Effective Study Methods

S states that there are four phases to the human memory. He suggests that using a filing cabinet approach to learning things help with memorization. “Human memory is a four - stage process: input, encoding, rehearsal, and retrieval. A problem at any stage affects memory and learning”, (S, 2013). The author goes on to discuss how each process works within his system of learning and memorizing. Inputting information into the filing cabinet is through sensory. We are using taste, smell, sight, hearing and touching at this point just to organize and get the information into the brain but not memorizing or learning anything yet. This phase is the same as the first step in “Tips from the Science of Memory-for Studying and for Life”. Arranging the information in a way that it gives the best structure for remembering it. Next, we encode the information with short term memory, only knowing that the information is there but it is not yet fully understood or committed to long term memory. After that we will rehearse and practice the information that is organized and filed neatly in the filing cabinet because now we know where to go to look for the correct information when we need it for retrieval, the final step of the process. We need to know where to look for the things we have rehearsed and practiced over and over, this information is now committed to long term memory and the only way to keep what we have learned in long term memory is to rehearse it continuously. The author gave some tips on how to maximize our memory capabilities such as studying in a well-lit area, be organized with study material and have everything you need before beginning, get 6-8 hours of sleep every night, and take planned breaks during studying

Carter, C., Bishop, J., & Kravitz, S.L. (2011). Key to Effective Learning: Study Skills and Habits

By practicing, talking and writing about a topic, this is the only way our brain can make permanent connections about the information we are trying to learn as studies have shown such as the retrieval practice study, that those students in the retrieval practice group overall scored higher over

From an early age, it is drilled into our heads: Restlessness, distraction, and ignorance are the enemies of success. We’re told that learning is all self-discipline, that we must confine ourselves to designated study areas, turn off the music, and maintain a strict ritual if we want to ace that test, memorize that presentation, and create writing assignment.

Imagine that you have a big midterm exam at the end of the week. In your own words, describe the three types of memory storage and which study techniques you would use and why. Explain the connection between the types of memory and the study techniques you chose.

When a student merely reviews the information in a textbook or notes, but doesn’t take the time to test themselves to see if they really understand what they are reading or if they review the test questions while looking at the answers, it can have a negative effect on their test scores. However, if the student were to alter their study patterns they could not only do better on the test, but retain more of the information.

Study habits and techniques were non-existence for me in high school. I never did anything but look over notes or previous work. The only time I remembered studying was around the time we took our standardized testing. Looking back, I can’t recall ever learning any study skills or strategies. It may have been that school for me was easy and I had no reason to study. Or I was not challenged academically to have to study. Nonetheless, soon I would find out the difficulties of navigating college courses without effective study skills and habits. I fell behind in college early because of my inability of how to study and what to study for. Just like me, there are many more students that have never been taught effective study skills and habits

In the article, Why Cramming Gets a “C” by Annie Murphy Paul, the author explains how cramming the night before a test might get a good grade on the test. A few days after crammed for it you start to lose the information you studied. In this article, the author describes different methods that are better than cramming but does not explain why they help, does not strongly back up her claims and overloads.

After all, what purpose would it serve to put in a great deal of time and effort studying something if you are unable to recall any of it? It is essential for students as well as educators to learn about the reasons why distributed practice is more effective than massed practice since students tend to cram last-minute information, only to pass an exam. The perfect example exemplifying the cons of cramming would again be shown by Hermann Ebbinghaus. In 1885, Ebbinghaus tested his own memory using nonsense syllables. His theory was that any information that is learned is forgotten progressively throughout days and weeks. (MIND MARKER JOURNAL) In this study, Ebbinghaus developed a forgetting curve. The forgetting curve illustrates how much information is forgotten as time progresses. Within a small amount of time, we begin to forget a significant amount of information that is presented to us. Cramming is no exception. If we fail to review the material we are receiving, we forget it quickly. Spaced repetition is a method used to ensure that our memory becomes strengthened around the subjects we are attempting to learn, in order to have improved retention results. Overall, spaced studying has continuously proven to lead to markedly enhanced final-test performances, compared with massed performances (Long

Effective study skills help a student to learn and build a sound education, but what works for one student may not work for another. A student needs to look at the different types of techniques available and see what works for them.

During my time at Fullerton College, I have come to realize that every student has their own unique way to achieve their goals, whether it is to cram down tons of information before the day of the exam, highlight each section in their textbook, or receive support from the tutoring center. These tips are useful to most students, but for me I have come to learn that I have the capacity to learn two ways: reading the material until I have a eureka moment, or work the problem step by step until each component makes sense to me. Unfortunately, for me to have acquired this, I had to learn from trial and error, each course I would try something new and see if I could keep applying the same method for upcoming courses. Some would work, and others would

Normally, I would have only read over the list of components a few times after writing them down in my notes to memorize them. However, once the acronym and corresponding information was memorized, I was able to remember all five components later in the morning and again in the evening by visualizing the acronym. I was even able to recall the information without the assistance of my notes when I completed my Accounting assignment the next day.

Similarly to flashcards rewriting is an efficient strategy that highly effective students use. They will rewrite terms, formulas, etc. over and over again until they understand and remember it. Studies show students who write their work develop a deeper memory rather than student who dont or type on a computer. I don't typically rewrite all the time because it tedious and time consuming but if I did start making this a habit I know I'll be more likely to remember.(“For More Effective Studying, Take Notes With Pen and

The three techniques I used were jingles, sentences, and story lines. I used these techniques to memorize Psalm 4: 2-4, which is a few sentences from the bible. When using the jingle technique I tried memorizing this by singing it like a song. It was easy to learn the information this way, but I forgot it in an hour. I kept getting this song that I made up mixed up with others songs I had to memorize before for choir. The sentences technique had the best result. I took a few keywords from the reading and made a sentence with them. It took more time to learn it this way, but I was still able to remember it after an hour. Story lines was the least effective technique for me when trying to remember this information. It was hard to use this technique

The amount remembered depends on the time-spent learning. Even after we learn material/names, additional rehearsal increases retention. For novel verbal information, practice- effortful processing- does indeed improve our memory. We also retain information better when our rehearsal is distributed over a period of time, known as "spacing effect." People who have experienced "serial position effect" strengthen the benefits of rehearsal. When shown a list of words/names and then immediately asked to recall the items in any order, they struggle to recall the list. They remember of the first and last words/names better than those in the middle. This is probably due to the fact that the last names/ items are still in short-term memory; people briefly recall them especially quickly and well. But after a delay, after they shift their attention from the last names/items their recall is best for the first names/items. We must remember that our memory system processes information not just by repetitive rehearsal but also by encoding its significant features.