Lesson 4 - Study Skills
Study Skills
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Quotes:
- "Brain power improves by brain use, just as our bodily power improves with exercise." --- Unknown
- "The only person you should strive to be better than, is the person you were yesterday." --- Matty Mullins
- "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition." --- Steve Jobs
- "Knowlege has a beginning but no end." --- Unknown
Questions for Journaling or Discussion:
“How can I study and remember everything?”
First things first—memorization will only get you so far. In order to perform your best in school, it’s important to make sure you have a meaningful understanding of a subject.
However, studying does require students to use memory in order to remember ideas, concepts, and material for test day. So, while you shouldn’t rely on cramming for a test the night before, you can take steps to improve your memory and make the most of your study sessions.
How can I improve my memory for studying?
Everything takes practice. Many students struggle with remembering facts and material because they simply don’t take the time work their mind on a regular basis. As subjects get harder, they find that their mind is unprepared to tackle the information.
Rather than asking how to memorize faster for exams, students should be learning how to use their memory more effectively while they study. The answer? Regular study sessions. The more regularly you review material, the better you can train your mind to remember what you have studied with much more accuracy. On top of regularly reviewing class material, there are also some memory tricks you can use to help improve your recall for your next test.
8 Easy Memory Techniques for Studying
Try out these memorization tips for students that will help you exercise your mind and improve recall.
Organize your space. To improve your memory, you need to be able to focus. Distractions of any kind will prevent this, so make sure your space is clear of clutter and has all the materials you need for your study session.
Visualize the information. Use the Method of Loci. This is a technique where you visualize a house, associating rooms in the house with bits of information. New information goes into a new room. Open a drawer to find a chemical formula. Open a closet to find the names of the bones in the foot.
Use acronyms and mnemonics. Create patterns and words with from the information you need to remember. Associating the first letter of each item with a word, phrase, or rhyme, can make information easier to recall. These tricks are especially useful to help remember lists and ordered information.
Recalling names can be easier by associating images and names in a clever, unique way. Remember the names of the presidents by associating a facial feature with their name, such as ‘Mutton Chops Van Buren’.
Use the chaining technique. Create a story or sentence around a bit of information so that it can be more easily recalled. Remember the order of the planets by telling a tale about them going on a picnic. The story can be silly and fun, which will make it easier to remember.
Learn by doing. Learn information by acting it out. Using hand gestures and other movements can help you better remember information with muscle memory. If you can’t move around when studying, use your imagination to picture it in your mind.
Study in different locations. Your memory can be triggered by different cues in your environment. If you are having trouble remembering the material you are studying, try moving to a new spot to help the information stand out in your mind.
Revisit the material. Review the material you studied a couple days after your study session. Make a mental note of anything you have forgotten, and review those areas again.
LEARNING ISN’T JUST ABOUT MEMORIZATION
Remember, it’s important to use these memory techniques on top of other good study habits like proper time management and organization. This will help make sure you’re not simply memorizing the material, but working toward a deeper understanding of the subject.
Source: Grade Power Learning - 8 Memory Techniques for a Better Session
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GUIDE TO IMPROVING YOUR MEMORY - WHAT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER AT UNIVERSITY
In your work at University you will be expected to understand and apply knowledge, not just learn information by rote. However you will be required to recall key ideas and concepts quickly and accurately. This study guide will suggest some strategies and techniques that you might find useful both in remembering facts, but also allowing you to recall ideas, arguments, and theories in your subject area.
MEMORY AND EXAMS
Exams can understandably make you nervous. You may be concerned about being able to recall all the information you need for an exam. A common mistake in this situation is to just read and reread your lecture and other notes, in the hope you may be able to remember all you need. This is unlikely to be successful as the exam will ask you not just to remember, but to understand and apply your knowledge. You need to actively think about the ideas not just learn them by rote. To do this you need to practice active revision, not passive. Active revision is about understanding and using the information, testing your knowledge and using it to construct something. Passive revision is memorizing or learning by rote without real understanding of the subject matter.
Without active revision and review we forget a lot of information very quickly after we first encounter it. Active revision requires using material that you understand and that is memorable. The first stage in active revision is to ensure that your revision notes are memorable and that you understand them. To make your notes more memorable try to:
- Ensure you understand everything in your notes as it very difficult to remember something that you do not understand
- Use your own words
- Understand how these ideas relate to other material you are studying
- Use color and images to make particular ideas or concepts stand out
- Use structure and organization such as mind maps to help you remember
LEARNING STYLES
Everybody has particular ways that they like to learn. Understanding which style suits you best can help you decide how to approach your learning and remembering. You might be better at learning by writing notes (visual), discussing with colleagues (auditory), or by doing (kinesthetic).
TOP MEMORY TIPS
Whilst the work you are asked to do at university is not intended to be merely a memory test, there are occasions both in an academic environment and in the wider world where a good memory is helpful.
- Make sure what you are trying to learn is well structured, broken down into manageable sections and that you understand it. Plan regular reviews of your notes - not just last minute attempts to cram.
- Testing yourself and particularly explaining ideas to others can help fix ideas in your memory.
- Use mind maps to remember more structured complex information. The shape of the mind map
will provide a visual cue to remembering the structure of the information. - Use pictures, images and color as part of your notes to help trigger in your memory an associated
image. - Separating information into manageable pieces can help you remember, particularly useful for
remembering numbers (e.g. 112 432 3443 rather than 112323443). - Use color coded flash cards to learn discrete pieces of information, such as mathematical or
chemical formulae. Put one fact on each card and display one card in a prominent location e.g. by the toaster until you have learnt that fact and then add that card to the pile of learnt cards and put a new one on display. Go back to the learnt pile to review your learning. - Create and use mnemonics such as Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain to remember the order of the colors in a rainbow (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet).
- Use storytelling, familiar places or objects to provide a structure which you can associate with ideas you are trying to remember.
- It is okay to make and use lists. No one is expected to be able to remember everything.
Source: Skills for Learning (2018) Guide to improving your memory [online]. Wolverhampton: University of Wolverhampton. [Accessed 31 August 2019].