Memory Improving Tips?

[Plaidman]

Stupid plasma and white cells with the granulocytes and agranulocytes and the subpatrens of those. The proteins with albumins, globulins and fibrinogens.

Aye aye so much to learn in so short of time ><. Look, its for more overall learning experence as I'm going to be diving more and more into things, is there any tips for memorizing? I need it for school. I need to learn this stuff, and the above is just the tip of iceburg of all I need to learn from this chapter alone.

Also, anyone know where I can get microsoft wordpage? I thought I had it, but I have wordpad, which isn't going to work for the classes I need to type stuff up for.

[trailerparkmedic]

I swear by flashcards. I'll put a word on the front, definition on the back, or a question on front, answer on back, or picture on front and what I need to know about it (eg name) on the back. They're portable (especially if you can get away with 3x5 cards cut in half) and I've found that just making them helps a lot.

You're looking for Word, I'm assuming? If your school doesn't sell discounted copies (mine never have!), you can get the whole Office suite for $59. Google "the ultimate steal" for more info--you need to prove you're a student but it's a far cheaper price than I've found anywhere else.

You'll probably be able to use Microsoft Works if you just need to type papers for school. I found it on Amazon for $40. You don't get PowerPoint, though, so if you'll need that in the future, you might want to get Office.

[Andara Bledin]

Read out loud.

If you read to yourself (not out loud) you only trigger one portion of your memory system. If you read out loud, you triple the amount of memory dedicated to the information (the part you use for reading, the part you use for speech, and the part you use for hearing). This can go a long way to improving retention.

Also, repetition.

^-.-^

[Der Cute]

I've used singing before.

Notice, how you'll be able to sing along with a song you'd not heard in a long time? Reasons? Repetition, rhythm, sound & voice.

Use something like a marching band beat Left right left right.
Redblood cells are here to stay
Cuz we get 02 that way
Protiens lipids minerals too
It all gets moved thru you

Plasma plasma we just know
that you're needed for us to grow
Kidney function we agree
cleans the blood and makes us pee

Stuff like that.

Cutenoob

[Cazzi]

For free there's Open Office http://www.openoffice.org/

& not only free but you can save & open documents in MS word formats too :)

[ottid]

On the Microsoft front, if you are buying '07, they are at the poin of giving you '10 free when it omes out too :) And I just bought my Ultimate Steal, haven't installed yet, I don't know if I want to be dealing with a new version of Word during my first teachign practicum! I look at it on the uni computrs and shudder.

[Andara Bledin]

Oh, and also mnemonics.

If you can find ways of differentiating things that are similar to keep their differences clear in your head, that will create more connections in your mind to keep things straight.

As an example, take cave formations. You have stalactites and stalagmites. One hangs from the ceiling and one is attached to the ground. The common mnemonic to remember which is which is that the first has a 'c' for "ceiling" and the second has a 'g' for "ground."

You can do this sort of thing for pretty much anything. I often have to come up with mnemonics to remember names.

^-.-^

[ottid]

Oh yea, memory. Have you worked out what your strongest learning style is? You can take a VARK (Visual, Aural, Read/write and Kinesthetic test here (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp). I will say that I fall under more than one category, but if you fall more under one than any other, ther may be some specific things you can piack up. As a student teacher I'm meant to encourage you to use all ways of learning though... :)

[JustaCashier]

My VARK score:

Visual: 3
Aural: 5
Read/Write: 9
Kinesthetic: 10


Mike

[NorthernZel]

I'd go with association and/or songs/rhymes.

Most often, when I have to memorize something, I try to make a rhyme or linking it to something I saw on the telly or heard on the radio.

[Magpie]

Re-write stuff. Just like reading it outloud helps by using a different part of your brain, so does writing things out.

It's similar how to when you actually bother to write something down you end up remembering it anyhow.

[ottid]

Oh, I like that on Magpie, don't just copy the notes, write them in your own words (as long as you don't need to quote them)

[Magpie]

I actually had an instructor explain that his course wasn't like math. In math you could just memorize what was inside the blue boxes. His course, you should be taking the notes you made all term (which were, of course, a condensed form of his lectures) and condensing them down. Then take those notes and condense them down again. And so on and so forth. It's a bit risky if you don't understand things well enough to know what to drop, and it really works best in liberal arts courses (this was a non-tech elective), but it does make sense. It forces you to THINK about what you're copying each time.