useless information...

[Imsofly]

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Hey everyone I just have a general question for the way you guys study!

I'm here studying for a biology test coming up (106, about fungus and dumb mushrooms and all that good stuff) and there is so much info! I know you guys will say "yeah write it down, it will help" but that really doesn't help because every line on these slides are very important for our exam.

My question is, while you guys are reading slides and their useless information that you will never need in life, how do you memorize them? for example if you read one important line and you have to memorize it, do you guys read it really slowly? do you go back and read the line 3 to 4 times just reciting it in your head? Or do you read the line once then close your eyes and try to recite it without looking? or do you mentally write down the line (idk)

I just want to hear what you guys do! thank you!

 

[CuttingCorneas]

Get a whiteboard. Write your notes over and over, chunk by chunk, until you can regurgitate them, or at least until you have a basic understanding.

Don't just memorize, actually try to understand what you're learning as well. But repetition works wonders, especially for someone as visual as I am.

 

[Owlie]

Get a whiteboard. Write your notes over and over, chunk by chunk, until you can regurgitate them, or at least until you have a basic understanding.

Don't just memorize, actually try to understand what you're learning as well. But repetition works wonders, especially for someone as visual as I am.

+1

The whiteboard idea is great. It helps you to put what you learned into practice.

 

[asigna]

What helps me is to memorize a little section at a time. Test yourself on the section, and once you have mastered it, move on to the next section and repeat. Helps me a lot.

 

[Ismet]

I write out important concepts succinctly and in my own words. This might not apply to your class, but I draw diagrams and flow charts to connect ideas. If your book/notes/slides aren't sufficient for understanding a concept, use google and youtube and find a way to understand it.

 

[Aerus]

Usually, I don't really write out stuff. I just read the lecture slides and try to understand the whole picture. All the little pieces fall into place and everything makes sense. So, while the actual learning to understand takes much longer than rote memorization, it speeds up memorizing later on.

However, if you've already understood the whole picture and just need to memorize useless "plug and chug" facts, what I do is outline in a Cornell style, so that not only does the outlining reinforce the consolidation of the material, I can use my outlines as flashcards later on, which encourages a "recall" type of knowledge rather than a "recognize", the latter being less preferable for exams.

 

[ClemsonFirst]

The names will come with repetition. Understanding how each thing acts/interacts in its environment always helped me. Just memorizing words on a page is tough for me, but relating it to concepts and visualizing it (I enjoy pictures and diagrams because I can have an image that the information can go with) seems to help.

Also, reading my notes aloud is a good way to hit multiple styles of learning. I always try to explain difficult concepts out even if only to myself because if I can explain how it works/what it is, etc., I understand the material enough to apply it to the application questions college level courses present.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Hey everyone I just have a general question for the way you guys study!

I'm here studying for a biology test coming up (106, about fungus and dumb mushrooms and all that good stuff) and there is so much info! I know you guys will say "yeah write it down, it will help" but that really doesn't help because every line on these slides are very important for our exam.

My question is, while you guys are reading slides and their useless information that you will never need in life, how do you memorize them? for example if you read one important line and you have to memorize it, do you guys read it really slowly? do you go back and read the line 3 to 4 times just reciting it in your head? Or do you read the line once then close your eyes and try to recite it without looking? or do you mentally write down the line (idk)

I just want to hear what you guys do! thank you!

If you really want to memorize something, I always say you need repetition spaced out over a few days. It's almost magical to me how I'll suddenly be able to recall things after sleeping on it once or twice.

I also make my own notecards but its really about writing out the notecards for me rather than actually using them. I probably only go through them once or twice after making them. Yes, my hand usually hurts after writing down entire sections of pharmacology. Oh well.

And yes if you can link things together into a pathway or something like that it really helps. I love physiology because I can logically link together what happens and why it happens. I also find that if I go over slides a few times, I can actually remember where something was on a slide (especially if it had a picture) and remember it that way. Just a few more tips.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Make up a song. It's stupid, but it's worked wonders for me in the past.