UED102, 5th Class, Part 5: Memory, Learning and Improving Concentration

 

        Hi guysssss! How's everything? Thank you so much for being loyal to this website 😂 So, it was my fifth class for Study Skills. As soon as Miss Shamsinar entered the class, the class went silent as per usual. Without further ado, here’s the fifth class for UED 102, entitled Memory, Learning and Improving Concentration.

          

          According to Miss Shamsinar, this subject is all about study strategies that we may or may not have practise it in the past. Either you are doing good or not in your study, there are a few ways to improve our memory when we have learn something. It is known as The Pyramid of Learning.

          In the picture above, there are two methods of learning which are passive and participatory. Under these two methods are some ways that we usually use when we are studying. But little did we know that by using participatory method, we are learning more than the passive method? I surely learnt something new where it is important to participate in learning stuffs.

          Next, we learnt about brain and memory; the difference of these two. Of course, brain and memory are two different things. One is visible and one is not. Brain is tangible and memory is not. Brain is also in a physical state while memory is a mental state.

          Among these two things, there is this thing called learning. Unlike memory, learning is not about storing informations. It is more to a behaviour, an act. It may or may not be forced. In other words, learning is a process while memory is to record the process.

          Furthermore, Miss Shamsinar shared about an analogy between a computer and a human. It was said that the CPU is the brain while the computer screen or the printer is the output devices that you want to show to the world. Seems legit right?

          Moving on, the next subtopic is the difference between output and outcome. It sounds similar yet so different. How come it is different? Well, output is something that you achieve promptly while outcome is something that you did not achieve immediately but it stays forever. Still don't get the idea?

          For example, if a student studies a subject with the plan to get an A in exams, therefore they will achieve it. However, if a student studies consistently, they might not get the best result in exams but the knowledge will stay forever in their brain. At the end of the day, they will succeed in life because they have the knowledge that can be useful some day in the future.

          Then, we did an activity together. The first activity test on both sides of the brain. This activity made the whole class went crazy as it required us to pronounce the word instead of pronouncing the colour of the word. Take a look:

          Another activity was to test our memory. How good is your memory? We were given some words that were pretty much different and didn't relate to one another for us to memorize it. After some time given, we were then had to write down as much words as we remembered in the right order. Out of those 13 words, I managed to score a total of 9 out of 13 words 😭😭😭.

          That may not be good but we were then being taught on how forgetting can occur. I mean, we were given ample time to memorize the words and there were only 13 words but none of us in the class actually scored full marks.

          Forgetting occurs when we did not pay attention. I guess all of us were blinded with the fact that we had to memorize all 13 words that were so different with one another. Or maybe cramming happens, whereby it will happen when you try to absorb everything at the same time.

          Forgetting also happens when you did not understand about something. Especially during classes, it is vital to understand some topics before memorizing it. However, you must also have a good strategy in memorizing or studying for a test. Talking about test, some of us may have forgotten what they have read before taking the test. This is called as test anxiety as it will make you forget about some particular things.

          The next question was, how do you encounter your forgetful self? As a student, we should practise some good memory strategies. The students should know that space practice is better than massed practise. Space practice is having a break or a rest in between study sessions. This will help the brain to relax and digest the informations that it has retrieved.

          Secondly is to do rehearsal; lots and lots of rehearsal. We shall repeat the words that we want to memorize in order for them to stick in our memory. To have it stays forever, make sure to read them again even after your examination ended. Besides, acronyms also may help you to memorize some stuffs. Incase if you have a few points that is important to be remembered, try using acronyms!

          Lastly, if you are creative and have a lot of free time, you can the organizational strategy. You can create a mind map or a chart, or even draw anything that is in sync with the topic. This way, it can help you to remember it better as you have prepared your own notes that are not boring like the textbook.

          Lastly, concentration. According to Mr Google, concentration is the action or power of focusing all one's attention. One can improve their concentration by having 'attention breaks' (similar to space practice), play memory games, adjust time frames and also break tasks into pieces. Other than that, you can also remove any distractions that can make you feel distracted from what you are doing at the moment.

          I guess I have talked about literally everything that is need to be talked. That's all for this post!