10.3: Study and Memory Techniques

As we saw in Dr. Bloom’s taxonomy, the first level of learning is remembering. We study so we can remember information to perform well on quizzes and exams. We also need knowledge from certain classes to do well in future classes of the same subject and in our careers. In order to keep knowledge in our lives beyond the next quiz or exam, we need to move up the taxonomy to higher levels of learning. To move up the taxonomy, we need to use study and memory techniques that move information from sensory memory through short-term/working memory and into our long-term memory.

We’ve all heard that we’re not supposed to cram for tests. Okay then how should we study? An extremely useful technique is called distributed practice or distributed studying. In this technique, we study one subject for shorter periods of time several times throughout the week or for several days leading up to an exam. In other words, we might study sociology for 45 minutes each on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of a certain week when an exam is scheduled that Friday. We would study other subjects or work on other classes throughout those days as well to intersperse the sociology information throughout that timeframe. Then of course we’d study sociology again immediately before Friday’s test just as the last refresher before taking the test.

Dealing with Internal and External Distractions When Studying

An internal distraction includes thought processes, self-esteem, or confidence - something that interrupts you from what you’re doing. Computers or cell phones also can be internal distractions because they are controlled by you. Many students intend to study but easily get distracted by checking social media, watching YouTube videos, or receiving texts. If you don’t absolutely need your computer or cell phone to study, don’t have them nearby or use “do not disturb” apps or airplane mode. If you do study with your phone or computer, have all potential alerts turned off. Notifications of text messages, emails, or social media updates all serve as a major distraction to your studying.

External distractions might be your people living with you, family or friends. Even if they are supportive of your study, concentrating may be challenging when they are around. Saying “no” is an important skill you may need to utilize to have your study time without interruption.

Keep in mind that you may need 20 minutes to reach a high level of concentration. When we are interrupted, we may need another 23 minutes to get back to the level of concentration that we were at prior to the disruption. If a student is studying for an hour and is interrupted twice, that’s 43 lost minutes out of 60! You could monitor how many interruptions you experience and how well you maintain your level of concentration. On a piece of paper, track each time you were interrupted during your study time. Over time, with practice, you should be able to decrease the number of interruptions you incur. This will allow you to be most efficient when studying.

Self-testing and taking practice quizzes are useful study techniques that use multimodal learning and metacognition. Remember the questions you created in the “Q” step of SQ4R? Those questions can serve as practice quiz questions. If your textbooks include chapter summaries, you can create practice quiz questions about the key concepts in those summaries. Your textbook might include chapter quizzes (like this text) so take advantage of those ready-made tools - less work for you!

If we need to explain a concept to someone else, we really need to understand that concept, right? Think about work situations or maybe in your family when you’ve had to teach or train someone how to do something. You really had to know what you were doing to teach that person well. The same concept can be applied to academic learning. If you can teach someone else an academic concept, you must understand that concept fully, and teaching someone else is one of the most powerful studying tools you can use. After you’ve used active reading and note-taking plus distributed studying to learn a concept, see if you can teach that concept to someone in your life. If you can explain that concept well enough for the other person to understand, you have an effective level of understanding of that concept, and you’ve moved that concept into your long-term memory.

Speaking of teaching someone else, studying in groups or with a partner is an effective method of active learning. You and your study partner or group can quiz each other and teach each other concepts. The key to effective group studying is to structure your time so that you actually are studying rather than simply talking or relaxing. After initial small talk, you need to decide how to split up your material and who will present or teach what information. Then you can move into taking turns reviewing, summarizing and teaching the material.

Now that most of us have smartphones and carry phones with us everywhere, why not use our phones as study resources? There are many useful free applications (apps) available for students. Examples include Kahoot, Quizlet and Padlet. Faculty may use these apps in class or incorporate these apps into assignments, but students also can use the apps to create personal study tools.

Mnemonics = Memory Tools

All of the strategies and tools listed above are designed to help us move information from our sensory memory through short-term/working memory into long-term memory for us to recall and use knowledge on exams and in papers, projects and other academic work. When you have to remember lists of terms or vocabulary works or perhaps a series of dates, mnemonics can be a useful tool. “Mnemonics” is a term that simply means a “memory trick” which includes acronyms, acrostics, songs/rhymes, stacking and loci, among others.

You’re probably familiar with acronyms and acrostics, even if you haven’t heard those two terms. A well-known acronym used in mathematics is “PEMDAS” to help us remember the order of operations (parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction). The first letter of each item to be remembered is used to create one word. The order of operations also is represented by the acrostic “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.” The first letter of each item to be remembered is used to create another word that fits into an easy-to-remember sentence or phrase.

People who enjoy listening to or playing music may enjoy creating songs or rhymes to remember items. The list of items or concepts could be set to the music of your favorite song or arranged in a way that rhymes or almost rhymes.

Stacking is a technique to memorize a list of items by repeating the list of words over and over again. The first word is stated out loud, and then when the second word is added, both are repeated. The entire list is repeated from the beginning each time another word is added.

Loci or memory palace is a technique in which items to be remembered are assigned to a familiar location in your house or in a familiar room. For example, a series of historical events could be assigned to furniture, bedding and clothing in your bedroom. You would assign one historical event to your bed, the next to your pillow, the next to your jacket or coat, etc. You would repeat these assignments a few times until you can “walk through” your bedroom in your mind and “see” each historical event with each piece of furniture, bedding or clothing. Then when you take a test or do a presentation, you mentally “walk through” your bedroom and picture your personal items associated with each historical event.

Here’s an interesting video from Practical Psychology about mnemonics. Video Mnemonics [www.youtube.com]