boost your memory and concentration: unforgettable strategies academic success seminar/workshop...
TRANSCRIPT
Boost Your Memory and Concentration:
Unforgettable Strategies
Academic Success Seminar/Workshop
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Minnesota
Deb Wingert, Ph.D.
Director of Educational Development
Build Your Concentration: Preview content Set specific goals Study in a good area Vary your activity (read, take
notes, recite aloud, create questions)
Prevent daydreaming (review what you’re studying,stand up and walk for a minute)
Connect what you are learning to what you already know
Set a time limit for studying Pace yourself (not too much in
one sitting) Organize assignments/study
time into specific tasks (previewing helps!)
Utah State University, 2008
Barriers to Concentration: Hunger Fatigue Internal distractions External distractions
BUSTING BARRIERS: Hunger: _______________________________________ Fatigue: Regular routine of ________________________ ______________________________________ Internal distractions: ______________________________ External distractions (Away from noise and stimuli)
University of Waterloo, 2008
Concentration Tips: Ask yourself questions
How does this relate to what I know?
What’s the evidence for this? What’s a good example of
this? Any unique points?
Designate a study place.....for studying only! Good lighting Ventilated Comfortable (not too
comfortable!)
Divide study time into goals/blocks (such as.....finish 3 chapters, 4 case studies)
University of Waterloo, 2008
Concentration Tips:
To remember terms, __________________________ The items you study first, you remember the longest.....start with
____________________________ Overlearn ______________________________ Make your own examples Create many associations with the content you need to
remember......the more associations leads to ________________ Describe content to peer without using your notes
Virginia Tech, 2008
Habits of Good Listeners: Listen between the lines (anticipate what’s next!) Take good notes Sees lecture like a
chapter Avoid _______________ _______________ Judge content, not ____________
“There is no such thing as an uninteresting subject; there are only uninterested people.”
G.K. Chesterton
Kishwaukee College, 2008
Good Listeners Do NOT: Interrupt (with a question,
etc.) in the middle of an explanation.
Share worthless info Believe that _________
is more important than _____________
Avoid difficult explanations Find fault with _______ ___________________ Dismiss content as not
interesting Show impatience
Utah State University, 2008
Listening skills:
Screen out distractions Background noise Language mistakes/accents Speaker habits Irrelevant info Daydreaming
Organize info into main ideas and supporting details
Avoid hasty judgments Remain neutral (not
emotional)
Prune ___________________ _______________________ Maintain alertness (eye contact
with speaker) Ask ‘what’s in it for me?’ (find
areas of interest) Listen for central ideas (not facts) Write only ______________ Exercise mind with difficult
material
Utah State University, 2008
College of Saint Benedict, 2008
Listen Actively
The more you think about what you ______, the more you will understand and remember
Listen Actively (c’d):
Summarize Analyze Predict Mentally review what
has been previously said
Compare lecture to text
Apply to your own experience
Select most important Ignore
________________
Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?
A few stats: We remember ____ of what we read
We remember ____ of what we hear
We remember _____ of what we see
Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?
Visual learners make up about _____ of the population
Use notes, diagrams, color (!), printed materials.....charts...study guides/sheets.........images.......anything visual!
Visualize these images
Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?
Auditory learners make up about _____ of the population
Auditory learners remember best by listening and taking/using notes review notes by reading them out loud study partners.....teaching each other.. consider taping class sessions
• When you teach someone else, you remember ___ of what you ______
• When you teach someone else, you remember ___ of what you ____________!
Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?
Tactile/kinesthetic learners benefit by ___________!!!! Create the notes, charts, etc. _________________! Study partners
A Few ‘Unforgettable’ strategies
Take notes in class Review (even rewrite/organize.....the
Cornell method is good here!)
The Cornell System: Step One: ______________
Write notes during class in a record column
The Cornell System: Step Two: _________________
After class, reduce ideas into a few words and place them in a recall column
The Cornell System: Step Three: _________________
Review notes after lecture. Connect main concepts in left (recall) column with details in the right (record) column.
The Cornell System: Step Four: _______________
In the bottom summary section, jot a few sentences , summarizing all main points and why this is important. Students are 31% more likely to remember content by doing this step!
A Few ‘Unforgettable’ strategies : Choose techniques to help you
remember Associate.....with personal memories
or the meaning of the content Visualize...form mental images Apply Repeat
Rhymes, abbreviations Acrostics/Acronyms.....words to
help you remember terms (such as: very active cat to remember veins, arteries and capillaries)
Repetition...use the senses Read term out loud Read, `rite, recite
Study right before sleeping...wake _______ minutes early and review material one more time.
_______________________! This simple memory strategy helps you keep your cool and prevents panic from taking over. This also keeps your blood pressure down, your system oxygenated, and your mental stress protectors from overheating due to frustration.
Cuesta College, 2008
Softpedia.com, 2008http://www.memory-improvement-tipster.com/memory_strategies/
Another ‘Unforgettable’ strategy : The LOVE Method
• Look: See the item, write the name in your palm;• Overstate: Think something ________________;• Visualize: ______________________________
___________________________ on the movie screen right inside your forehead;
• Engrave: ____________________ ______________
________________ until it's firmly stored in your brain.
http://www.memory-improvement-tipster.com/memory_strategies/
A Few More ‘Unforgettable’ strategies :
______________ practice/review! Chunk your info......study in chunks Review notes _____________ ___________ what you are
learning....mental pictures......_________ your notes
Visualize the lectures
One final ‘Unforgettable’ strategy:
Link Technique - make a link or association between pairs of words to be remembered by visualizing in one’s mind an unusual or ridiculous association between the pair,
e.g., to remember the _______________ lamp, typewriter, truck you need to form an unusual visual association between lamp and typewriter,
e.g., picture a lamp with arms typing on a typewriter, then a link between typewriter and truck,
e.g., picture a pickup truck hauling an enormous pile of typewriters. In this way, when you lamp this will trigger the mental image involving the typewriter which in turn will trigger the image of a truck and so on.
Questions?
Thank you!!
Deborah A. Wingert, Ph.D.Director of Educational DevelopmentCollege of Veterinary Medicine (108 Pomeroy)Preparing Future Faculty Program CoordinatorEarly Career Program FacilitatorCenter for Teaching and Learning University of Minnesota315 Science Classroom Building222 Pleasant St. S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455Phone: (612/626-2995 at Pomeroy) or (612/625-3405 at CTL)Email: [email protected]