As much as I (and I am sure many of us) hate memorising, it is inevitable in school that we need to reserve part of our brain for memory work. At a young age, we need to memorise how to spell words. As we grow older, we need to memorise F=ma, p=mv etc etc... Now let's ask ourselves, are these so-called memorising really memorising? Many times, certain things just come to us and I doubt that we will ever forget them cleanly. In this post, I am going to share how I commit knowledge to memory (in addition to using mind maps or time lines), because I hate memorising!
Form words and short sentences of meanings to you.
When it comes to really memorising, there are many methods taught. One of which is to use short forms or abbreviations. In marketing, we learn the 4P. We then recall it stands for product, price, place, promotion. Isn't this easier than to purely memorise each of them? In electrical engineering, we tend to forget the relative phase lead/lag of capacitor or inductor. But we have "CIVIL" to help us! Form your own sentences, use them!
Practice more, use more.
When it comes to really memorising, there are many methods taught. One of which is to use short forms or abbreviations. In marketing, we learn the 4P. We then recall it stands for product, price, place, promotion. Isn't this easier than to purely memorise each of them? In electrical engineering, we tend to forget the relative phase lead/lag of capacitor or inductor. But we have "CIVIL" to help us! Form your own sentences, use them!
Practice more, use more.
One way of memorising is to practice. You may not remember how to integrate log(x). Try doing it 3 times. I'm sure it just comes to you the next time you are asked. You may not know how to use the product rule to do differentiation. Use the technique on 5 different questions. You will just use it naturally when you reach the sixth question.
Write
This is a trick taught to me by my cousin Linda. I remember I was in secondary 3 when I needed to memorise facts about the Cold War. I had a hard time doing that because I was simply lazy to memorise and my memory was (is now too) very bad. She came to me with this trick. Here, she meant writing using pen and paper. Do not type, do not read and form the image in your mind. Write! I found that it works. As I write, I think. As I write, I see my own paragraphs. When I need the information, I just have to close my eyes and the image of what I have written appears. Sounds magical? Try it.
Write
This is a trick taught to me by my cousin Linda. I remember I was in secondary 3 when I needed to memorise facts about the Cold War. I had a hard time doing that because I was simply lazy to memorise and my memory was (is now too) very bad. She came to me with this trick. Here, she meant writing using pen and paper. Do not type, do not read and form the image in your mind. Write! I found that it works. As I write, I think. As I write, I see my own paragraphs. When I need the information, I just have to close my eyes and the image of what I have written appears. Sounds magical? Try it.
Memorise only when needed, as a last resort
I only memorise stuff when I don't understand them, because that's the only way I can get past examination without getting zero. Hence, I always seek to understand the topic, seek to understand the equations, understand how each concept is being used. And here I repeat again, understanding the basics is very important. When we understand, there is no need to memorise. If you forget the formula for acceleration, think of what is acceleration. If you understand acceleration as the rate of change of velocity, the formula will come to you naturally. When we understand what is nation building, there is no need to memorise how Singapore grows from practically nothing to what we are today; and hard facts like economy, social, politics. These will naturally come to us.
There are many well known methods to do memory work. However, it is up to us on whether we just want to memorise, which most of the time we will definitely forget right after the examination, or we want to understand the topic proper. The latter does not only allow us to understand what we are studying, it also allows us to store the knowledge in our brain for a longer period of time. My personal opinion is to try our best to know the topic, because knowledge is king.
There are many well known methods to do memory work. However, it is up to us on whether we just want to memorise, which most of the time we will definitely forget right after the examination, or we want to understand the topic proper. The latter does not only allow us to understand what we are studying, it also allows us to store the knowledge in our brain for a longer period of time. My personal opinion is to try our best to know the topic, because knowledge is king.
Good memorising tips. As for me, I used to make my own notes and I guess that was the equivalent of what your cousin taught you on writing it out. It certainly worked. As for practicing, I found that it was the best way for Math. During my time, we just had a lot of homework which we couldn't understand why the teachers needed to give us so much to practice. Looking back, it all made sense now; through doing the homework, we unconsciously got to practice and that was the sole reason why Math was never a problem to me.
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