Question

For a post this is long. However, this topic, memorizing things effectively, can take up books! A truly good overview is a couple hundred pages long. However, I have distilled out just some of the very important points and am putting them here.

Answer 1

\(\Large\text{Visual, Tactile, Auditory, etc.}\)

Many people claim to be better at auditory learning than visual, or the reverse, etc. This is called the theory of learning stiles. However, pretty much every study on learning stiles has been later debunked through training. In these cases, people who were evaluated to be say tactile learners were trained extensively in visual learning and were able to match the skill of visual learners. The fact is that all of us can learn from every learning stile. The more of them we use, the better we do.

70% of our sensory processing is visual. This is probably why visual learning is reported to be one of the more powerful learning stiles. However, reading words is not actually visual. Written language goes through auditory interpretation: we think of how the words would sound. Therefore, reading does not take advantage of that 70%. Drawing a sketch, even a poor one, does.

Many topics lend themselves to sketches. The drawing of a cell, atom, and so on. However, you might think that some topics are harder to draw. This is not necessarily true. If you have ever seen those "secret" messages where a drawing of an eye is used to mean I or a bird to mean flight. There is even a word for this: rebus. You can use a pictogram to represent a sound or an idea and build up a visual map for your memory to follow.

While what you are doing is building a visual map, that is not the only sense involved. As you draw these, they work the hands. This adds in some tactile action. The simple mechanics of making things helps explore the most physical of senses. Then read them back. Both speech and hearing become involved. Reading out loud brings in another sense. Suddenly you have tied together three senses in a single project.

Here is an example of how I have done something like this.

In the center of a page I drew a boy with an afro who was wearing priest’s shirt with the white collar. On a chain behind him was a man who was next to a pit with a tombstone. Above and below this were small pictures of a balding guy with a sock for a tie pointing out lots of little things.

What was all this? The story of Euthyphro (Youth-afro), a tale by Plaito on Socrates (Socks-r-ties) about piety. Each frame above and below was one of the main parts in the argument between Euthyphro and Socrates about how Euthyphro's arresting his father for the death of a slave was related to piety. Things like would the gods be angry because his actions supported some gods but not others, etc. was covered.

By turning the Euthyphro into a set of childlike drawings I was able to retain it quite well for a philosophy class. I can even discuss parts of it now, years later, and understand many of the core concepts behind it.

This sort of mental map or visualization becomes very comprehensive when you make it yourself. Some topics lend themselves to a central picture, other may follow more a tree structure or smaller, interconnected images. Some might even be best as a cartoon strip. In all cases, linking concepts to images has been documented all the way back to Egyptian times (guess what hieroglyphs are) and has always been an effective way to remember things.

Don;t stop with those three senses. If you can describe something as a small or as a taste, you will include others. Something bad can be called sour or dank. Something good can be called sweet or refreshing. Bitter as bad coffee, musty as a locker room, and anything else that activate emotions, senses, and so on. You take in with all five senses in the real world so do what you can to adapt them to what you remember in school.

So what is it you need to remember?


\(\Large\text{Reading to Remember, or Active Reading}\)

When you read for long periods of time, it is very rare for you to remember much of what you have read. However, there are some tactics that you can use to help this. Instead of reading it all at once and remembering nothing, you can make your reading more effective. This will improve retention.

First, most school books have a list of terms and perhaps summary at the end of the chapter. Your assignment will have a list of things you need to remember or look for even if you are reading philosophy or French Literature. Collect this information on a page that you can reference.

When you read, only take a short time (a maximum of ten minutes,) a single passage, or a single chapter. Then make some notes on how this applies to the summary, terms, or objective. You might also work on a memory map or other visual notes.

This process of reading and reviewing has many advantages. It should take no more than 15 minutes. Sometimes it will only take 2 or 3. This means that there is no time for you to get very tired or drift off topic. By reviewing just after reading, you help mentally mark what is important. You are also more accurate in your notes because it is not something you read 20 or 30 minutes ago, but just a few.

At that point you need to take a very short break. Get up. Move. Get a glass of water. DO NOT start something distracting, like a game. The goal is to get your mental powers refreshed. You concentrated hard for a time and the brain actually has trouble keeping that up. By moving around you increase circulation to the brain. By stretching you help relax. By getting a glass of water or a snack you keep yourself from becoming fatigued. You only need about 5 minutes of rest for the brain to refresh.

Now repeat the process. Tackle your reading in these shorter blocks of time. Each section you are giving yourself more mental queues that this is important material.

Once you are done reading, you will have notes on what you need to really remember. This can be used to make flashcards.


\(\Large\text{Fantastic Flashcards}\)

One of the best and worst tools used are flashcards. People make some big mistakes with these. For example, buying commercial cards or printing ones you find on the web seems great. However, this eliminates the tactile memory opportunities of making your own and does not produce cards that fit your personal understanding of the topic.

As you read and summarize things, you develop your definition. That is one thing that really helps with flashcards. You know what you are thinking about when you write certain words and come up with a personal definition. You may use a more detailed one as a reference, but your adjustments make it yours. So use that in your flashcards.

Another thing people run into in tests, that flashcards help with, is questions that are worded differently. A teacher may ask "What is the common name for the combination of acids that break down gold?" or might ask "What is aqua regia used to help refine?" These questions are related to each other, but how you see it in your text might not match how it is asked on the test.

Find these questions that lead to each other. Put one as the question on one side and the other as a question on the other side. That way your questions lead to questions, but in each question is also an answer. So because aqua regia refines gold and is the common name for the acid mix that break down gold, the two questions above can be put on opposite sides of one flash card.

This is not all that can be be done with flashcards. Sometimes you have a technical definition that you just must remember. You have to have it word for word. However, there will be words inside the definition that are also hard to work with. Make flashcards for each of those and understand them. Then, because you understand the foundational terms, understanding and remembering the longer technical definition becomes easier. The flashcards become a way of building up a relationship in your memory that help lead to the more complex definition.


\(\Large\text{Some Notes on Memory}\)

Things you remember are more likely to stick if they are related to other things you remember, are fun, have an emotional attachment, and have multi-sensory components.

When you learn a new word, it takes the brain time to remember it. But when that new word was mommy, you related it to the person you saw, your mother. This sort of link helps. If you can break any new word down to a set of concepts you know or an object you can imagine, it is easier to remember.

This same sort of relationship process is done in all forms of memorizing things. The more interconnected things are, the more likely you are to remember part of it. That part can lead your mind to the whole. This is why putting things in your own words is so important. It links things to what you know.

If you make things into games, it can make them easier to remember. Don't make it stressful and hard. Have fun with it! Explore the topic deeper and see how it relates to what you love. For example, a lot of math has to do with nature. So if you love nature, but hate math, remember that your learning math is leading to a better understanding of nature.

Testing your recall is important. It helps consolidate the memory into long term, useful information. Flashcards are one way of doing this. Questions at the end of a chapter are another. Review your notes and see if you can state the entire topic from them. When test time comes, your exercised recollection will pay off because he more your brain gets used to recalling information the easier it is to do so.

Spaced repetition is a big help. When you look at something for the first time, by the next day you lose 50% of it. So you must review. Then a couple days later, review again. You don't have to read everything again and again. Use your flashcards, look at your mind map, read out your notes. Any of these is a review and over time you will need to review less and less because you will see the notes and go, "Oh, that is bla bla bla," and move on to the next topic.

Realize that most information you learn is progressive. In geology you learn about minerals before ricks because rocks are made of minerals. In math you learn to add before multiplication because multiplication can be defined as repetitive adding. This means that going back, consolidating your notes to the key items, and reviewing that later is also important. Developing the absolute minimum to remind you of an earlier topic means you will have easier reviews later, when it is time for a final exam. It also means that next semester, when you take the next class in a series, you will have just a few pages of notes to go over. Any topic you don't quite get, you look back up. In just a day review per class you can bring back an entire semester of learning and be primed for going on to related topics.

When it is not progressive, it can still be useful. I have learned things in an intro class that I never took any other classes in. I took geology for a science. I then used what I knew about geology for foundations for papers in other classes, as ideas about the importance of the environment in sociology classes, as something to talk with customers about since I work in an active fault zone, and more. By making my understanding of geology into something I could keep with me, it has helped me again and again over time.

Finally, learn to relax. You become very ready by doing proper memorization over time. Get used to the process and comfortable with it. Then you can relax more easily when test time comes. You will know that you have worked hard and come prepared. That should make the actual test easier. Knowing this, breathe easier. Relax and trust what you know.


\(\Large\text{In Summary}\)

When you make notes, use all your senses, or as many as you reasonably can. Get creative with it. Do it by hand, make it visual, describe it out loud, include tastes and smells when you can. Have all your senses help you.

These notes will probably be about what you read. So don't just sit and read and read and read until you drop. Make goals for your reading from what you need to learn. Read for short times and then take notes that hep you reach those goals. Be active in your reading.

Use flashcards to help remember specifics. Have them be question to question cards so you can answer things no matter which way they are worded. Use them to break down larger topics into smaller ones. Use personal definitions to build up your understanding.

Work with your memory, nit against it. Something fun, linked to your earlier understanding, repeated over time, and self tested for recollection, is far more likely to stick with you for years. Due to the nature of education and life, years should be the goal. What you learn today will come back later.

Always relax a bit. Everyone needs a break. Make them short and get back to work. Move around so your muscles, and you, wake back up. This will keep your tension levels low as you study and review, which can help keep them low when you test.

So there you are, a short overview of what is a large topic. How to remember things well for academic settings. Much of it also applies elsewhere.

Answer 2

An excellent guide on memory, but how do I forget? how do I let go? how do I let her go?

Answer 3

@e.mccormick you are a very good teacher as you help me in previous at this topic

Answer 4

dang!
good advise and thanks for sharing
feel free to msg me such things anytime.

Answer 5

Well... I did my best at distilling a book down to about 3 pages. Hehe. And yah, people write books on this.

Answer 6

:)

Answer 7

dang! well that was long!

Answer 8

I read everything, and it was very helpful, thank you for this post e.mc :)!

Answer 9

@e.mccormick if u find this kind of things related to study please tag me

and i am saying to everyone who is here please tag me

Answer 10

This free class is on the same topic:
https://www.coursera.org/course/learning

Except I bet they will go into a lot more.

Answer 11

yup @ziqbal103
i said the same thing
I really enjoy such posts. I get to learn more about a thing