Memory Strategies

There are several extremely effective strategies you can use to help information get securely into your long-term memory (the part of your memory you are calling on when you are taking a test!).  

Sleep – If you are not rested you will be unable to pay attention and effectively learn.  In addition, some research indicates that you need solid sleep at night to consolidate the information you have learned and studied that day.

Review right away – It is best to review information as soon as possible after receiving it.  This starts the learning process.

Recitation – This is restating information in your own words from memory.  What you are really doing is practicing retrieving the information just like you will be doing on the exam.  This is one of the easiest strategies to add to your study routine.   After you have read a section in your textbook or reviewed a section of your lecture notes, close your book or notebook and restate what you just read in your own words.  Check your accuracy.  If you are correct move to the next section.  If you are wrong, reread and try again.

Organization – You must see the big picture to understand how everything fits together and to accurately store the information in your memory so you can retrieve it.

Chunking – We cannot effectively work with large amounts of information at one time.   You will learn better if you break the information into meaningful “chunks” and work with them one at a time.  By seeing the big picture as mentioned above, you can be sure you’re are filing each “chunk” in its proper place in the overall body of information.

Distributed Practice – This is studying above and beyond the initial learning when you are reviewing lecture notes, reading textbooks, making study guides, etc.   The idea is to use recitation multiple times a week in short segments (maybe 20 minutes) to study what you want to know. 

These are six practical strategies that don’t require that much effort but that will make a very large impact on your learning and your grades! 

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First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.