TIPS TO IMPROVE MEMORY AND LEARNING

Memory can be improved by using strategies that enhance storage and retrieval of information.

• Learn from the general to the specific. Start by reading the chapter heading, section headings, introduction and summary. You may also want to skim charts and diagrams and other bolded material. Then go back and read for detail.
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• Review often, trying to vary the way that you review so that you create more connections to your long-term memory. At a minimum, do daily review and weekly review.
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• Make sure you understand the material. Comprehension vastly improves memory.
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• Visualize what you are reading or studying. Pictures, shapes and colors are remembered longer than words. Making images colorful, absurd and humorous can help with memory retention.
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• Make the material meaningful. Think about how it is relevant to your life or to your future career. Think of examples. Consider how new material fits with what you already know.
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• Use mnemonics (memory tricks) but use them sparingly as they don't substitute for comprehension and will likely not help with long-term memory.
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• Learn actively. Read a small amount, then recite the main points, write notes, do related problems, or organize the material.
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• Test yourself as you study. One of the biggest mistakes students make is thinking they 'know' the material just because they understand it as they are reading.
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• Study the most important material first. Our minds remember best what they were first and last exposed to and tend to forget material in the middle.
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• Put material into your own words. We remember best using our own words rather than those of instructors or textbook authors.
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• Put yourself on an information diet. Use course objectives, instructor focus and homework assignments to choose the most important areas to study.
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• Break material into small, manageable chunks and learn one chunk at a time.
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• Create pictures or diagrams.
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• If your course involves a lot of memory work commit to memorizing a few points every day.
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• Take short (approximately 10 minute) frequent breaks, every 45 to 50 minutes or so. Changing study technique and subject area can also help relieve boredom and increase focus.
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• Tutor another student who is having difficulty. Teaching someone else reinforces your own knowledge. 
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• Join a study group and practice teaching information to each other.