| 1. |
Have an interest and desire to learn. |
| 2. |
Give the material your full attention
and concentration. |
| 3. |
Set realistic study goals. |
| 4. |
Study at times when you are most
alert. |
| 5. |
Use your prime time to study difficult
material. |
| 6. |
Take breaks during your study time. |
| 7. |
Reward yourself for studying efforts. |
| 8. |
Minimize distractions. |
| 9. |
Put small blocks of time to good
use. |
| 10. |
Divide and conquer large projects. |
| 11. |
Be selective about what you memorize. |
| 12. |
Understand the information.
The preliminary work to any type of memorization
is to work on understanding the information. Be sure you understand
the information well enough to be able to apply the information.
The more you understand the information, the easier it is
to memorize. |
| 13. |
Organize the information.
- An organized list of items is easier to recall
than an unorganized list.
- The simplest kind of organization is numbering.
If you recall that there are 8 items on a list of information,
your brain will keep searching until you recall all 8 items.
- Another type of organization is classifying
information into groups or categories. It is easier to memorize
material that has been organized into a pattern rather than
random information.
|
| 14. |
Make connections and associations.
The more connections and associations you can
make between new information and information already stored
in your memory, the better the chance for recall. The more
associations that surround a particular fact, the more retrieval
cues you have to bring that fact to mind. |
| 15. |
Visualize the information.
Create a visual picture of the material you
wish to memorize. This can be done either on paper or in your
mind. Tables, charts, maps, and graphs arrange information
visually. Do not skip over them in your textbooks. |
| 16. |
Create visual study tools
such as visual maps, hierarchies, matrixes, cartoons, pictures,
and time lines. |
| 17. |
Create study tools for vocabulary
such as flash cards and vocabulary sheets. |
| 18. |
Use story lines. Create a story
to include the list of words or ideas that you wish to memorize. |
| 19. |
Use Mnemonic aids to memorize.
Acronym – A word formed by taking the
first letter of key words in a list of items.
The following are good examples of acronyms:
- BASIC is an acronym for Beginner's All-Purpose
Symbolic Instructional Code
- HOMES in an acronym to memorize the names
of the 5 Great Lakes - Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and
Superior.
- FOIL is an acronym used in mathematics for
multiplying binomials. F for firsts, O for outers, I for
inners, and L for lasts.
- ROYGBIV is an acronym used to memorize the
colors as they come through the spectrum.
- BAR is an acronym used to memorize the "big
three" allies during World War II - Britain, America,
and Russia.
Acrostic – A sentence formed by taking
the first letter of key words in a list of items. The following
are good examples of acrostics:
- The sentence "A cow eats grass"
can be used to memorize the spaces in the base clef for
the left hand on the piano. The spaces are A C E G.
- The sentence "Please excuse my dear
Aunt Sally" can be used to memorize the order of operations
in mathematics. The order of operations is parenthesis,
exponents, multiplication and division (from left to right),
and addition and subtraction (from left to right).
- The sentence "King Philip can only find
green snakes" can be used to memorize the hierarchy
for the classification of organisms which is kingdom, phylum,
class, order, family, genus, and species.
|
| 20. |
Use rhythms, rhymes, and jingles.
Formed by listening for words that rhyme or by attaching a
catchy tune to a saying, i.e. the jingle to memorize the number
of days in each month.
Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and November;
All the rest have thirty-one,
Excepting February alone,
And that has twenty-eight days clear
And twenty-nine in each leap year.
|
| 21. |
Rehearse to memorize.
- The actual work of memorizing is repeating
information over and over until it is stored in our mind.
- Recite the information to yourself out loud,
from memory, and in your own words. Recitation is an important
step in committing information to memory.
|
| 22. |
Review.
- Create study sheets, summary sheets, and
outlines for review.
- Create questions and write down the answers
to those questions.
Updated: 9/12/05 /std
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