So many exams are heavily content-based so finding methods to memorise content is important! You should always try to understand content before trying to memorise it, but quite a few exams now ask for definitions and specific sections of knowledge, so memorising comes in pretty handy. I took A-Level Biology which included a lot of content and many specific facts to memorise, so I tried lots of different methods and here are the ones that I think were the most useful: 1. Use flashcards- there are different ways to use flashcards to help you memorise content, each may be suited better to different types of learners!
Have a question on one side of the card and an answer on the other side, whether it be a one word answer (e.g. a key word), or a more detailed answer (e.g. a model answer for a 4 mark question. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is to go through all of the Q&A flashcards and put them in 2 separate piles: the cards you got right first time, and the cards you got wrong. Then continue going through the 'wrong' pile until you have answered all of the questions correctly. Repeat this process until you are able to answer all of the questions correctly first time. It's a good idea to return to the flashcards at least once a week to transfer the answers into your long-term memory, ready for the exam!
Write content directly onto the flashcards, but make sure it's condensed! Try and put the content onto the cards in your own words and use as few words as you can. I always like to have the text on my flashcards at least size 14 font, as the bigger it is, the easier it is to memorise the content at a quick glance. I also prefer typed flashcards to handwritten ones, as I find it easier to picture the typed words as oppose to my own handwriting, maybe give it a go and see what you find best!
After writing content on a flashcard, to actually memorise it you could speak it out loud. Sentence by sentence, the goal is to be able to speak the whole flashcard out loud from memory. You should repeat the same one multiple times over several days/weeks to transfer it to your long-term memory. Although I'd class myself as a visual learner, this has always been so effective for me- it's as if it's stored in a totally different part of your brain.
Another way to memorise the content on your flashcard is to try and write it out from memory. Again, just do a sentence at a time until you can write out the whole flashcard. You could use a few key words as a prompt and use this to help you. If you fully understand the content on the flashcard, memorising it should be much easier, even if you don't learn it 'word for word' (which is usually unnecessary), you should be able to do it pretty closely.
2. Memory mind maps- I really like this technique around 1 month before exams. I don't like to spend time making neat notes and resources when my revision time is so limited, I want to have a quick, effective way of actively recalling knowledge as a form of 'last minute' revision. To start off with, you could use a mind map that you created earlier on in the year, or you could make another one (but don't spend too much time on it!). I usually do them on one topic, which I select from the titles listed on my specification - these are found on the exam board websites. I tend not to make them too detailed, just a couple of sentences in each section. Be sure to use different colours for each different point on the mind maps, as this should really help when it comes to recreating it. On a blank piece of A4 paper (or A3, if you are including lots more information), write down as much as you can remember about this topic, essentially recreating your initial mind map. When you have done this, compare it to your other one and write down anything you have missed in a bold, bright colour- this really makes the bits that you had forgotten stand out, so hopefully you won't forget them next time! You could repeat this until you don't miss anything out, and you can include all of the information that you wanted to memorise. I found it helpful to stick my final 'memory mind map' up on my wardrobe, so the brightly coloured facts that I had once forgotten really stand out to me. 3. Recording yourself- you could record yourself reading a section of your text book out loud, and use the recording to try and be able to speak the same section from memory. This is similar to the flashcard idea but is more suited to auditory and kinesthetic learners rather than visual learners. Do a sentence at a time- what I did was:
Play the recorded sentence
Try and speak the same sentence out loud, with the recording playing (so you are speaking at the same time as the recording)
Try and speak the sentence without the recording
Repeat this as you extend the number of sentences, and the aim is to be able to say the whole passage out loud, more or less the same as it was in your text book. Of course, it depends on your subject how accurate you need to be able to memorise something. Often, it's just small facts rather than huge passages, and you should always make sure that you understand everything before trying to learn it this way (or any of the ways on this post) ! 4. Put posters up on your wall/dressing table/wardrobe- I liked to have my posters written in large font (16 or more), and super colourful, every key fact would be in a bright colour. If you have a load of small, black text, it's not going to stand out from a distance, and chances are you wouldn't read it as often. You should try and force yourself to actively read the posters as much as you can, e.g. when you have got out of bed in a morning or when you are drying your hair. If you do this over a long period of time, you should be able to visualise what was on the posters and hopefully the information will stick in your head a lot more! 5. Testing friends, and getting them to test you- you could work with friends who don't study the same subject, this way you are forced to explain things to them, and anything that you don't properly understand will be highlighted pretty quickly. However, I do prefer to work with my friends who are studying the same subject when it comes to testing each other. It could be simple questions that require a one-word answer, or you could ask each other to explain a certain process, for example. It's likely that you will correct each other along the way, and maybe tell each other facts that the other wasn't aware of before, which is always useful. Learning in a different environment, with different people, is good as you are using different techniques to really get the information into your memory. You could ask your friend to repeatedly ask the same questions that you often get wrong, which will help you to remember the mistake you made, and help you not to make it again. Of course, different methods work for everybody and different types of learners will be more inclined to different types of memorisation. I hope at least one of these methods will be helpful to you, and that they will help you learn that annoying little fact that always seems to slip your mind! x
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