Exam technique: how to memorise material?

I basically need to memorise 10 lecture notes by wednesday morning lol. Is it better to just keep re reading the notes until wednesday or like write down the notes while looking at the notes, or even writing down info from memory?

Reply 1

zakz_786

Keep re-writing stuff down from memory, I find colour and images helpful too.

Reply 2

River85

17

We're all different and unique. It's wat makes us so special. There isn't really a technique that works for all of us. I'd write them out a number of times and then try and duplicate them from memory. Incredibly tedious, I know.

Also perhaps record yourself saying them and keep playing it back.

Reply 3

prospectivEEconomist

OP

16

River85

We're all different and unique. It's wat makes us so special. There isn't really a technique that works for all of us. I'd write them out a number of times and then try and duplicate them from memory. Incredibly tedious, I know.

Also perhaps record yourself saying them and keep playing it back.

Lol yeh I've kept saying the lecture notes loud whilst reading it, I think it helps me. Would listening back really help though? I don't really want to write down the notes cos it takes hours and hours and I only have 2 days.

Reply 4

A Stranger in Moscow

12

get a whiteboard and mindmap it.

Reply 5

River85

17

prospectivEEconomist

Would listening back really help though?.

Worked for my German oral exam all those many moons ago. Taking just ten minutes a day, seven days a week, to listen to the tape. Maybe stop it every twenty seconds or so and repeat yourself. It's amazing how much sinks in over a very short period of time.

This was a five minute presentation though, not reams of lecture notes.

Reply 6

geminilady

9

i like to write things and keep writing them down, then testing myself

make sure you try and recreate conditions that you will be like in your exam, say like study at a desk, quiet and try and replicate it to the conditions where you will have to replicate the information (studies in psych prove this!)

Flash cards are quite useful i find

Goodluck
Hope this helps you!

Reply 7

prospectivEEconomist

OP

16

River85

Worked for my German oral exam all those many moons ago. Taking just ten minutes a day, seven days a week, to listen to the tape. Maybe stop it every twenty seconds or so and repeat yourself. It's amazing how much sinks in over a very short period of time.

This was a five minute presentation though, not reams of lecture notes.

I think I might do that. I get REALLY REALLY tired of reading the same dam lecture notes again and again (even though most of it doesn't sink in lol).

Reply 8

lucasarar

9

I never re-write notes. I read and repeat them in my head. If you can say it a few times without looking at the notes and keep testing yourself it works (for me).

Reply 9

River85

17

A Stranger in Moscow

get a whiteboard and mindmap it.

Aye, mind maps too. Although they don't really do the business with me. But people rave about them, visual learning and all that.

Condense the notes onto small flashcards, key points and concepts?

Reply 10

Adalia

2

Whatever works for you is what will help you soak it in.

Personally, for say my IB History mocks next week I'm going to reread through the whole material from the past 18 months twice - very carefully and slowly, and any sections I'm unclear on I'll read a third time. And my notes (from class) are pretty colourful.... but that's just me. I read stuff twice and I have it - dates, names, details, ... - memorised. I guess I'm lucky :smile:

But yeah, read. Or write..... colour is always good, I think it kicks your pictorial memory (can't remember the term lol) into gear.
Some of my friends record their voice and listen to it over and over and over again on CDs, iPods, etc.... awake, asleep, on the tube, .... whenever you're not doing soething else.
Or something that also helps me is kinetic learning - do some kind of workout while you're memorising, that could help.

Good luck! :yep:

Reply 11

Mango24

14

Record yourself, then play it back

I record myself on my phone then play it back through my earphones HA sad but hey its like learning the words of a song

Reply 12

jabed786

15

writing them out a few times. Reading them a few times. Test yourself by outlining the main points when youre on your way to the bus etc.

Reply 13

A Stranger in Moscow

12

River85

Aye, mind maps too. Although they don't really do the business with me. But people rave about them, visual learning and all that.

Condense the notes onto small flashcards, key points and concepts?

Yeah, they're good for testing your knowledge, mostly.

I've got a good one to do with flashcards, actually.

Read your notes, then turn them into question form.
For example:

In order to make the iron from the ore, the oxygen must first be removed.

Becomes "What needs to be removed from iron ore in the process of making iron?"
Write that on the front of your card.
Then on the back, write:
In the extraction of iron from iron ore, oxygen needs to be removed.

This is better than just writing oxygen because if you remember the word "oxygen" it's not going to help but remembering the whole sentence will.

Writing these question cards helps as revision, and if you fancy not doing much you can test yourself/be tested by someone.

Reply 14

xxxchrisxxx

11

rewrite the slides into memorable pictures. worked for me.

Reply 15

trm90

12

I skim through past exam papers first and I deal with the stuff I am absolutely sure I do not know anything about. This way, I can answer any question in an exam with some degree of knowledge (instead of having to leave it blank) - of course, sometimes past exams aren't available, and the ones that are show that questions change dramatically each year.

For the rote learning bits (i.e. nasty definitions or graphs you need to memorise, assuming you can't think of them logically) it could help to just say them out loud to yourself repeatedly. Seeing how you're doing economics, I would assume that a lot of the stuff you want to memorise for Wednesday will be based on logical problem solving and understanding, though? In which case, it's also easier to memorise information if you guide yourself through the explanation of the theory before you try and memorise it again.

Reply 16

Chloe5690

6

Write them out maybe about.. 7 times each, without looking at your notes after the first time. Then about an hour later do it again, and eventually it just sticks :biggrin:

that's what I find anyway. Then when you're in bed, recall them in your head, and soon you don't even have to make the effort to think; they just come to you.

Reply 17

tomangegi

7

Apparently making a story out of something really helps you to remember stuff! I've tried it and it seemed to work, but it obviously won't work for some things, usually just lists x

Reply 18

lou89

Keep rewriting the stuff on the slides, do mindmaps, use colour. I find these are the easiest way to remember stuff :smile:

Reply 19

ChicaBonita

I take everything and mindmap it. Then I get a small notebook and write out sentences from the mindmap. Then I get another notebook and mindmap the sentences. Again and again.
It worked fabulously for my A-levels :biggrin:

Exam technique: how to memorise material?

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