It has been said that humans tend to remember the first and last bit of information they receive. I believe that there is some truth to this, and I have found that when I study at intervals with breaks in between, I tend to retain more. For example, instead trying to study a piece of material for eight hours continuously, one could study in four (4) two-hour segments, with say fifteen minutes interval between each segment. It is important for you as students to take note of what has worked for you in the past and to continuously seek ways in which you can improve on your studying techniques as you journey towards academic achievements.

 

Omar Thomas Civil Engineering Florida State University

Kristen Harris University of Tennessee

    When studying for things that require pure memorization of raw material use the principles of neuroscience. This is especially true when it comes to lists, tables, and flow diagrams that need to be reproduced on exams. The simple neurological idea is that you need to form the neuronal connections that facilitate desired activity. For example if you throw a dart at the bulls eye repeatedly then eventually the neuronal connections involved in the activity (i.e. hand eye coordination) are re-enforced. Apply this same idea to your studying and memorization of material. Repeatedly write out the list, table, or flow diagram (i.e. Kreb's cycle) that needs to be memorized. Seems boring and tedious but it works extremely well. I recently had to memorize tables with at least 15 to twenty rows and 2 columns and was able to reproduce them with 97-100% accuracy with this method. It required re-writing the tables on paper about 10 times per table but it was well worth the A in the class. This is something that would have been quite helpful in both undergrad and medical school, so to all those who need help with this type of academic hurdle give it a try it is firmly grounded in hard neurological science.

Nick Rohit Patel

Masters of Public Health

    It may seem elementary (quite literally!) but flashcards are one of the best ways to study, and not just for the sciences such as math and chemistry that require the memorization of a bunch of equations and formulas. I was a Media Studies major and Philosophy minor as an undergraduate, and found that flashcards were invaluable to me. Both journalism and philosophy courses are full of terminology and flashcards are a great way to test yourself. I like to set the cards in front of me and make a stack for the "yes's" that I know and the "no's" that I don't know. Once you have gone through the cards and have two stacks in front of you, you have a clear idea of what you have mastered and what you need to work on. Flashcards can be a great indicator of how well you will do on an exam, I think of them as a "mock test" you give yourself.

Lauren Joanne Torlone Master of Arts in Liberal Studies,  International Affairs Georgetown University

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition! The key to memorization is repetition. This can be done in many areas of study, but is especially helpful when learning definitions. When ever I have to learn a definition, I write the word being defined over and over again until that particular term has gained my total attention. After this I write the term and the definition of the term 10 times in a row, saying both out loud as I write. I continue this procedure for 5 definitions in a row. Once I have finished this, I look at the 5 terms and see if there is any word I cannot define. If there is a term I cannot quickly identify, I repeat the procedure of writing and saying the definition out loud. Although this method can be time consuming, it is very effective and a major reason I graduated my BA with a 4.0.

Kristopher Shepard

Masters, Religion

University of Mobile

    Some classes require memorization of charts, formulas, tables, vocabulary, or monologues. Material can be memorized by repeatedly reviewing a text. For this method, it is best to start reviewing the material as soon as possible. The earlier you start, the more time you have to memorize. It is very hard to memorize something the day before a test. Another way to memorize material is to use acronyms. For example a way to remember the order of operations in math is PEMDAS, or make a sentence out of it like, "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally. (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction) In a similar way, try to make connections with words you don't know to words you already know. The word semiotic means "process of sharing meaning through signs." You do not know what semiotic means, but you do know the words meaning, language, signs, symbols, and speaking. So try and cluster or connect those words. In general, if memorization is the goal, then think through the meaning of the material, make connections, acronyms, and allow time for practice.

Sarah Becker Arizona State University

I have two main M's that contributed to my college success; memorization and motivation.

Memorization is vital when pursuing a college degree and the best tip I would suggest would be to make yourself note cards, reread your notes numerous times out loud to yourself, learn how to take great notes and find a quiet place where you will not get distracted.

Next, motivation is one of the most important factors of success. Without it, you will not enjoy your life or time in college and you will not have the ambition to study properly. Also, being a motivation student, will rub off on your teachers and class mates and this will make your college experience much better and more enjoyable. Love what you do and who you are trying to become and you'll do just fine!

Stacey Lynn Unfried McKendree University

Reading for Memory

Preread:
review the selection you will be reading
pay attention to content lists, chapter title, subheadings, introductions, summaries, and questions
(by the time you start to read the content, you will have a general understanding of what you read)

Read More Than Once:
Reading the material more than once doesn't suggest reading it twice in the same day. Space the readings out by a day or two. Also, re-reading before an exam or at the end of a term is a good idea.

Recite:
This doesn't suggest reciting word for word what the book says but stopping ever so often and recite what you have read in your own words to check for understanding.

Underline:
Color has a powerful effect on memory. Underline key ideas and points in color. Later, underlined ideas can be organized into outlines or diagrams.

Summarize:
Summarize each paragraph in your own words while reading.

Outline:
When finished with the reading, create an outline of key concepts. This will help you see how it all relates. You can use your underlined sections to help you create your outline.

Diagram:
You can also put key concepts into a diagram to help you visually see connections of ideas and key concepts.

Remember:
Pre-read, read, and re-read: reading a passage once will likely not be committed to memory as well.

We all understand there must be a balance or rote memorization and long term understanding of the major concepts of any given subject. With information at our finger tips, all educators should look first to the help students fully explore and grasp the events involved. The professor should allowing students to pursue a deeper understanding by permitting them to din in with reading, research, and discussion. But how will this help you as a student. Well, you should first understand about how you learn.

A great deal of evidence indicates that working memory is an entirely different process from long term memory. For example, the famous neurological patient, H.M. who has not formed an explicit long term memory since the day of an operation to remove his Hippocampi in 1954, has intact working memory. If you or I were to meet him, we could interact with him and sustain a normal conversation about Eisenhower or that new gadget television until a door slammed or something distracted his attention; at that point, we would have to begin again. Long term memory of the sort that H.M. is missing is operative over long periods such as hours, days, or even a lifetime. It has been clinically and experimentally well studied, and has been shown to involve brain regions such as the hippocampus. It is thought to be mediated by changes in cell functioning, such as long term potentiation (LTP). This evidence brings us to the understanding between the mental “scratch pad or sticky note” and calling upon information for future application (I.E. “The Test”).

How do will develop information storage long term to ensure success and truly get what we came to higher education for. We must ensure the lecture or class does not just sit in the “scratch pad or sticky note – short term”. First and most important, you must make sure that you understand new material before trying to remember it. A good technique to ensure understanding is to recite or write the author's ideas in your own words. If you cannot, then you do not understand them. The conclusion: you cannot remember what you do not understand. In other words, you cannot form a clear and correct memory trace from a fuzzy, poorly understood concept. Recognition is an easier stage of memory than the recall stage. For example, in an examination, it is much easier to recognize an answer to a question if five options are listed, than to recall the answer without the options listed. But getting beyond just recognizing the correct answer when you see it is usually necessary for long-term memory, for the more we can recall about information the better we usually remember it.

In the classroom, do not hesitate to ask the instructor to explain further a point that is not clear to you. If the point is unclear to you, there is a good chance that it is unclear to others, so you will not be wasting anyone's time. Furthermore, most instructors appreciate the opportunity to answer questions.

References:

Baddeley A., Recent developments in working memory., Curr Opin Neurobiol. 1998 Apr;8(2):234-8. Review.

Smith EE, et al. Storage and executive processes in the frontal lobes., Science. 1999 Mar 12;283(5408):1657-61.

Robert Williams Adjunct Instructor - Buena Vista University Master of Educational Leadership Viterbo University

Having a good memory seems to come naturally to some people. Others struggle to remember dates, names, details and information. The good news is that with practice and the proper habits, everyone can learn to use their memory to its fullest potential. The most important thing you need to learn to do is to get into the habit of paying close attention to whatever it is you wish to remember. So many of us get introduced to a new person and within seconds, forget that person's name. I know I do it all the time. To avoid this you must make sure you have a crystal clear impression of the piece of information you wish to remember. Make it meaningful to yourself so that you will be able to easily retrieve the information at a later date.

Another helpful habit to to try to engage as many of your senses as possible when you are learning new information. You will be able to remember the information much more clearly if you read a lesson out loud as opposed to simply reading it to yourself. Involve your eyes AND ears and probably the material will stay in your brain. Try to visualize the material. Maybe there was a picture/diagram/chart describing the information. Commit this to memory to better remember.

This may sound silly but intend to remember. Making an active effort rather than simply sitting passively will greatly improve your retention of the material. Think about what you have learned after class. Make notes for yourself about the material and if you can, explain the material to someone else. Try to create a link or association in your mind with the new information you have just learned with old information already in your brain.

Keep reviewing the information over and over. Don't wait too long after the material was presented either because, chances are, you will have already lost some/most of the information. Plan to work hard and put a lot of effort into cultivating these habits, but once they are habits, remembering will come easier to you.

Karen Leary

Master of Science in Nursing

West Chester University

The Magic of Repetition

With hectic schedules and heavy workloads, students may often feel overwhelmed when faced with exams, especially those scheduled closely together. It is not uncommon to leave the pressure of one course's "Test Day" and head directly off to the stress of another. Students frequently bemoan the lack of preparation time. They are exhausted from working all week, there just wasn't enough time to read through every chapter and how are they supposed to prepare for two tests at once? The solution is a fairly simple one. Repetition. By beginning test preparation at least a week in advance, students create a firm foundation of knowledge to simply revisit and review as a "refresher" right before an exam. Easier said than done, right? Wrong. Students need not put forth the same time-consuming effort that they would for a four-hour "cram session" the night before a final. By beginning the process EARLY, a mere 15 to 20 minutes of reviewing the material each night will familiarize the student with the information while also serving to cement the day's lecture notes. Almost every student can find a way to spare that amount a time, whether it is on the commute home from school, during a break at work or lying in bed reading by lamplight. How do we learn anything? Phone numbers, addresses, directions - all memorized from repetition. Why torture oneself with last-minute, stressful cramming? In the hurried panic, often accompanied by fatigue, how can anyone expect material to stick? Students should experiment with making up goofy, but memorable phrases, motions, etc. that help the information stand out in their mind. They should repeat these distinct sayings or motions every night as they read over the material, stressing key words and ideas ALOUD at least 5 times. These verbal repetitions and the movements or phrases associated with them will invade the memory and come back to haunt students right when they need it - on the day of the test. By reviewing for a slightly longer period of time the night before and by setting aside a few minutes for a quick scanning of the material the morning of, students can enter the classroom feeling confident and prepared for whatever the day's test or in some cases, tests may bring.

Lauren Ann Helling

Lamar University