I cannot do rote memorization.

[Susanoo]

If you've read my past threads you've probably seen a recurring trend... It's still recurring (lol). I think I pinpointed the cause of my academic struggles though. I just cannot seem to rote memorize information. If it is not conceptually grounded in something, but is just information to memorize, then I just fail the exams and my grade in the class is practically based on guessing, and some occasional questions that I did happen to remember. I get mostly B's in my science courses.

I'm in my last year of undergrad now, and I am struggling more than ever, as my classes are also more rote memorization based than before... I think I am intelligent enough (my professionally tested IQ is 120, which is 91st percentile), to figure out concepts, so conceptually my classes are not outside of my intellectual grasp. However, in terms of rote memorization, which doesn't necessarily correlate with intelligence (at least in terms of critical thinking and in terms of IQ test-based intelligence, please don't start an IQ test debate here, I don't care enough to proceed with that), I just cannot do well...

My study plan as of right now, so you can gasp what I'm doing:
1. Go to classes and record lectures if the lectures are not uploaded online.
2. Listen to lectures very slowly and take written notes until I have every bit of information. 45 minute lectures take 2 hours to listen to, since I am getting every single sentence the professor says.
3. If I have time, transcribe these notes to my computer in an organized fashion. Since my written notes are a complete mess.
4. Color coordinate these notes, and maybe make flash cards.
5. At this point, it's already the night before my exam, or maybe the day of my exam. So, I don't usually review my notes too many times, or at least not the bulk of it.
6. Take exam, score between 60 and 80% on all of them.
Note: This is my new study habit, I used to do something different, with similar results. I have not read my textbooks this semester, as the professors seem to test more heavily on power points and the textbooks have extraneous information by the boatload.

So, I guess I am just not capable of rote memorization of arbitrary facts in "large" (to me) volume. Which is a different type of intelligence than critical thinking. This possibly indicates that med school isn't for me since that is basically what med school is. I still have another semester to see what's up, and whether this is inherently a deficiency in me or a lack of work ethic.

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[Enginerd2016]

So weird, my IQ is supposedly 150. I can do rote memorization all day and still not grasp trends/concepts. Odd.

What I have found that is the best way to study large amounts of data: flashcards. You can take them anywhere and study them at any time.

 

[Tintinnabula]

It sounds like you might be talking about or worrying about a learning disability. Have you been evaluated for it by a professional? You should be able to find a list of companies/people who'll do that testing through your school's counseling center. After testing you develop and try a plan of attack. I know that given what I've seen here and elsewhere that I would be hesitant to try to progress into medicine without at least that in place.

 

[Susanoo]

So weird, my IQ is supposedly 150. I can do rote memorization all day and still not grasp trends/concepts. Odd.

What I have found that is the best way to study large amounts of data: flashcards. You can take them anywhere and study them at any time.

What do you mean supposedly? And yeah, that's a crazy high IQ. I hope I did not imply that high IQ = low rote memorization, people can have both and I don't think they necessarily correlate. If they did correlate, it would probably be a positive correlation where I am simply an outlier.

It sounds like you might be talking about or worrying about a learning disability. Have you been evaluated for it by a professional? You should be able to find a list of companies/people who'll do that testing through your school's counseling center. After testing you develop and try a plan of attack. I know that given what I've seen here and elsewhere that I would be hesitant to try to progress into medicine without at least that in place.

I have ADD/ADHD, since I was like 12. Still, I don't think that is the main reason, or even a huge contributing factor. I am seeing a doctor now and am taking relevant medications. I wonder if there are other learning disabilities that I might have.

 

[FindMeOnTheLinks]

I think you are spending too much time mindlessly reorganizing your notes into different formats and not enough time actually reviewing. You said yourself you usually don't actually review the bulk of your notes. I think instead of trying to color code and type it up into the computer you should actually study more and quiz yourself and maybe that would help. Memorization comes from seeing the details over and over again and consciously trying to stuff it into your brain, which is very different from rewriting it typing up.

 

[Susanoo]

I think you are spending too much time mindlessly reorganizing your notes into different formats and not enough time actually reviewing. You said yourself you usually don't actually review the bulk of your notes. I think instead of trying to color code and type it up into the computer you should actually study more and quiz yourself and maybe that would help. Memorization comes from seeing the details over and over again and consciously trying to stuff it into your brain, which is very different from rewriting it typing up.

I don't disagree. However, my handwritten notes are horrible, which is why I type it. And its just easier for me to write notes instead of typing notes if I am listening to a lecture, as I can only write what is not explicitly stated in the power points, or just write things said that cannot really be deduced from the power points, like what a sentence actually means or the context of it. The color coordinating might be excessive and time wasting though, I'll try doing it less or not at all.

 

[cactus8910]

Are you taking notes during class? If so, spending 2 hours re-watching one lecture seems super excessive. In any case, once your have a set of notes, I'd suggest you skip the transcribing/color coordinating and instead go straight to flash cards. Of course you're going to have trouble with rote memorization if you aren't rote memorizing... Put anything that seems "memorizable" on a note card. Go through your note cards multiple times before the exam. Make separate stacks for the ones you know well and those you're having trouble with. Go through the ones you have trouble with more frequently.

You shouldn't need every single sentence the professor sends to end up in your final notes. That volume is impossible to review. You need to be able to parse out what's important and compress it.

 

[Susanoo]

Are you taking notes during class? If so, spending 2 hours re-watching one lecture seems super excessive. In any case, once your have a set of notes, I'd suggest you skip the transcribing/color coordinating and instead go straight to flash cards. Of course you're going to have trouble with rote memorization if you aren't rote memorizing... Put anything that seems "memorizable" on a note card. Go through your note cards multiple times before the exam. Make separate stacks for the ones you know well and those you're having trouble with. Go through the ones you have trouble with more frequently.

You shouldn't need every single sentence the professor sends to end up in your final notes. That volume is impossible to review. You need to be able to parse out what's important and compress it.

I don't go to most of my classes as they don't have in-class assignments, don't take attendance, and upload their lecture recordings. If I do go to class though, I will take notes. But I blank out a LOT, so I listen to lecture audios regardless of whether I go to class or not.

I should probably skip to flash cards maybe. I have been trying to review my notes by rereading my typed notes, but that clearly isn't working.

Also, I am very bad at predicting test questions or discerning what is important for an exam, which is why I write every single sentence. I have professors test on the most obscure things, like, "Which of these videos did we not watch in class?" or "What color shirt was I wearing this day?" Serious about both of these questions being on exams of mine.

 

[Doug Underhill]

Do you use any illicit substances? Some of them (specifically cannabis) have been shown to have deleterious effects on memory.

 

[Oncie]

Have you heard of Anki?

I'm in the same boat as you, I'd prefer to think and be challenged conceptually than memorize mindless facts about allosteric regulation.

Btw what classes are you struggling in?

 

[Oncie]

Do you use any illicit substances? Some of them (specific cannabis) have been shown to have deleterious effects on memory.

What?

 

[Doug Underhill]

What?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_cannabis#Memory_and_learning

While it does not cause brain damage or permanent effects, ongoing use of cannabis seems to impede memory. If you're one of those undergrads who uses it every day (and we all know those people), it is foreseeable how it could contribute to your problems.

 

[Susanoo]

Do you use any illicit substances? Some of them (specifically cannabis) have been shown to have deleterious effects on memory.

None. I take prescribe benzos though. But I have been struggling longer than I've taken it, much longer. I barely drink too, only drank once or twice this year, did not sip alcohol for all of 2014.

 

[meander]

Anki is the answer to this problem. Make Anki flashcards (make yourself, do not download other people's decks -- making the cards is part of the learning process) and do all your assigned reviews every day. I could have written this post a few years ago, now I have no problems with rote memorization.

 

[NeuResurgens]

You probably need to come up with a study technique that will give some meaning to all of the things you're memorizing. I read through your current study habit of constantly transcribing the same notes and it sounds boring as dirt, and I think to myself, no wonder you're not retaining the information! Try to find something, mnemonics, flash cards, pictures of objects that sound or look like the concepts, etc. to make it stick better in your memory. You're not likely to succeed if you just try to scan a hard copy of note sheets into your brain.

 

[MrLogan13]

You're not being efficient with your study time. You're having trouble memorizing because you're spending more time on notes than actually memorizing.

Learning to discern what is important for an exam is a skill that must be developed. Actually going to the lecture helps because there are cues you just don't get from listening to a recording.

 

[Susanoo]

You're not being efficient with your study time. You're having trouble memorizing because you're spending more time on notes than actually memorizing.

Learning to discern what is important for an exam is a skill that must be developed. Actually going to the lecture helps because there are cues you just don't get from listening to a recording.

Holy ... I never thought about nonverbal cues in lectures...

 

[Goro]

I suggest a different career then. You have some 5000 human body parts that you need to know about, much less about what they do!

If you've read my past threads you've probably seen a recurring trend... It's still recurring (lol). I think I pinpointed the cause of my academic struggles though. I just cannot seem to rote memorize information. If it is not conceptually grounded in something, but is just information to memorize, then I just fail the exams and my grade in the class is practically based on guessing, and some occasional questions that I did happen to remember. I get mostly B's in my science courses.

I'm in my last year of undergrad now, and I am struggling more than ever, as my classes are also more rote memorization based than before... I think I am intelligent enough (my professionally tested IQ is 120, which is 91st percentile), to figure out concepts, so conceptually my classes are not outside of my intellectual grasp. However, in terms of rote memorization, which doesn't necessarily correlate with intelligence (at least in terms of critical thinking and in terms of IQ test-based intelligence, please don't start an IQ test debate here, I don't care enough to proceed with that), I just cannot do well...

My study plan as of right now, so you can gasp what I'm doing:
1. Go to classes and record lectures if the lectures are not uploaded online.
2. Listen to lectures very slowly and take written notes until I have every bit of information. 45 minute lectures take 2 hours to listen to, since I am getting every single sentence the professor says.
3. If I have time, transcribe these notes to my computer in an organized fashion. Since my written notes are a complete mess.
4. Color coordinate these notes, and maybe make flash cards.
5. At this point, it's already the night before my exam, or maybe the day of my exam. So, I don't usually review my notes too many times, or at least not the bulk of it.
6. Take exam, score between 60 and 80% on all of them.
Note: This is my new study habit, I used to do something different, with similar results. I have not read my textbooks this semester, as the professors seem to test more heavily on power points and the textbooks have extraneous information by the boatload.

So, I guess I am just not capable of rote memorization of arbitrary facts in "large" (to me) volume. Which is a different type of intelligence than critical thinking. This possibly indicates that med school isn't for me since that is basically what med school is. I still have another semester to see what's up, and whether this is inherently a deficiency in me or a lack of work ethic.

 

[Amba]

It sounds like you are wildly inefficient. If your techniques aren't working, why are you still doing the same thing? Just Anki everything and keep up with your daily cards. If you watch a lecture at 2x speed, you can normally pause and make Anki cards and still finish before the time a regular lecture would take.

 

[Doug Underhill]

You should talk to your doctor about your benzos and the possibility that they may be causing your memory problems. Do not make any changes to any medications without talking to a health professional. SDN is not for medical advice, nor am I qualified to offer it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine#Cognitive_effects

The short-term use of benzodiazepines adversely affects multiple areas of cognition, the most notable one being that it interferes with the formation and consolidation of memories of new material and may induce complete anterograde amnesia. However, researchers hold contrary opinions regarding the effects of long-term administration. One view is that many of the short-term effects continue into the long-term and may even worsen, and are not resolved after stopping benzodiazepine usage. Another view maintains that cognitive deficits in chronic benzodiazepine users occur only for a short period after the dose, or that the anxiety disorder is the cause of these deficits. While the definitive studies are lacking, the former view received support from a 2004 meta-analysis of 13 small studies. This meta-analysis found that long-term use of benzodiazepines was associated with moderate to large adverse effects on all areas of cognition, with visuospatial memory being the most commonly detected impairment.

 

[Enginerd2016]

What do you mean supposedly? And yeah, that's a crazy high IQ. I hope I did not imply that high IQ = low rote memorization, people can have both and I don't think they necessarily correlate. If they did correlate, it would probably be a positive correlation where I am simply an outlier.
I have ADD/ADHD, since I was like 12. Still, I don't think that is the main reason, or even a huge contributing factor. I am seeing a doctor now and am taking relevant medications. I wonder if there are other learning disabilities that I might have.

I mean that I took a test when I was 5 years old that said my IQ was 150 (with an * that my IQ could be +/- 5 of the indicated score). I tend not to put much meaning into these kinds of things as I don't think they actually measure IQ very well. The only question I missed on the exam was when they showed me a picture of an outlet and asked me what it was. I called it a plug-in and couldn't come up with the real name of it. You're telling me that missing that one question was the difference between having an IQ of 160+ and what I got? Nonsense. Most of the successful people I know do NOT have sky high IQs but rather worked extremely hard to get where they are.

Here is a potential strategy for you:

1. Read the textbook before class
2. Take notes on the chapter prior to attending class in a separate notebook
3. Take notes in class, but focus on understanding what the professor is lecturing on
4. Reread the textbook/compare your class notes with your chapter notes
5. Combine lecture notes with chapter notes in a new notebook. Use this to study for the exam.

I abuse flashcards as well. I make a set with the reaction (for example in ochem) name on the top, the reactants/arrow/solvents/heat whatever, and put the answer on the back. I use little mnemonics (ABP) to remember that HBR and ROOR is added to an alkene, it produces Antimarkovnikov addition with Br added to a different Plane than OH. blah blah blah

Works for me.

 

[medic86]

Meh.

I rewrite my notes the day before an exam (sometimes a couple days before, depending on how intense the material is). Anecdotal, and highly inefficient, but it works for me.

That being said, I agree with all the other posters. If I were to learn a new study habit, I'd probably try Anki out (well, I have, but never seem to have the time so religiously stick to it - and I seem to make way too many cards).

Good luck! There are plenty of study habit suggestions buried in various threads on here (and the rest of the internets).

 

[IncognitoGuy]

Like some others have said, it doesn't sound like you're actually spending time MEMORIZING. Transcribing notes is not memorizing. Color-coding notes is not memorizing. Repeating the information to yourself over and over via some way of exposure is memorizing. If you can't recall it off the top of your head or when prompted, then it's clear it's not memorized.

Instead of transferring notes, just start memorizing if you know you need to - make flash cards then and there and start using those regularly to drill information into your brain. Repetition is key.