student teachers hours of time trying to decide which facts are important and which aren’t. Every fact they need to know to ace the knowledge portion of the test has been “flashcardized”.

As for the essential skills-based content learners need to know, that will continue to be covered by ETS partner Study.com’s awesome array of Praxis courses. Brainscape, however, is a fast, effective solution for working at retaining the knowledge that student teachers need to know.

A Study Algorithm Personalized to Learners’ Unique Strengths and Weaknesses

The next piece of the puzzle is how the app delivers these flashcards to learners, which it does systematically, at a pace that is tailored to their unique strengths and weaknesses.

You see, the human brain is biologically wired to learn a certain way. Yet most traditional study methods actively work against this hardwiring and not with it. Students read through the textbook, highlight certain words and passages, make notes, read their notes and hope the knowledge sticks.

But your brain needs more than this kind of passive review to retain information. It needs spaced repetition and imperative:

• The more often you’re exposed to a fact, the more likely you’ll remember it.
• The more important that fact is to your “survival”, the faster you’ll remember it.

Let’s say you’re on a safari and, before heading out on a game walk, your guide shows you some photos. The first is of a flower that’s quite prolific at that time of year. The second is of a tree that holds special symbolism to the local people. The third is of a venomous snake you need to be on the lookout for.

Which one of those images is likely to be emblazoned in your memory the longest? Probably the snake, right? Sure, you may remember what the flower and tree look like for a few hours or days… but weeks and months (or even years) after that safari, you’ll probably remember the colors and patterns on that venomous snake that you were told to be careful of.

All from just one “review”. Because it was imperative to your survival.

Now, while we cannot (and wouldn’t want to) recreate that sense of danger in studying, we can ask you questions on Praxis’s testable content… and if you don’t know the answers, your brain will perceive that lack of knowledge as a “threat”. To what? To your ability to pass the exam and begin your career as an educator! This primes your brain to hold onto that knowledge so much tighter the next time you’re exposed to it.

This is why Brainscape’s digital flashcards are so effective for learning—not only because they create an imperative to remember the content via a learning practice called active recall. But also because you’re then repeatedly exposed to the concepts you didn’t know well via the app’s spaced repetition algorithm.

This automatically focuses your study time on your weaknesses, while saving you time reviewing the facts you already know well (but without letting you forget those older concepts either).

Concurrently, new concepts are steadily introduced in a scaffolded way.

With all the testable knowledge-based content already made into flashcards and a study system that is scientifically optimized to help you learn efficiently, you can now see why Brainscape is such a powerful addition to ETS’s complement of other trusted exam prep tools!

(Plus, you will likely want to use this flashcard app with your students once you become a teacher. So studying in this way will help you experience what the future of studying feels like!)

What This Means for Student Teachers

Student teachers have already got enough on their plates so any time you spend studying should count. The tools you use should make your life easier, not harder.

That’s what inspired the partnership of ETS and Brainscape. With Brainscape you can:

• Find complete sets of flashcards for many Praxis exams.
• Trust that all the knowledge-based concepts you need to know are covered in those flashcards.
• Study anytime, anywhere, even offline if you download your flashcards beforehand.
• Learn and retain the content so much faster than you would using passive study techniques.
• Master a study tool you can use with your own students one day to help them massively improve their grades.

Brainscape was built to work for real people in the real world, not just for superachievers with superhuman motivation.

The Beginning of a Bigger Shift

This partnership between Praxis and Brainscape is just the start. Together, we’re redefining what “test prep” looks like, and making it more accessible, more efficient, and a whole lot more human.

Brainscape is proud to be part of ETS's larger effort to support teachers not just as test-takers, but as lifelong learners and leaders in the classroom.

So, ditch the overwhelm, study using a scientifically-optimized study system, and get one step closer to the classroom you were meant to lead!

Learn more about the science of Brainscape here.

Discover our Praxis flashcards here.