Once you know what your learning style is, you can apply strategies that best accommodate that style and make for the most effective studying. Try the following:
READING STRATEGIES will train your mind to learn!
Step 1: Survey the material
Read the title, introduction, and summary to orient yourself on how the chapter fits the author's purpose and important points.
Make note of boldface headings and subheadings (to build a structure for your thoughts), graphics (which are there to make a point), and reading aids (such as italics, which help you sort, comprehend, and remember).
Step 2: Question
Taking one section at a time, turn boldface headings into questions you think may be answered in that section. Searching for answers actively engages your mind in the learning process.
Step 3: Read each section
Read with your questions in mind, look for the answers to your question, and note if you need to make up some new questions.
Recite each section, stop to recall your questions, and see if you can answer them from memory. If not, look back again, but don't go to the next section until you can recite answers from the previous sections.
Step 4: Review
Once you've finished an entire section, go back over all the questions from the headings and see if you can answer them. If not, go back and refresh your memory.
NOTE-TAKING STRATEGIES stimulate the mind and reinforce memory!
Step 1: Filter the information
Don't copy every word, but note only the expressions and key ideas you'll need to prompt your memory.
Step 2: Classify the information
The substantive content of the lecture consists of concepts and factual material. This may be accompanied by references to various works, which you should consult. Usually, concepts are illustrated by anecdotes and examples. You will record each differently.
Step 3: Organize the information
You should adopt a formal plan for your notes to make them as clear and consistent as possible. This will save you time later!
MEMORY STRATEGIES develop your organization skills and make learning easier!
| Tip 1: | Use many senses (auditory, kinesthetic, visual) and repeat the information aloud to yourself, mentally run through physical actions, or
diagram or visualize a picture. |
| Tip 2: | Create associations to link the unknown with the known (i.e., Italy is shaped like a boot). |
| Tip 3: | Work at remembering (i.e., before leaving a parking lot, deliberately fix the location of your car in your mind). |
| Tip 4: | Use mnemonic devices, or word games, and organize information by categories, rhymes, or location. |
| Tip 5: | Visualize the information and have fun with images by adding color or imagining them from different angles. |
| Tip 6: | Chunk the information by breaking it into shorter bunches. |
| Tip 7: | Remember word meanings by doing all of the following: looking words up in the dictionary, using their meanings in conversation, writing poems using the words, and thinking of puns about the meanings of the words. |
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