Blog Prompt #2: Learning Strategy or Procrastination Experiment
1. Summarize your chosen strategy and explain why you picked it or explain your procrastination or multitasking problem and explain why you want to fix it.
My chosen learning strategy is retrieval practice. I chose this strategy because I constantly forget information I learn as soon as I leave my class, no matter how much attention I try to pay, or how many notes I take. However, I find that if I try to remember the information by myself without checking my textbooks, notes or Google, I am more likely to memorize it for longer, and be more ready for assignments or tests.
2. Explain how you will implement the strategy – be as specific as possible.
I will implement retrieval practice every day after I have a lesson in subjects like math and chemistry. For example, when I walk home, instead of letting my thoughts wander I will try to remember the topic of that day’s math presentation. I will try to remember formulas I learned, how to use them, terms, and any other useful information. I can also connect this strategy with spaced learning, and recall this information every day so it takes longer to forget. That way, when I actually have to study for a test, I will already remember what I am studying and be able to remember formulas and terms that I would have usually forgotten and taken hours to memorize.
3. What is your end goal? How will you know the strategy works for you?
My end goal is to be able to train myself to instantly and correctly retrieve information both in school, during class and evaluations, and also later on in life if I need to use a term or concept I learned in class. An example of this is biology. If every day after class, I retrieve that day’s topic and terms (for example, the areas of the brain), I will be able to remember them on a test without trouble. Also, if that information comes in handy years later I will not have forgotten it and will impress everyone with my knowledge of the human brain.
4. What are your critical moves?
My critical moves are to start writing notes that are more organized so I can memorize parts of them easier. I will also try to recall information, instead of checking google for an answer I don’t know, but I know I’ve seen. If I continue to do this everyday, studying will become much easier, as well as taking tests.
5. How will you shrink the change?
I will shrink the change of my new learning strategy by starting small. Instead of never rereading information again, I will train my memory more and more by retaining information on the regular, until I am able to study so effectively that I don’t have to reread information multiple times to memorize it.
6. How will you tweak the environment?
I will tweak my environment by using less notes and textbooks. Instead of having all my textbooks, workbooks and notebooks open on my desk, I will have rough notes with cues that point to certain topics and try to remember the processes to solving different problems and other things, like formulas, terms, etc. Then, I will test my knowledge with online practice tests and quizzes.
