Improving memory Memory is the residue of thought As students trying to learn new information and as teachers trying to facilitate

e students in their quest to learn new information, the goal is to place these new pieces of information into memory. The following points investigate this process and are a synopsis of an article entitled What Will Improve a Students Memory (along with a few points of my own interjected Joe Muscolino . This article was written !y "aniel T. #illingham and was pu!lished in the American Educator, $olume %&, 'um!er (, #inter &))*+&)), issue. "r. #illingham is a professor of cognitive psychology at the -niversity of $irginia (-$A and is the author of the !oo. Why Students Dont Like School, which will pu!lish in /pring, &)),. 0is we!site is www.danielwillingham.com. Two Main Points: 1. Memory is the residue of thought: To !e a!le to remem!er something, you must thin. a!out it. 2or students, this means that how you study ma.es a very !ig difference in remem!ering the content. Are you simply reading over notes when preparing for an e3am, or are you critically thin.ing a!out the content4 2or teachers, this means that how you present the content ma.es a very !ig difference. Are you simply reading through the material or are you presenting the material in a manner that challenges your students to thin. a!out what you present4 &. A cue is needed to recall something that has been successfully committed to memory: 'ot !eing a!le to recall something is often the fault of a poor or am!iguous cue. As a student, once you have learned something, what are the cues that will help you recall it, whether it is during an e3am or for use in life5wor.4 6reating effective cues is often !ased upon how you connect this piece of information to other things that you .now. The more connections you ma.e, the more directions you have from which you can cue it and recall it. As an instructor, are you helping the students create these connections and therefore cues4 'ote7 8oo.ing at the roots of the new term to !e learned is often a very effective way to learn the term. 2or e3ample, the coracoid process of the scapula is named for loo.ing li.e a !ird9s !ea. (coraco means !ea.: oid means to resem!le . #hen you loo. at a scapula9s coracoid process, try to picture a !ird9s !ea. and it will help you remem!er the term. Additional Points to consider: %. To help critically thin. a!out your reading content, at the end of every sentence, paragraph, or section of reading, stop and do two things7 2irst, as. yourself why the

information ma.es sense to you. /econd, see if you can restate in your own words the !ig picture of the reading content in as few words as possi!le. (. #hen studying, repetition is most helpful when meaning is attached. Try to ma.e sense of the content and thin. a!out the content instead of simply rereading or highlighting your notes. ;. <t helps to study in more frequent smaller clumps of time than to cram a lot in at once. There are fewer distinct cues for recall when you cram. =. An effective study method is to try to e3plain and teach the content to a fellow student, especially one who will as. sensi!le follow+up questions. >. Most students thin. that their learning is more complete than it really is7 A recent study has shown that students who are a!out to enter an e3am thin. that they .now the content !etter than they actually do. This means that they did not spend enough time effectively studying. ?n average, students only study =*@ of the amount of time that they should. 2or this reason, it might !e wise to study more than you feel you need to (a!out ;)@ more . *. <t is also important to ta.e into account that we usually forget a certain amount of what has !een learned. "r. #illingham recommends that we over study !y appro3imately &)@ to compensate for this. (This is in addition to studying more just !ecause we may have overestimated how well we have learned and a!sor!ed the content, as mentioned a!ove. ,. To !est gauge how well you .now something for an e3am, it is !est to test yourself in the same format that the e3am will. Aemem!er, it is not safe to trust your gut feeling that you .now it: most people overestimate what they .now wal.ing into an e3am. <f the e3am will !e written multiple choice questions, you are !est off creating a study group with each person creating a certain num!er of multiple choice questions for the group to ta.e. <f the format of the e3am is hands+on, then get together with another student or two and simulate a practical hands+on e3am. Be sure to not go too easily on each other. Be as thorough and challenging as your e3pect the instructor to !e: if in dou!t, !e more challenging. 1). #hen you have tried !ut cannot find meaning in what you study, then using an acronym or mnemonic is helpful to create the needed cues for the content. An e3ample might !e7 /ome 8overs Try Cositions That They 6an9t 0andle. The first letter of each word in this sentence is the first letter in the name of the eight carpal !ones (from radial to ulnar, first the pro3imal row, then the distal row . <n addition to acronyms, associating the new piece of information with something a !it !iDarre and silly often helps to create a cue that will help you recall it. 11. There are levels of .nowing something. #hen a student says7 E< .now it !ut < cannot e3plain it.F <t usually means that the student .nows the content well enough to passively comprehend it when it is stated !y someone else, !ut does not .now it well enough to

actively reproduce it on her5his own. <f the e3am as.s for the student to !e a!le to actively reproduce the information, which most e3ams do, then simply !eing a!le to passively understand it when heard or read is not sufficient to do well on the e3am. Beyond passing an e3am, if a person9s profession5wor. requires more than passive understanding, then it is critically important that the content is learned to a greater degree. Summary: 1. Memory is the residue of thought. <t is important to critically thin. through the course contentG &. A cue is needed to effectively recall something that has !een successfully committed to memory. 6ritically thin.ing through the course content also helps to ma.e the connections !etween what you are learning and what you already .now. This gives you more effective cues to !e a!le to successfully recall the informationG %. -se acronyms and other associations for cues when you cannot ma.e sense of the content.