Boost Your Memory and Concentration:

Unforgettable Strategies

Academic Success Seminar/Workshop

College of Veterinary Medicine

University of Minnesota

Deb Wingert, Ph.D.

Director of Educational Development

Build Your Concentration: Preview content Set specific goals Study in a good area Vary your activity (read, take

notes, recite aloud, create questions)

Prevent daydreaming (review what you’re studying,stand up and walk for a minute)

Connect what you are learning to what you already know

Set a time limit for studying Pace yourself (not too much in

one sitting) Organize assignments/study

time into specific tasks (previewing helps!)

Utah State University, 2008

Barriers to Concentration: Hunger Fatigue Internal distractions External distractions

BUSTING BARRIERS: Hunger: _______________________________________ Fatigue: Regular routine of ________________________ ______________________________________ Internal distractions: ______________________________ External distractions (Away from noise and stimuli)

University of Waterloo, 2008

Concentration Tips: Ask yourself questions

How does this relate to what I know?

What’s the evidence for this? What’s a good example of

this? Any unique points?

Designate a study place.....for studying only! Good lighting Ventilated Comfortable (not too

comfortable!)

Divide study time into goals/blocks (such as.....finish 3 chapters, 4 case studies)

University of Waterloo, 2008

Concentration Tips:

To remember terms, __________________________ The items you study first, you remember the longest.....start with

____________________________ Overlearn ______________________________ Make your own examples Create many associations with the content you need to

remember......the more associations leads to ________________ Describe content to peer without using your notes

Virginia Tech, 2008

Habits of Good Listeners: Listen between the lines (anticipate what’s next!) Take good notes Sees lecture like a

chapter Avoid _______________ _______________ Judge content, not ____________

“There is no such thing as an uninteresting subject; there are only uninterested people.”

G.K. Chesterton

Kishwaukee College, 2008

Good Listeners Do NOT: Interrupt (with a question,

etc.) in the middle of an explanation.

Share worthless info Believe that _________

is more important than _____________

Avoid difficult explanations Find fault with _______ ___________________ Dismiss content as not

interesting Show impatience

Utah State University, 2008

Listening skills:

Screen out distractions Background noise Language mistakes/accents Speaker habits Irrelevant info Daydreaming

Organize info into main ideas and supporting details

Avoid hasty judgments Remain neutral (not

emotional)

Prune ___________________ _______________________ Maintain alertness (eye contact

with speaker) Ask ‘what’s in it for me?’ (find

areas of interest) Listen for central ideas (not facts) Write only ______________ Exercise mind with difficult

material

Utah State University, 2008

College of Saint Benedict, 2008

Listen Actively

The more you think about what you ______, the more you will understand and remember

Listen Actively (c’d):

Summarize Analyze Predict Mentally review what

has been previously said

Compare lecture to text

Apply to your own experience

Select most important Ignore

________________

Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?

A few stats: We remember ____ of what we read

We remember ____ of what we hear

We remember _____ of what we see

Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?

Visual learners make up about _____ of the population

Use notes, diagrams, color (!), printed materials.....charts...study guides/sheets.........images.......anything visual!

Visualize these images

Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?

Auditory learners make up about _____ of the population

Auditory learners remember best by listening and taking/using notes review notes by reading them out loud study partners.....teaching each other.. consider taping class sessions

• When you teach someone else, you remember ___ of what you ______

• When you teach someone else, you remember ___ of what you ____________!

Memory and Learning Styles:How do you remember best?

Tactile/kinesthetic learners benefit by ___________!!!! Create the notes, charts, etc. _________________! Study partners

A Few ‘Unforgettable’ strategies

Take notes in class Review (even rewrite/organize.....the

Cornell method is good here!)

The Cornell System: Step One: ______________

Write notes during class in a record column

The Cornell System: Step Two: _________________

After class, reduce ideas into a few words and place them in a recall column

The Cornell System: Step Three: _________________

Review notes after lecture. Connect main concepts in left (recall) column with details in the right (record) column.

The Cornell System: Step Four: _______________

In the bottom summary section, jot a few sentences , summarizing all main points and why this is important. Students are 31% more likely to remember content by doing this step!

A Few ‘Unforgettable’ strategies : Choose techniques to help you

remember Associate.....with personal memories

or the meaning of the content Visualize...form mental images Apply Repeat

Rhymes, abbreviations Acrostics/Acronyms.....words to

help you remember terms (such as: very active cat to remember veins, arteries and capillaries)

Repetition...use the senses Read term out loud Read, `rite, recite

Study right before sleeping...wake _______ minutes early and review material one more time.

_______________________! This simple memory strategy helps you keep your cool and prevents panic from taking over. This also keeps your blood pressure down, your system oxygenated, and your mental stress protectors from overheating due to frustration.

Cuesta College, 2008

Softpedia.com, 2008http://www.memory-improvement-tipster.com/memory_strategies/

Another ‘Unforgettable’ strategy : The LOVE Method

• Look: See the item, write the name in your palm;• Overstate: Think something ________________;• Visualize: ______________________________

___________________________ on the movie screen right inside your forehead;

• Engrave: ____________________ ______________

________________ until it's firmly stored in your brain.

http://www.memory-improvement-tipster.com/memory_strategies/

A Few More ‘Unforgettable’ strategies :

______________ practice/review! Chunk your info......study in chunks Review notes _____________ ___________ what you are

learning....mental pictures......_________ your notes

Visualize the lectures

One final ‘Unforgettable’ strategy:

Link Technique - make a link or association between pairs of words to be remembered by visualizing in one’s mind an unusual or ridiculous association between the pair,

e.g., to remember the _______________ lamp, typewriter, truck you need to form an unusual visual association between lamp and typewriter,

e.g., picture a lamp with arms typing on a typewriter, then a link between typewriter and truck,

e.g., picture a pickup truck hauling an enormous pile of typewriters. In this way, when you lamp this will trigger the mental image involving the typewriter which in turn will trigger the image of a truck and so on.

Questions?

Thank you!!

Deborah A. Wingert, Ph.D.Director of Educational DevelopmentCollege of Veterinary Medicine (108 Pomeroy)Preparing Future Faculty Program CoordinatorEarly Career Program FacilitatorCenter for Teaching and Learning University of Minnesota315 Science Classroom Building222 Pleasant St. S.E. Minneapolis, MN 55455Phone: (612/626-2995 at Pomeroy) or (612/625-3405 at CTL)Email: winge007@umn.edu