Studying Strategies — Tricks of the Trade

Studying is all about ownership. Lodge the information in your brain in a way that’s meaningful to you, keeping in mind the way you will be asked to use it in an exam. The list below includes some tried and true ways of solidifying your memory as you work with difficult material.

Mnemonics (memory tools)

Use acronyms or acrostics made from first letter of each word in a series.

Examples:

SOHCAHTOA (trigonometry functions)
Roy G. Biv (rainbow spectrum)
Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (order of operations)
Make up your own!

Associations

Remember something difficult by linking it to something easy to recall, to trigger a response. This may be something that sounds similar, or something you have familiarity with that may be analogous to this new concept.

Consolidation/grouping

Create groups to put like information together.

Pattern recognition

Identify patterns and repetition in the material, then practice using those patterns by leaving out information, etc.

Attention to detail

Be aware of the level of detail required by the professor or elements that can be overlooked/misunderstood.

Visualization/imagery

Create stories…maps…other visual or narrative images—the more outlandish, the better.

An example: For a Music Appreciation class, you need to list the periods in music history, in order (Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, 20th Century, Jazz/World). Here’s what we came up with: Mad doctor M.D.Evil had Ren and Stimpy in her clutches, and her diabolical thought-collection machine was ready to go. Luckily, the machine ba-roque: Instead of transferring their memories into her classy database, the rays from the machine converted the database into a collection of romantic poetry, which included 20 centuries of jazzy verses from all over the world.