Study Desk » Memory

How to Study – The Different Ways of Learning

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:35:07 +0000

There are three main ways to interpret information when studying for any type of exam. I have explained what they mean and how to get the most out of how YOU Study.

Visual – This indicates you would benefit by underlining, highlighting, using colored markers, making colorful mind maps, drawing pictures, symbols or graphs. Diagrams underline the common point here. If you are visual, then get into the habit of engaging your visual mode for learning by using imagery as you study automatically picturing, making mental pictures of what you are studying whenever possible and project them onto an imaginary Mental Movie Screen, to enhance your way of learning best, make your mental pictures colorful, humorous, exaggerated and full of action. This will make stronger impressions of the information by involving more brain cells hence this greater neuron connection will assist in lengthening your memory in regards to different subject material and making the information easier to recall.

During your exams, look at your Mental Movie Screen and recall the mental pictures, graphs or drawings, doing this will help lead you to the necessary information. If all fails, then imagine your professor on your Mental Movie Screen and ask your professor for the answer. In most tests, it is best to write something for an answer than nothing at all. Get into the habit of using your Mental Movie Screen to impress any visual information you need to remember. Practice makes perfect.

Auditory – Then learn to engage your auditory mode for learning by attending all your lectures, discussing what you learned, including any visuals used, with others during study sessions. You can also record your lessons and listen to them later. Get into the practice of explaining what you have learned to an imaginary audience of children out loud. This will allow you to hear the
information and evaluate you understanding of it. Don’t get caught up in the listening to every detail you hear in lectures however and remind yourself to take down short notes. During your test, read the test question, listen to your inner voice giving you the answer and write the answers down. You can also talk quietly to yourself to solicit the answer. If all else fails, ask your professor for the answer and hear him give you the answer, then write it down.

Kinesthetic – Then engage your senses and be as hands on as you can. Incorporate your kinesthetic mode of learning by imagining how something feels, immerse yourself of being in the experience whenever possible, using your imaginary sense of touch, engaging the emotions and/or by doing some kind of rhythmic action as you learn such as pacing or tapping your fingers lightly. Explain what you have learned to an imaginary audience as if you were actually there in front of the audience doing the presentation, using props and explaining the feeling of the ‘process’ to the audience Of course the best results are achieved when you learn to engage all three learning modes. However as mentioned earlier refer back to what you find most helpful when you get stuck. And practice, practice, practice

By: Rick Aurtus

How To Remember What You Study

admin — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 08:24:09 +0000

Have you ever had the feeling that something was on the tip of your tongue, but couldn’t quite manage to remember it properly? Especially during an exam?

For most of us, it’s true to say that there is nothing wrong with our memory. I’ll bet you have no problem remembering your phone number, or your address, right? So the mechanics are there. And there’s plenty of room for more information.

The problem usually lies with the actual attention to and absorption of the information, rather than the recall. If you find you can’t remember a detail, or finish a math problem, or experience a ‘blank’ in an exam even though you ‘thought you knew it’, then what has probably happened is that you may have understood the gist of the topic, and felt comfortable with it as you read it or listened to it during a lesson, but you never properly challenged yourself to reproduce it on your own with no help. Or possibly, you heard the beginning and the end, but daydreamed away the middle.

So you need to improve on two things – your attention, and your absorption of the new knowledge. Both these can be improved by adopting a more active rather than a passive approach to your lectures and study material.

It won’t be easy at first – passively reading or lazily listening are much easier – but the return you’ll get will be worth it. With time and effort not to slip back into old habits it will also become second nature to you and you will get the results you want in less time.

The best way you can make your study more active is to continually test yourself on what you’ve heard. Summarise it. Question it. Ask yourself how much is already familiar and how much is new. If you are reading, check again to remind yourself of the parts you can’t remember or reread the parts you don’t understand. If it’s a lecture make quick notes to either ask about it or research it later.

Being actively involved will improve your attention, draw your attention to whether you have absorbed the details or not and allow you to rectify it and, as a bonus, I guarantee it will make your study more interesting and rewarding!

Now, I know you might be thinking that this is nothing new and that you’ve heard it all before, but this is the point that separates the successful students from the mediocre.

Successful students will be grateful for the reminder, and decide to re-apply themselves to this way of studying if they have slipped out of the habit.

Others will complain that this is not new and go look for some other ‘secret’ to success in their studies. They have heard it all before, but have never really and honestly tried it properly – because if they had, they would be in the first category! They would have realised the value of it and have benefited from it already. They would have experienced some of the success they seek already.

If you try it, you will see!

So make a commitment to yourself to start today, with your next study session. Don’t just read through the material passively. Stop at regular intervals and test yourself on what you’ve learned. Do it for a couple of weeks to change your habits and you will see the difference.

By: Steve Bracken

Effective Study Sessions – The First Thing You Should Do to Get the Most From Your Study Sessions

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:35:15 +0000

Are you getting the most form your study sessions? Do you know the one crucial first step to take every time you sit down to study? And if you do, are you using consistently and making part of your natural study routine?

There’s no magic or secret to this. I just want to make sure you are doing it, because if you are not, you are losing out! Your receptiveness to new information, revision of old knowledge and retention and understanding of the new material will be greatly enhanced if you do.

Each and every time you start on a new section or topic, check what the general subject is, take pen to paper, and as quickly as possible write notes on what you know already about the topic. This will often be what you learned in a previous chapter, or may be general information about the topic you have already.

Even if you think you know nothing about the subject your notes can be based around questions you may have about the topic. Try to generate anticipation and a hunger for the knowledge you are about to read.

Be aware that these notes should be brief; keywords will do. Always study with time and efficiency as one of your aims. Don’t waste time on elaborate notes. Your aim is to reawaken and prime your brain – not to make notes for presentation or future retention.

In fact, if you get good at this, you could even do it in your head, but since it takes a disciplined mind not to wander off track during this process, you are probably going to need to write it down.

Once you have finished, get on with your study of the chapter. You will find that you are less likely to be distracted and are more motivated to find answers to some questions or gaps in your knowledge. You will also find you can recall new information more easily due to the neural connections you can make between the old knowledge in your memory and the new. This information would be much more difficult to absorb if you tried to learn it ‘cold’.

Try this for a week – even if you have ‘heard it all before’. Make it part of your study routine and you will reap the rewards. Test it, and you will see how much it helps your learning.

By: Steve Bracken