When I was little, I would get confused on the order of the Nordic countries Finland, Sweden, and Norway. So I just used the facts to keep them in order. Norway is linked to the Brent crude from the Brent Sea so Norway had to be the country most on the left of the three (nearer to the North Atlantic oil fields). Finland has "ties" :lol: to Russia and even had the same heraldic double-eagle of the tzars prominent on their 20 markkaa gold coins (I am a coin collector and had seen them) so Finland was closest to Russia on the right of the three countries. Sweden was then left sandwiched between the two. And that's how I learned how to order the countries and never forget their place when I was younger. I know, the random facts that linked the order for me probably took more RAM in my brain than just memorizing the order, but this worked for me. ______________ Any unique or weird ways you remembered facts/trivia/details you had to study?
I used acronyms as mnemonic devices for rote memorization classes like microbiology. Although some of my acronyms were silly, they were useful in chunking information. It was easier to retain information as blocks rather than individual points. If I didn't use mnemonics, then I would probably go crazy. There's too much information to absorb. I also came up with analogies to remember stuff but can't recall any on the top of my head. The moment I walked out of my microbiology final (which wasn't cumulative, thank goodness), I flushed everything out of my brain related to that course. So that's why I can't think of one
I don't know if this could be considered a method of "studying", but sometimes on exams I would figure out the answer to a question by remembering (and seeing) where the particular information was on a powerpoint slide or in the book.
I have no unorthodox methods. I like to absorb information in a way that means I understand it, not regurgitate it, so those sorts of methods do very little for me. For geography, I draw the map myself copied from an atlas. It's the best way to do it, and I perfectly know the macrogeography of most regions because of it. Acronyms are good for a lot of classes, but some just end up with you confused and in an even worse position.
Acronyms and mnemonics always worked best for me, but maybe that's because I'm more of a linguistic learner. Understanding why something is by getting my hands dirty probably works best, which means I sometimes zone out during class and "catch up" on my own time. Relying too much on my teachers might be one reason I did poorly in school.
I remember for intro biology we were going over the circulatory system and I taught my study group the order of the chambers by saying: Ra (the Egyptian god) took an RV from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. :roflmao:. It was funny in my head and I just hope they got it, haha. There were more instances of this, but that example is one that stood out for me. Also, as one who took more than the usual amount of science courses for a business/social sciences major, I realized a lot of courses were basically "weed out" classes for pre-professional students. My OChem professor told us the first day, "Don't worry if you can't find a seat, half of y'all won't be here when the semester ends, there'll be plenty of seats as we move on." Mnemonics and other study helps helped me get a good grade in those classes. In some classes, I did do massive brain dumps.
Mnemonics and visually both work... Writing a few words over and over and over... That helps tons... I make stuff into songs at times too... making things also into a story, as above... Color coding or how the actual word 'rales' is in the we'd cRAckLEs... See it?
I find I can retain information better after writing it down. The act of writing and committing it to concrete, tangible paper helps me tremendously.
This is so true. If I am going to the store and just try to remember what I need to get I usually forget getting something. But if I make a note of what I need, I can go to the store and actually get everything I need without referring much to the note because writing the note, in and of itself, made it easier for me to remember.
Not very interesting, but I can get wherever I want if I've been walked or driven there just once. Mostly by landmarks. I once drew all the African countries I'd be tested on so I would remember the shape. Worked pretty well.
I maybe only passed my Geography exam thanks to Red Bull. I read my workbooks several times and wrote out the important details again and again. I don't think I'm great at math but I gained decent results because my teachers fed my ego. So for me it is Red Bull, doing, repetition, and praise. Also when I was stressed in high school I wrote out random words until I learned them. Methylenedioxymethamphetamine and pentylenetetrazol were the first two. I had a medical dictionary to pick words from xD I can't put that on my CV though.
I agree. That's why I said the mnemonic devices are best used for courses that are strictly rote memorization. For courses that require a more sophisticated understanding of the material, then most likely you should adjust studying methods accordingly. Regardless of the course, they're useful tools but not substitutes for grasping the concepts. This x10000000. Regardless of how good your teachers are, to understand the material, you need to make the material your own via studying with your preferred method. Teachers guide you in a direction and help along the way, but most of the effort comes from you. That proverb "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime" fits well in context of teacher-student interactions.
When I'm falling asleep, I like to ponder questions about things I'm having difficulty understanding, and sometimes, during my dreams and then while waking up, I understand them better. This seems especially true with literature, psychology, history and sociology.
I don't remember anything oO Practicing something a lot will get me into a routine that it'll be easier for my brain to find the right neurons to light up when the time comes, but thats about it.
I was once in a class that were read the riot act because we weren't taking the class seriously enough. This was illustrated by the fact that all but two of us had failed the first major exam of the course. So after the reading was done I then proceeded to spend the next week writing out my answers to this test (there was only five questions) over and over again, my last writing like this took place about ten minutes before the resit. Aced it like a boss.
I rarely had to study anything as long as I took lots of notes in class. It seemed like the act of hearing the lecture and writing the notes put it into my mind enough that I might re-read the notes the night before the test, but I rarely had to actually study. The down side of it, though, is that if I DID have to learn something by just reading and memorizing it, I was usually in trouble. I could never concentrate for very long. There's a lot of ADD in my family (my daughter, 4 nephews at least) so I expect I may have had some issues there.
