Improving Learning and memory
After completing your review, formulate questions about the material. Again, some authors provide questions either at the beginning or at the end of each chapter. If so, read them and be prepared to answer them after reading the material. If questions are not provided, make up your own. As you grow more skilled in the art of questioning, you may find more and more of your questions appearing in examinations!
Organizing and ordering information can significantly improve memory. It would be difficult to remember a random list of 44 letters. On the other hand, it would not be difficult to memorize the first sentence in this paragraph.
Break up information into smaller groups
When you have one large mass of information to learn, it helps when you break it up into small groups, giving each group a descriptive heading. By organizing and adding meaning to the material before learning it, you can learn it better and recall it easier. Some of the ways of doing this are:
· Make an outline of your notes
· Diagram how information fits together
· Use headings and sub-headings
· Look for similarities in topics
Organizing through meaning
One way to give more meaning to what you are trying to learn is to associate the new information to knowledge currently in your memory. In other words, associate what you are learning with what you already know. When things are associated in memory, thinking of one helps bring the other to mind.
Have you ever retraced your path when you have forgotten where you put your book? Often, as you approach the place where you put it, you are suddenly able to remember the act of laying it down on the table or putting it in your bag. This is association. The memory of putting the book down was associated with your memory of things in the environment.
Increase your use of association
You can make associations work for you by making them intentional. When you are having difficulty recalling new material, you can help bring it to mind by thinking about what you have associated it with. In other words, retrace your mental path. Some hints, which help in this, are:
· Read the textbook chapter before class
· Put the information in your own words
· Apply what you learn to your own life/situation
· Think about what you have learnt
Learn how to study fast by reading an article.
