What are some tips for better retaining of knowledge you could share?

[AskQuestions]

Thanks.

[iNerd]

Specific subject or general?

Sit in a quiet room with the correct amount of preferably white light.
Its amazing how light affects the eyes and in turn the amount of fatigue you accumulate which affects your long-term memory.

Handwrite > Typing

And break it up into 40minute blocks, not slabs of 3 hours.

[_avO]

http://helpguide.org/life/improving_memory.htm

[sellingspeshbooks]

I think it's important to figure out during which time of the day and within what atmosphere your focus level is the highest. For myself I found that I was able to study best between 11pm~4am, so I would always take a nap as soon as I got home from school, wake up at something like 10pm, take a shower to wake myself up and then get straight to studying. I know it screwed up my sleeping habit a bit, but hey its worth the sacrifice haha. And I also found that writing notes really helps, especially with subjects like Psychology, Biology or Chemistry. You learn the MOST while writing notes. And you can always look back at it before a SAC or an exam to revise. And if you ever go to a library, never take a friend haha seriously

[chrisjb]

Just do what comes naturaly man. I personaly use a ton of tehniques to remember important stuff (acronyms, rote repetition etc.) And I liek to study in different ways and in different places (bedroom, dining table, sittitng room, library, study, out in the sun etc.) with different stuff around me, sometimes with music, sometimes without, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night, sometimes with food/drinks, sometimes without. I reckon that that helps me to retain information better than keeping a strict routine of time and place. But some people are the exact oposite and prefer to do it the exact same way each time.

As for how long i study in each block, I just go untill i start to lose focus and stop retaining the info then I stop for a while and do something else that isn't sudy (exercise is a good one).

But I reckon you just have to work it out for yourself (because no one else's way ever seemed to work for me).

[Ghost!]

Just do what comes naturaly man. I personaly use a ton of tehniques to remember important stuff (acronyms, rote repetition etc.) And I liek to study in different ways and in different places (bedroom, dining table, sittitng room, library, study, out in the sun etc.) with different stuff around me, sometimes with music, sometimes without, sometimes in the morning, sometimes at night, sometimes with food/drinks, sometimes without. I reckon that that helps me to retain information better than keeping a strict routine of time and place. But some people are the exact oposite and prefer to do it the exact same way each time.

As for how long i study in each block, I just go untill i start to lose focus and stop retaining the info then I stop for a while and do something else that isn't sudy (exercise is a good one).

But I reckon you just have to work it out for yourself (because no one else's way ever seemed to work for me).

Exactly this.

[Eriny]

Understanding the material is the most important thing. It's much easier to remember things that make sense to you!

[NJTuition]

Meditation.

It improves your memory, learning ability, focus and concentration unbelievably, not to mention the countless other health and mental benefits.
I’m not gonna try and justify it here, but if you search it up on google you’ll find countless reports about it.

Believe it or not, I literally did no work (at school or home) throughout the whole year for any of my 1/2’s in Year 11 and still maintained about a 85% average for tests, outcomes, etc. by just listening in class.
In year 12, until the month before my final exams, throughout the year I did no work outside of class for any of my 3/4’s except the week before sacs.
I ended up with an ATAR of 99.8.
I was the highest achiever for Monash University Enhancement Maths, with a 100% in semester 1 and 99% semester 2.
I meditate regularly and have developed a pretty good memory and ability to understand concepts. I also have a number of friends who have improved their learning with by meditating.

When I say meditation I don’t mean some complex ritual or anything.
You just turn off the lights, sit in a chair, cross your legs, clasp your hands, and close your eyes and your mouth.
Just relax and feel your breath, going up into your nose and then out of your nose. If you start drifting of into thoughts, just try and bring your focus back to observing your breath.

Once you’re done, you’ll feel much more refreshed and have a clear mind. If you meditate for 5 mins every time before you do any study, you’ll retain much more knowledge due to your clear mind. Otherwise often you’ll be singing songs in your head or thinking about other things while you study, resulting in ineffective study.

Ideally meditate for half an hour every day, either early in the morning, before you go to bed, or whenever you find time. You can start of with 5 mins everyday, and gradually increase it if you are too restless to sit down for half an hour. I guarantee that this can improve your study in many ways.

There’s nothing to lose, and you want to be taking any opportunity to improve your study.
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up.

Cheers

[lexitu]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_r=2 - A different way of thinking about things.

As mentioned here and in other research, there is thought to be a link between the experience/place of study and the vividness of the recall. People tend to associate where they were with what they learnt. The more unusual, the better, generally. So I suggest you go on rollercoasters to study.

[azngirl456]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?_r=2 - A different way of thinking about things.

As mentioned here and in other research, there is thought to be a link between the experience/place of study and the vividness of the recall. People tend to associate where they were with what they learnt. The more unusual, the better, generally. So I suggest you go on rollercoasters to study.

+1 classical conditioning

I love psychology maybe read up on the theories of learning, memory, forgetting and retention. It helps to explain things.

[chrisjb]

...many study skills courses insist that students find a specific place, a study room or a quiet corner of the library, to take their work. The research finds just the opposite. In one classic 1978 experiment, psychologists found that college students who studied a list of 40 vocabulary words in two different rooms — one windowless and cluttered, the other modern, with a view on a courtyard — did far better on a test than students who studied the words twice, in the same room. Later studies have confirmed the finding, for a variety of topics.

The brain makes subtle associations between what it is studying and the background sensations it has at the time, the authors say, regardless of whether those perceptions are conscious. It colors the terms of the Versailles Treaty with the wasted fluorescent glow of the dorm study room, say; or the elements of the Marshall Plan with the jade-curtain shade of the willow tree in the backyard. Forcing the brain to make multiple associations with the same material may, in effect, give that information more neural scaffolding.

Take the notion that children have specific learning styles, that some are “visual learners” and others are auditory; some are “left-brain” students, others “right-brain.” In a recent review of the relevant research, published in the journal Psychological Science in the Public Interest, a team of psychologists found almost zero support for such ideas.

I couldn't agree more with thoes two quotes. I never got the same result twice in those "learning style" quizes.

[Ghost!]

Meditation.

It improves your memory, learning ability, focus and concentration unbelievably, not to mention the countless other health and mental benefits.
I’m not gonna try and justify it here, but if you search it up on google you’ll find countless reports about it.

Believe it or not, I literally did no work (at school or home) throughout the whole year for any of my 1/2’s in Year 11 and still maintained about a 85% average for tests, outcomes, etc. by just listening in class.
In year 12, until the month before my final exams, throughout the year I did no work outside of class for any of my 3/4’s except the week before sacs.
I ended up with an ATAR of 99.8.
I was the highest achiever for Monash University Enhancement Maths, with a 100% in semester 1 and 99% semester 2.
I meditate regularly and have developed a pretty good memory and ability to understand concepts. I also have a number of friends who have improved their learning with by meditating.

When I say meditation I don’t mean some complex ritual or anything.
You just turn off the lights, sit in a chair, cross your legs, clasp your hands, and close your eyes and your mouth.
Just relax and feel your breath, going up into your nose and then out of your nose. If you start drifting of into thoughts, just try and bring your focus back to observing your breath.

Once you’re done, you’ll feel much more refreshed and have a clear mind. If you meditate for 5 mins every time before you do any study, you’ll retain much more knowledge due to your clear mind. Otherwise often you’ll be singing songs in your head or thinking about other things while you study, resulting in ineffective study.

Ideally meditate for half an hour every day, either early in the morning, before you go to bed, or whenever you find time. You can start of with 5 mins everyday, and gradually increase it if you are too restless to sit down for half an hour. I guarantee that this can improve your study in many ways.

There’s nothing to lose, and you want to be taking any opportunity to improve your study.
If you have any questions, feel free to hit me up.

Cheers

Agree with meditation. It's a really great thing to have in your life.

I have got a question for you, what subjects did you take and with what SS?

Thanks!

[vexx]

Meditation.

It improves your memory, learning ability, focus and concentration unbelievably, not to mention the countless other health and mental benefits.

Agree with meditation. It's a really great thing to have in your life.

I have got a question for you, what subjects did you take and with what SS?

Thanks!

I've head about this, and just searched a little(see below), pretty easy to find how it affects the brain in positive ways - quite amazing! I may try it...
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20164557
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1147167-2,00.html

&ghost, pretty sure he/she posted an add in the tuition forums some time ago with scores if you were interested

[slothpomba]

You really don't need a lot of tricks or fancy things like that at all.

As someone said above, it really comes naturally as it should.

The only tip i can offer is make sure you read it and really understand it the first time you get it, try untill you do, then just periodically review it.

Thats really all you need.

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On a side note yeah apparently meditation does work. It's pretty interesting well i think so anyway, wiki has an article on it.

You could also try something like Anki it works but it gets really tedious to start off/ maintain and i eventually just stopped using it ect

[sheepgomoo]

There isnt much that hasnt already been said, but i've heard that reviewing previous material, say like once a week, is better than cramming the night before an exam