Improving Your Memory:
Anyone can improve their memory by following a 3 step process:Paying attention
Applying constructivist methods Making information easy to remember Paying
attention
Take an active role in learning. Memorization is sometimes needed but is not
enough.
Review information and quiz yourself for true understanding.Stop being passive
in class and when studying.
Many students equate going to class and hearing the prof.with real learning.
LWI can be dangerous. (Listening While Ignoring)It gives the impression that
are trying but you can't
remember anything later.
Thus you feel you did your job but couldn't explain anything when
asked.Constructivism
Constructivism deals with correlating new information with old information.
Thus, one constructs new understanding by fitting new information with prior
understanding or experiences.
Rather than memorizing random facts, try to relate them to prior
knowledge.Think about new information and draw comparisons to other things you
know.
Think about similar information learned earlier.
Draw analogies between old information and new information.
This allows you to see the big picture and not get swamped withnew
information.Identify main points.
Think about how these fit in with what you know from other experiences or
classes.
Make information memorable Repetion.
Read it, Write it, Say it, Explain it, Draw it, Ask questions about it..
Break down words by prefix or suffix. (Hydro relates to water)Use memory
tricks:
Make silly rhymes or sayings to remember lists.Use silly analogies to remember
examples.
Humor is a powerful memory trigger; the dumber the better.Repetition,
1 Study in Short, Frequent Sessions. It has been proven that short bursts of
concentration repeated frequently are much more effective than one long
session. So, even if you only have 10 minutes, DO IT. Take a break. Then study
another 10 minutes. This “distributed learning” approach is highly efficient
because it honors the way the brain likes to work. The brain needs recovery and
recharging time for “protein synthesis.” The rest periods are
when your brain assimilates your effort. They are a powerful tool which many
teachers do not acknowledge. To sit and study for hours and hours is not only
boring, it creates fatigue, stress, and distraction. You cannot learn if you
are fatigued, stressed, and distracted!
2 Take Guilt-Free Days of Rest.This follows the same principle as above, but on
a longer,daily time cycle. The reason for resting is to refresh
oneself.However, if you feel guilty (“I really should be studying”) then your
precious rest period has been used to create more stress. The brain will not
absorb new data if it is stressed. On days off from studying, really enjoy
yourself and do not feelbad about not studying.
3 Honor Your Emotional State.Do not study if you are tired, angry,
distracted, or in a hurry.
When the brain is relaxed, it is like a sponge and it naturally absorbs data
without effort. If you are emotionally stressed,your brain literally repels
data. Forcing yourself to sit and study when your mind is on other things is a
complete waste of time!
4 Review the Same Day.When you learn something new, try to go over the points
the same day. If you wait a few days and then make efforts to review the
material, it will seem much less familiar. However,
a quick review later in the day will tend to cement the information into your
brain so that the next “official” studysession, you will recognize it and it
will seem easy.
5 Observe the Natural Learning Sequence.Think of the activities you did when
you were in nurseryschool. Using your whole arm, you probably performed the
song that goes: “Put your right hand in, Put your right hand out.” Then, in
kindergarten, using your hand, you might have been asked to draw lines or
circles with crayons. Later, in first grade, now holding the pencil with your
fingers, you drew smaller lines and circles to create letters. Believe it or
not, this natural learning sequence, moving from large to small, coarse to
fine, still remains effective even though we are now older. When you study, if
you try first to grasp the big picture and then fill in the details, you often
have a more likely chance of success.
6 Use Exaggeration.Why does Tandulkar or any other Batsman warm up by swinging
two or three bats? Why do runners sometimes strap lead weights to their legs?
In both cases, exaggeration during practice makes the final result seem easy.
This concept can be applied to studying anything. For example, if you are
studying spelling, exaggerate the sound of the letters to help to remember
them. So for studying purposes,“naive” would be pronounced “NAY-IVY.” By getting
used to this exaggerated pronunciation, the correct spelling seems obvious.
7 Prepare Your Study Environment.If you require certain elements in your
environment to help
you study, try to always make these a priority. For example,do you need special
lighting, silence, music, privacy,available snacks, etc.? Pay attention to what
works for you and repeat it each time you study for best success.
8 Respect “Brain Fade.”It is normal for the brain to have an attrition rate
and to forget things. This does not mean that you are stupid! Instead of
getting mad about this fact, you should expect it and deal with it accordingly.
See your brain as depositing layers of knowledge. As you place more information
on top, the lower levels become older and less available to your immediate
recall. The trick here is simply to review. Since we can anticipate the
eventual fading of our memory, creating a review aspect to our study session
will solve the problem.Once every two or three study sessions, simply review
older material that you will be still needing to remember. Often, a quick
overview is sufficient. Sometimes, a complete detailed study session of the
older material is required. “Brain fade” is completely photographic
memory,normal .(Unless you are gifted with a which is extremely rare.)
9 Create a Study Routine.Generally, if you schedule certain times of the day
to study,you will get into a routine and accomplish more. If you just“fit it
in” during your day, chances are that there will never be
any time. An effective way to do this is to literally mark it down in your
datebook calendar as if you have an appointment, like going to the doctor. For
example: “Tuesday 3-4:30 P.M. — Study.
10 Set Reasonable Goals.One of the main reasons people do not reach their
goals is because they set them too high. If you set goals that are manageable,
even if they seem too simple, you get in the
habit of accomplishing them and gradually you can set higher goals. Also,
recognize the difference between long-term and short-term goals. Set your
vision on the long-term dream, but your day-to-day activity should be focused
exclusively on the short-term, enabling steps.
11 Avoid the Frustration Enemy.Ironically, the quicker the person’s nervous
system, the faster they learn. Yet, this fast nervous system also works
overtime in being self-critical. So they are the ones who always think they
aren’t going fast enough! In contrast, the “Type B,” less intense person who
learns slower yet is more self-accepting, ends up ultimately learning the
material in a shorter period of time. This is because he/she doesn’t waste
energy blocking, getting upset, and thinking that they’re not good enough —
they simply keep moving forward at a slower (but un-blocked) pace.
Improving Your Objective Test-Taking Skills Students who have not learned
good test-taking skills are working with an unseen handicap. In almost every
objective test, they give up points needlessly due to undisciplined testing
behavior, irrational responses to test items, or a variety of other bad habits.
This tutorial focuses on overcoming this costly
Effective test-taking is not about gimmickry. It is not about outwitting your
teachers in a guessing game or applying some magical formula to
test-taking.Instead, the successful student must apply critical reading and
thinking skills to the test and avoid making careless mistakes.Cut Out Careless
Errors
Let's begin by dealing with the careless kinds of mistakes that make
studentsmoan and groan when they get their tests back. First, let's state the
obvious: read the directions carefully. Many students are in such a hurry to
start the test that they do not read the instructions and make careless errors
as a result.
Secondly, monitor your time so you do not get in a last-minute rush to
finish the test. If there are 50 items and your teacher limits the testing time
to 50 minutes,then you obviously have only about a minute to answer each
question. The point here is not that you should time each item with a
stopwatch. Simply monitor your progress periodically to make sure that you do
not get caught in a time crunch.
Third, do not start second-guessing yourself and changing your original
answers.Research has indicated that your first hunch is more likely to be
correct. You should only change answers to questions if you originally misread
them or if you have encountered information elsewhere in the test that
indicates with certainty that your first choice is incorrect.
Finally, allow enough time to go through the test to make sure that you have
not left an item blank, mismarked the answer sheet, or made some other simple
oversight.
Three Phases of Objective Test Taking It might help to think of your
objective test taking as falling into three distinct phases, which, if followed
in sequence, should improve your final grade:Phase One: Go through the test and
answer only those items that you are confident you can answer correctly,
skipping the other items momentarily. This strategy helps you build confidence
and assures that you will get credit for what you know if you run low on time.
Also, as you read and answer questions, you are making mental associations and
reviewing the material. A term listed further into the test may be the one that
was just on the "tip of your tongue" when you were trying to answer
an earlier item.
Phase Two: Go back through the test and focus on items you skipped in the first
phase, using a slightly different strategy: identify and eliminate what you are
relatively sure are incorrect answers. Try cutting down on the possible choices
to improve your odds.
Based on the knowledge you have of the subject, eliminate choices that are
definitely wrong or unlikely.
On multiple-choice items, eliminate choices that do not link grammatically
to the stem of the question. (Teachers may not phrase the incorrect answers as
carefully as the correct one. If a choice is added to complete the stem and the
result is an awkward or ungrammatical construction, it is most likely not the
correct answer.
Eliminate choices that would be logically excluded by other possible choices.
For example, if the possible answers to an item are a.) sleeping, b.)
listening, c.) staring, or d.) napping, since a. and d. mean basically the same
thing, and since only one answer can be correct, then it is logical that
neither could be the correct answer.Phase Three: Once you have exhausted your
knowledge and narrowed the choices remaining by eliminating unlikely answers,
its time to make your best guess. But you don't have to make this a coin-flip
decision. The next section looks at some issues that can help you improve your
odds even further.You're Not Guessing...You're Thinking Critically.You can
improve your odds by
