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Tips for memorization in school?

Bologo

Bologo

Have fun with birds and bees.
is a Contributor Alumnus
Alright everyone, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've been doing really awful on my past few Biology and Kinesiology quizzes and I really need some help.

I used to be able to memorize very well back in grade 9, but my mind turned to mush in grade 10 and has not recovered at all since I've reached grade 11. I don't really know what happened, but whatever.

I seem to have extreme problems memorizing the sciences, hence why I'm totally crapping on Bio and Kin. Memorizing definitions and such used to be so easy for me, but now it's exceedingly hard in the sciences, and I'm worried that I'm going to get a really low mark if I don't get my memorization skills back up to par.

Ok, so I'm just going to get right to the question now. What are your tips for memorzation of facts, theories, law, labels, definitions, etc. in school?
 
I just read them like 10 times until its stuck or I make up something to help me remember them, like a rhyme. :)
 
It is my opinion that if you are trying your best and still not getting it, then you just aren't cut out for that particular thing. There are plenty of fulfilling paths in life that don't involve memorising facts and figures.

HOWEVER, since you asked for memory tricks:
- making memorable (crude) acronyms for certain things. the example that springs to mind is for memorising the order of sharps/flats in music theory:
battle ends and down goes charles' father <-> father charles goes down and ends battle

- mental association with everyday objects, including constructing physical analogies for things you dont quite understand. see: barrels floating in a river to conceptualise electric current
 
I've always used flash cards. They were very helpful for me in Spanish and Art History where you have hundreds of words to memorize, plus they're small and can fit in your pocket so you can take them out whenever you have time. Be sure to scramble them each time you practice so you aren't used to the same order of cards.

Looking at pictures help too, especially if you're a visual learner.

The problem with all this memorization is that you quickly forget them after you take the test that you need them for. Oh well, tests are a thing of the past for me so I don't really care.
 
take your time. saying something over and over won't help move data to your long term memory - you have to "try" to memorize. think of something, then wait a bit, move on to other stuff, then try to remember whatever your initial thought was. if you cant, relook at your source and try again. the longer span of time you can go the more data has been transferred from your working memory to your long term memory.

flash cards help too, but the process of actually writing the terms/definitions is more helpful for me than actually practicing with them :)
 
Tips variate from "I heard" from "I learned":
- Apparently your brain processes stuff you learn the day before. Therefore, memorizing things the day before your test is better than doing so the day your test actually happens.
- There's several ways of absorbing information: hearing it, reading it, etc. These two are the least efficient ways when compared to methods like: explaining to another how it works, hearing and writing it at the same time, summarizing the information, using the information, etc.
- As mentioned, visualization. Linking words to images helps a lot of people - you may not be one of them, but it's likely you are. Putting multiple pieces of information together along with an image of your daily habits works.
- this kind of thing seems to work if they're logical, funny and you can remember them plus what's behind them
 
writing (or even typing) definitions down helps more than you'd think. it often helps to not try and do it all at once as well, because you're more likely to lose focus and daydream, which doesn't get you anywhere
 
The best way I know of involving memorizing Biology is just not memorizing it at all and having some "rules of common sense/logic". I usually remembered things as "as expected from my common sense" (Most of circulatory system falls here) and "the opposite of what I think they would logically be" (The closing/opening mechanisms of the stoma for me)
For the really gay ones like the lipids' passage on the blood/lymph vessels you do have to sit and memorize, though. Try to recognize a good pattern there. (In the lymph/blood passage example it helped a lot that all the important places started with a K in Turkish. )
Also I should mention the awesome Koledok/Viersung ducts - Gibraltar/Suez canal analogy my friends came up with during an exam because I can.
 
I find that typing up in the information on a word document helps a lot. You're reading the information (say, from the textbook), you're reading it again as you work on the word document, and if you want, you can print out the stuff you just typed for use later.
 
Try to link concepts together. If you find a way in which A and B are related, if you remember one there's a good chance you'll remember the other.
 
Maybe you should stop thinking about smogon/pokemon/whatever you think about, study more, or as a last result, just cheat. Even though last year in 8th Grade i tried cheating in spanish (Middle school authorities weaklings compared to high school,), The post-it i put under my desk the next day said "Phone call home." i was like SHIT! Lol, and it was in Middle School, too.
 
I try using acronyms, my mom would always help me with weird acronyms for the Polyatomic Ions in Chemistry or other stuff, it was silly but it worked.
Snaps for moms.
 
i aways find that getting a good nights sleep before a test and eating a good breakfast helps me remember much better than cramming all night and rushing out the door after a quick shower and light breakfast. i also like to make games out of what i need to learn. every now and again i will write a story about whatever i am trying to remember. acronyms are great too.
 
I too make up stories or games to help me remember stuff (often I write my notes in a unique style that would help jog my memory).

I've also tried the record what you need to memorize and play it as you sleep method.
 
I've heard several teachers say "you have to write something down or hear it at least three times before it has a chance at entering your long term memory."

Some tips:
-break it into sections
-For example: if you've got two pages of definitions to memorize, start with the top half of the first page and then move on to the second half of the first page.
-after finishing the second half go back over the first and make sure you have it before moving onto the third etc.

If I have a list of definitions to memorize I start by:
-reading each word and its definition twice slowly and carefully thinking about the meaning going down the list
-going back down the list and covering up the word and getting it from the definition and vice versa
-memorize something the night before and whip it out and test yourself/read back over it and study again in the morning on the bus/car ride to school to refresh your memory

I find that going back over something even for only a few minutes in the morning after studying the night before really helps to refresh your memory. Keeping a folded paper with the material in your pocket or within reach helps to take advantage of small amounts of time like car rides and waiting in line you'd have to study.

Another thing I do is say definitions/formulas/processes I need to memorize to myself over again while going about the day. For example, I'll go over them when I'm taking a shower or walking some where. If I find I'm drawing a blank for a certain one while doing this I'll go back and make sure I memorize that one really well before the test.

Also, writing it down on scratch paper from memory and then comparing it with the source closely several times, correcting yourself until you can regurgitate it verbatim every time.

I think this is something that also really depends on the person. I hear the AP teachers saying all the time "you know what helps you most to study" or "you know what works best for you."

For me it is alot of reading and writing the material over again. Reading and cutting off half way through a definition and finishing it from my memory. I'll read the term, look away from the material and force myself to draw it from my memory before checking myself and comparing it with the right answer.

m0nkfish said:
- mental association with everyday objects, including constructing physical analogies for things you dont quite understand. see: barrels floating in a river to conceptualise electric current
Click to expand...

I find this helps alot too, to attach an image of something with a definition especially if you don't know what it means. It's whatever your own mind comes up with, but some times associating it with an image can help to spark your memory.

cookie said:
Try to link concepts together. If you find a way in which A and B are related, if you remember one there's a good chance you'll remember the other.
Click to expand...

Yes, also putting things together in pairs of two, three, four. If you remember one you'll get the others from the momentum of your studying.
 
I find that what helps me the most is singing the information to a tune and/or rhythm I know. It helps me the most when memorizing definitions or really long lists.
 
Flash cards are the best, especially for foreign languages.
If you're like me, you'll just program a bunch of formulae and stuff into your TI-83 or whatever for a Math/Science class.
 
I memorize in the same way that Brawlex does. I read each word/phrase/sentence/etc. 5 times and that's it. I usually get most of them correct so I can definitely guarantee that method works. GL Bologo :D.
 
Vineon said:
I suggest Will Smith's approach
Click to expand...

god im so tired of hearing this sentence.



anyways honestly the thing that works for me is writing and writing and writing.
before a big test i will usually copy out the bulk of my notes (do whatever is reasonable) from the start of the non trivial concepts to the end of the tested material.
writing is great because it forces you to slow down and understand, and there's a physical association with the concepts that strengthens your understanding too i guess!
 
Flash Cards are a great way of remembering.

Another effective yet boring way is writing out the same thing over and over again.

and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again
and over and over again

are you bored? when you get REALLY bored and no longer think about it when writing the statement out, then move on to the next one. Repeat the cycle but try it without looking at your notes once.
 
If you just want basic memorization all I do is this:

1.Read whatever it is
2.Close your eyes and try to recite it
3.Repeat as necessary until you have it perfected

My last philosophy exam I memorized the review sheet by doing this for ten minutes before I went to sleep. I don't remember exactly since it's been about 4 years now, but I seem to recall something from psychology saying that it's better to study prior to sleeping as the information goes from short-term to long-term in that time period. Idk, works for me at any rate regardless of validity.
 
I don't find all these colours useful and shit but trust me, if you 100% understand the stuff you are learning, that is 10x better than using phonetics or acronyms.

Try reading a page slowly and try to think out how something logically follows. Then try teaching someone else what you have learnt, preferably someone who is good at the subject so that can correct you if you've got it wrong. Understanding the content is probably the best way to do so as tests/quizzes tend to test your adaptation of theory.

However, there are some things that you cannot apply this to, I still cannot remember which one is Mitosis and which one is meiosis and these things you can find little niches inside your brain patterns for distinguishing.
 
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