Basic Background - Your
understanding of new materials depends on what you already know
that you can connect it to. The more you increase your basic
knowledge, the easier it is to build new knowledge on this
background.
Controlling the
amount and form:
Selectivity-You must
determine what is most important and select those parts to begin
the process of studying and learning.
Meaningful Organization--You
can learn and remember better if you can group ideas into some
sort of meaningful categories or groups.
Strengthening
Neural Connections:
Recitation--Saying ideas
aloud in your own words strengthens synaptic connections and
gives you immediate feedback. The more feedback you get, the
faster and more accurate your learning.
Visualization--The brain’s
quickest and probably the longest-lasting response is to images.
By making a mental picture, you use an entirely different part
of the brain than you did by reading or listening.
Association--Memory is
increased when facts to be learned are consciously associated
with something familiar to you. Memory is essentially formed by
making neural connections. Begin by asking, "What is this like
that I already know and understand?".
Allowing Time
to Solidify Pathways:
Consolidation--Your brain
must have time for new information to establish and solidify a
neuronal pathway. When you make a list or review your notes
right after class, you are using the principle of consolidation.
Distributed Practice--A
series of shorter study sessions distributed over several days
is preferable to fewer but longer study sessions.
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Acronyms
- An acronym is an invented combination of letters. Each letter
is a cue to, or suggests, an item you need to remember.
Examples include:
PEMDAS is the acronym for the
sequence in solving or evaluating math equations
(Parentheses, Exponent,
Multiplication, Division, Addition and Subtraction) (Please
Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally)
ROY G. BIV is the acronym for the
colors of the visible spectrum
(Red, Orange, Yellow, Green,
Blue, Indigo, Violet)
IPMAT is the acronym for the
stages of cell division
(Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase,
Anaphase, Telephase)
An Acrostic is very much
like an acronym. It is an invented sentence or poem with a first
letter cue:
The first letter of each word is
a cue to an idea you need to remember.
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally
(PEMDAS, above)
Sequence in solving or evaluating
math equations
Parenthesis | Exponents |
Multiplication | Division | Addition | Subtraction
Every Good Boy Deserves Fun
An acrostic for remembering a
sequence of musical notes (G-clef notes on sheet music)--E, G,
B, D, F
The Image-Name Technique:
(for remembering names)
Simply invent any relationship
between the name and the physical characteristics of the person.
For example, if you had to remember Shirley Temple's name, you
might ingrain the name in memory by noticing that she has
"curly" (rhymes with Shirley) hair around her temples.
