Skills to Enhance Memory Retention(A tutorial for college students that are unsatisfied with their academic performance and want to try new methods to increase their cognition)

Created by Michael Brewer

You might be asking yourself,“Why do I need this tutorial?”

Well...if you’ve ever found yourself spending hours upon hours

studying for an exam, only to find that you did not get the results that

you were expecting, then I believe the skills in this tutorial can help

you tremendously.

Not only will you see better results after putting these

strategies into practice, but you will also save time!

Time that can be spent on so many better things, like eating and sleeping.

What is the main goal of this lesson?

The main goal is to show you a set of skills that can help improve your ability to retain and recall information from memory, which can be very beneficial towards your education (and everyday life...but let’s focus on potential educational benefits for this lesson)

If you put the skills from this lesson into practice, you could ultimately:◦ improve your grades, ◦ save time, and ◦ reduce your levels of stress

A Guide to the Lesson Objectives

① How to Create a Dedicated Study Space

② Using the “Pomodoro Technique”

③ Strategies for Better Note-Taking

④ Learning “Actively”

Creating a Dedicated Study Space

“Why is this important?”If you consistently go to a place with the sole intent to study, you can eventually train yourself to only go to that designated area for educational purposes.

You would also inadvertently train yourself to focus and get your work done whenever you go to that place.

Note: You probably shouldn’t try to study in bed. Why? Because you associate your bed with sleep. If you try to study in bed...you’ll probably get pretty tired like our friend Boo. Back to

Objectives

• Somewhere away from your bedroom

• If you study and sleep in the same place, not only do you risk falling asleep, but you may also begin to associate more stress with your bed which could lead to sleeping issues

• Somewhere quiet with low noise pollution and foot traffic

• Somewhere with enough space to spread your materials out

Characteristics of a Good Study Space

Examples of places on Virginia Tech’s campus that fit these criteria

Torgerson Bridge

Newman Library

Empty Classroom

Practice Problem! (Don’t worry, this will be fairly simple)

You should only use your chosen study area for the purpose of studying, so that you don’t begin to associate your study space with any other activity and lose focus.

TRUE FALSE

The Pomodoro Technique

Back to Objectives

The Pomodoro Technique

What is it? How does it work?

The Pomodoro Technique is a method of time management that increases productivity almost instantly by breaking down work into separate timed intervals and incorporating breaks in-between each interval

It is a very simple yet effective way to improve your work and study habits

P.S. You will need a timer to implement this method, but most people have one on their cellular devices

1. Determine what work you need to accomplish

2. Set a timer for 25 minutes

3. Focus on a single task until the timer rings

4. Take a break for 5 minutes before starting another 25-minute cycle

5. After completing four 25-minute cycles, take a longer break (15-30 minutes)

*Time intervals can be adjusted based on your own preferences

Another practice item!

What are you supposed to do during the 25-minute cycles of the Pomodoro Technique?

a. Take a napb. Focus all of your

attention on the topic at handc. Wait quietly for the buzzer from

the timer to ringd. Take a break from studying

Better Note-Taking Strategies

At least we have paper and pencils instead of rock slabs

Strategies to help you create a more complete set of notes containing all of the essential information you need for a particular class

Back to Objectives

Methods of Better Note-Taking The most important piece of information you can take away

from this section:

Take your notes by hand!◦ Writing down your notes requires more focus than typing notes on a

computer, which could result in a deeper understanding of the material due to muscle memory

During a lecture, you should try to write down any relevant information that is discussed. By doing so, you will have a solid base set of notes to add information to later.

Once the lecture is over, take the first open opportunity to review your notes from that day – this should be the first of several times you should read over your notes after writing them◦ While reviewing your notes, if you come across a concept that you are

struggling with, read the section in your textbook pertaining to that concept

◦ After that, if you’re still struggling, write down your question and ask the professor to elaborate on the concept during the next lecture or during his/her office hours

Methods of Better Note-Taking (continued)

Add any additional information to your lecture notes and then re-write your notes, by hand, in a clearer format◦ This is for your own

convenience. This new, clearly-written set of notes will be much easier to read than your original set of notes from the class lecture

◦ Re-writing your notes may also aid in memory retention by way of muscle memory

And finally, keep your notes organized in a binder or a notebook for easy access. You don’t want to lose all of your hard work. You should find a method of organization that you are comfortable with and use it.

More Practice Items!(Don’t worry, we are almost done)

1. Directly after a class lecture, you should...

a. Review your notes from that day’s lecture

b. Call your mother to tell her you love her

c. Go home and take a nap to aid in memory retention

d. Read the chapter (or chapters) in the textbook that corresponded to that day’s lecture in its entirety

2. After reading the supplementary section from the textbook on a topic that you do not fully understand, what is the next step you should take to ensure that your questions get answered?

a. Write your questions down in your class notes

b. Ask your professor to clarify on the topic you are struggling with during the next lecture

c. Go to your professor’s office hours

d. All of the above

“ACTIVE LEARNING”Active learning is a process whereby students engage in activities that promote analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of class content.

Let’s begin with an old Chinese proverb:

“I hear and I

forget.

I see and I

remember.

I do and I

understand.”

Active learning allows students to gain a true understanding of the concepts at hand.

Back to Objectives

Methods of Active LearningBecause college classes require most learning to occur outside of the

classroom on your own accord, here are three methods of active learning that could potentially help you gain a better understanding of your class materials:

1. Self-Quizzing Analyzing the class material and creating questions similar to what you may be

tested on Answering these questions without help from your notes to ensure that you fully

understand the concepts addressed in the questions

2. Flash Cards Make a set of flash cards with the description of a concept on one side and the

name of the concept on the other – look at the side with the concept name and describe the concept in your own words before flipping the card to the side with the concept description in order to measure how much you actually know

Flash cards are a very convenient way to study at any time due to their portability

3. Teaching Concepts to Others Once you think you have a solid understanding of the subject matter, find a friend

that has little-to-no prior knowledge on the topic (and is willing to listen to you talk for a while) to teach the material to If you are comfortable enough to speak on the subject for an appropriate period of time and you give your friend a general understanding of the concept at hand, you should be on the right track

The Last Practice Problem!

What is the general term for the methods of learning that engage students in their learning to ensure a true understanding of class materials?a. Active listeningb. Active learningc. Active transportd. Reading

We are so close to the end!

A Quick Recap of Important Concepts from this Tutorial

Find a place to study that’s quiet and away from distractions (NOT your bedroom)

Take notes by hand and add to your notes as needed◦ Once you have all the info you need,

re-write your notes clearly so they are easier to read

The Pomodoro Technique – this one speaks for itself

Learn actively! Make sure you actually understand the information and you’re not just memorizing it

So...what was the point of all of this?

To give you some methods to help improve your capacity to retain and recall information

from memory.

Why?

In order to study more efficiently, while reducing your stress load and improving your

grades.

That’s a win-win-win!!

The Actual Last Practice Problem!(I’m sorry for lying...but I promise this is the last one)

What was the main purpose of this instructional presentation?a. To give you the ability to memorize

information for a class and then forget it once the exam is over

b. To show you skills that could help you recall information from memory and gain a better understanding of class material, which would ultimately lead to improved results in school (and life)

c. To show you how to study for hours upon hours without a break

END