If you have ever worked hard to substantially improve your ability to assimilate knowledge – understand and retain critical info – you may have created the erroneous belief that you’ve reached your potential.
Perhaps this understanding is founded by a lower than expected score in a class or perhaps even more dreadful – less than expected grade. surprisingly the brain is capable of processing and remembering vast measures of content, however when it comes to retaining the names of important people or perhaps definitions we feel may helpless.
Whatever your learning target goals, your ability to learn and process information will NOT improve on account of this article. Why? Because your ability to learn and processing faculties are already in best shape ever….you only haven’t been doing it the right way! This short piece will demonstreate how you can better utilize your learning abilities to reach your very best potential.
The steps talked about in this article can help you meliorate on almost any course you are now taking, including: Biology, Anatomy, language skills (French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, etc), Math, Physics!
Easy Steps
The method to change your ability to utilize your learning abilities comprise three “Big” steps. They are big steps because contrary to what many noncredible learning improvement systems, they must be carefully developed and practiced. Of course mere knowledge of the processes can vastly improve your ability to learn right away, but in order for it to be habit and used in all future attempts at education, you need to study on a regular basis.
BIG STEP #1: STUDYING TO READ
Step #1 in the learning improvement paradigm is to learn how to read both effectively and faster. I can guess what you’re thinking – if I learn to read a lot faster then my ability to remember the information declines. In reality, as counterintuitive as it is, improving your ability to process written information is a direct outcome of your ability to read effectively. Reading effectively means reading in a way that the info goes into your cerebrum in an efficient way and in a fashion that permits you to recall details and remember data. This in turn necessitates that you remember written info visually (not audibly the way most of us were taught in school). Visual reading allows for greater capacity to read faster (up to 5 times and higher). It also has the desired consequence of entering the region of the brain that processes information more effectively.
If you read a article in an audible manner – you have to see the information, read it (sub-audible – which means you “hear” the words in your head) then you must process the information. For lots of people, processing information sub-audibly may result in your brain merely saying the words and not grasping on the content. Hence the reason why sub-audible readers often have to back track and re-read text – sometimes often.
To read visually your brain scans the information and the material is immediately processed. For example when you read the the words “The dog ran across the street.” For a visual reader – the image of the dog running across the street is processed.
For more information related on how to learn to read visually please visit www.howtolearn.ca. If you are just learning to read visually (also referred to as speed reading), the method can have you quickly reading up to double your usual speed. However to become an effective reader you should target to read up to 10 times quicker.
Big Step #2: Learning to Memorize
The next big step in the learning triangle is to improve your memory. You most probably have heard of the memorizing genius who learned a complete telephone book by heart. Well it isn’t far fetch and guess what – YOU CAN DO IT TOO! Your mental capacity has the capacity to memorize enormous magnitudes of info. Furthermore, you can also remember the data easy and with confidence. It only requires that you know the methodology in order to do so.
Link System
The link system is comprised of a method where you take each element of your “list” and link it to the next. For instance if you were memorizing the following grocery list:
Eggs
Flour
Milk
Butter
Saran Wrap
Peanut butter
Ice Cream
Light bulbs
You can try to learn the list using the rote system (method that comes naturally to us). However, doing so will no doubt result in you overlooking parts of the list (or at least most of the items by the time you get to the grocery store. Alternatively when utilizing the link system you will recall the following short “story”. A bunch of eggs walk into a field and pick up flowers (flour) then they walk over to a cow and sell the flowers for a cup of milk. They go to drink it but it tastes like butter. Angry that they were fooled they take the butter and toss it into a garbage can that looks like a saran wrap box. When they open the lid of the box a gallon of ice cream comes jumping out and runs off into the distance. As the ice cream runs the sun goes down and in darkness the tub of ice cream turns on a light bulb.
If you did the exercise as directed the mental imagery that this story elicits will allow you to easily recollect the list of items. As a matter of fact the list can be retrieved for much longer than you would otherwise expect to utilize it (if it were merely a shopping list).
The question most often asked is “how long could such a list be?” The answer is infinite! You can produce your list as long as you wish. Don’t believe me? Try this drill. Create a list of 100 item and try using the method above by linking each article to each other using a story. The incredible thing is not only will you learn the list but also in the order in which the items appear!
Loci System
The other memory technique requires that you employ a place or location (loci) that you are thoroughly familiar with. For example nearly all of us know the whereabouts of different rooms and articles (furniture, pictures, etc) around our home. When utilizing the loci system you post (mentally/visually) each element of your list in the location. To recall the information you can merely take a “walk” around your house.
Utilization of both methods can help you master a subject by setting a list of facts/information (linked together) at each place in your loci map. Using this will allow you to remember info for an unlimited number of items.
Big Step #3: Learning Maps
The learning map is a rarely used but incredibly potent system for learning information. It is particularly useful in a classroom environment where a teacher or professor is disseminating data on an issue.
For most of us we have learned to write down the subject of a particular lesson and then add the specifics below with information related to the topic or subtopic. A learning map isn’t a linear system but rather a visual tool. It begins with a topic. The topic is written (in the center of a page) circled and each subtopic is written around the topic – circular to the topic. A line connects the topic and subtopic. From the subtopic points and facts are written out similarly and connected via lines to the sub topic. This tool allows you to get a “big picture” of the topic it is that you are learning and it also allows you to gain apprehension on how the system works together as a whole.
When you take the time to learn a subject (either classroom or while reading a book) ensure you have a something to write with and paper ready and construct learning maps to aid you on your subject. Then utilizing the retentive techniques above spend time actively memorizing your topic.
The Big Picture
Effective learning really comes when you can employ all three techniques in concert. A synergy sets out to take place when you can read through a book quickly, extract the info (down on a memory map) and then memorize the data. You will notice that a system such as this one will vastly improve your current learning method. For further info on the rudiments of this and other learning systems, please visit www.howtolearn.ca.
Readers that are looking for information about the topic of weight loss, then please make sure to visit the link which was mentioned in this line.
Leave a Reply