Shape: deck

A deck of flashcards shipped with study material, in two files. A header page names the text the cards come from and how to review them; a file of cards holds one question and one answer each, every card linked to the section it tests.

Skeleton

The header page, <deck>.md:

# <The subject of the deck>

> One or two sentences: the text the cards come from, and how many cards.

**Shape:** [deck](<link to this file>). **Cards:** [<deck>.tsv](<deck>.tsv).

## Use                 keep one deck, not small stacks; do not drop a card after one correct recall;
                       add your own cards, written in your words

## Sections            the sections of the source text, each with its concept and its detail cards

## See also            the lesson or notes the deck derives from

The cards, <deck>.tsv, tab-separated, which Anki imports as it is:

front   back    source  tags
<one question>  <one answer>    <lesson.md#section> <tags; generated and checked when a program wrote it>

The blocks

Block	Rule	Grade	Evidence
Source text	the deck names the text it derives from; each card links the section it tests	convention, untested (a practitioner rule)	flashcards, strand 1
Invitation	the header invites learners to add cards of their own, in their words	supported with caveat: learner-made cards beat premade ones in five of six experiments, contested for vocabulary	flashcards, strand 3; against
One question, one answer	a short front and a short back; no yes-or-no front; no list as an answer	convention, untested: the practitioner rules agree, no study tests them	flashcards, strand 2
Concept cards	each section has a why or how card beside its detail cards	supported with caveat, two studies read by abstract	flashcards, strand 5
Confusable cards	no two cards with the same front	supported with caveat: related words learned together raise confusion errors, vocabulary only	flashcards, strand 5
Use	one large deck, no card dropped after one correct recall	measured: dropping lowers retention, and small stacks mass the reviews	flashcards, strand 4
Generated cards	tagged `generated`, and `checked` once a person has read them	supported with caveat: one error in 21 after tuning, in one preprint	flashcards, strand 7

Scheduling is left to the review software: the schedulers are compared in the core (learning science, strand 8).
The baseline this shape must beat is a learner-made Anki deck of question-and-answer cards under the default scheduler (baseline).

How it derives from the topic

Topic block	Here	Change
Title, summary	the header page's	none
Body	Use, Sections	added
Contents	the cards file, linked from the Shape line	a data file, not a topic
See also	See also	none

Checked by

Check	What it verifies	Kind
`deck`	every card has a front and a back; no two cards share a front	exact
`deck`	every source links a file that exists, and a heading in it	exact
`deck`	a card tagged `generated` is also tagged `checked`	exact
`deck`	no yes-or-no front, no answer longer than `long_answer` words or listing more than `list_items` items	heuristic, PROVISIONAL thresholds
judgment	whether a card tests understanding or the recall of a phrase	judgment

An example that passes every check: binary search.