More on Memory Tricks for Exams

How do we retain information so that we can be successful on an exam? This is a problem all students, to a greater or lesser extent, face. If, as I've suggested in previous posts, you spend your time leading up to the exam repeating the information in the module texts you have already worked on one obstacle. Repetition has been shown to be a successful strategy for students. It is better, testing demonstrates, to use your time taking short breaks every hour and go over the material several times. While intensive study over long periods is better than no study at all, it is not as effective as shorter periods with more repetition in terms of memory and retention.

However, in addition to breaking up the material, you can organize the module materials. This will help you remember hard to remember information. How does this work? There are 5 strategies you should keep in mind (see Schonwetter & Walker (2002), "Success Secrets of University Students", 157.) These strategies are: chunking, mnemonics, selecting out the main ideas, defining hierarchies and integrating.

Chunking is "grouping of words or ideas into categories that reflect some common element". (ibid.) For example, if you are were studying dogs, you would divide the module into types of dogs that have some common element such as herding dogs or hunting dogs. The same principle applies to management or even accounting.

Mnemonics is a learning strategy that relies on using a word cue that uses the first letter of every word to remember the names of a group of inter-related ideas. For example, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is a popular way to remember the notes of the treble clef in Music.
There are many examples of students using mnemonics in many subjects. This memory device goes all the way back to the Ancient Greeks. If you have used memonics to help learn a concept, it might might be interesting to post these ideas to this blog and we can compare them.

The next concept, selecting the main idea, is way to remember complex inter-related ideas. These ideas can often be found in the chapter headings or summaries of your text to find these concepts. Linking ideas through empirical concepts in the material allows you to remember large chunks of information that you find difficult to remember.

Let's look at another method of remember information, creating a hierarchy. When you define a hierarchy of material from the text, you put material together in large groups. Often, the textbook shows students the hierarchical order within the module subject. For example, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is just one motivational theory. When you look closely at the textbook, you can find other theories. You can map these theories on a piece of paper while you are studying to see how these these theories are inter-related.

Finally, you can integrate the new material into a larger view of the subject from your previous studies. New material fits into previously learned concepts and ideas. This is even more meaningful if your practical experience in the field, for example working as a marketer after learning marketing in school, has helped you integrate your original ideas with practical experience in a subject.

That's it until next time. Keep learning.

KB