A Student's Memory

For most classes, the tests are memorization by definition. There are many different ways that students memorize information, depending on their learning preferences. I am a kinesthetic and visual learner. For the majority of my classes, the information is definition and terms. To study, I use flashcards and work with a partner. These flashcards allow me to memorize the information by seeing one side of the card, and then learning the definition on the back. Even by reading the flashcard to my study partner helps me remember it due to the repetition. After learning the definitions, I usually try to think of an easier that helps me remember this. This is usually by an image, or some type of acronym.

One of the strategies I used for memorizing was the Link System. The Link system is when you take a word or concept, and find something that this word sounds or looks like, and also create an absurd picture. Being a kinesthetic and visual learner, this helps me see the image or think of an acronym to memorize it easier. For my CFS 388 class (Human Sexuality), I used an acronym to help me the steps in a relationship. The steps were; Attraction, Building, Continuation, Deterioration, and Ending (ABCDEs). The acronym I made for the five steps was: A Brown Cow Drove Elephants. This helps me remember the first letter for each part of a relationship. When I took the test, I thought about that phrase and how I connected it to the five steps. I also used this in my American history class for the midterm when having to memorize many of the Presidents. I linked the different presidents and people to important things that they accomplished during their time period. The phrases helped me when it came to test time because I would recite them when looking at the person's name.

Another technique I used was Visualization. Visualization is when you write down the information you need to learn, and then draw an unusual image to remember it. This technique is perfect for me because I am able to see the the definition through a picture. When thinking about this picture on the test, I can make a definition out of it. For my Human sexuality test, I used a picture to describe the definition of the Feminist theory. I drew about 6 stick figure men and one woman to tell me that the definition is the acceptance of the male as the norm. I also used Visualization for my Earth Science class by drawing the directions of the rock faults. Remembering the directions of the arrows helped me figure out which type of fault it was.

Both of these techniques helped me learn because they allowed me to visualize the definition or think of the definition as a funny term. Memory is a key part in doing well on tests and quizzes, and using images allows me to remember more information while studying. They are the most beneficial techniques to use due to me being a Kinesthetic and Visual learner.

Memory

This week's tech assignment was based on memory strategies. For HOA 106, there is a lot to memorize such as dates, words, artists' names and their artworks. I decided to use two memory strategies for this course and these two memory strategies were Visualization and the Link System. Being a visual learner, I need to see images that would remind me of certain words that I do not know. Therefore I figured that Visualization and Link would be great strategies to help me study for HOA 106.

For Visualization, I had to create an unusual image which I could recall when the artist and his artwork appeared. Because the title of an artwork seemed to tell a lot, I just decided to draw an image that was based on the title.For example, for Jacques-Louis David's Napoleon Crossing the Alps, I drew mountains to represent the Alps. When I see mountains on the next exam, I will know that it refers to David's artwork. This strategy is helpful because by drawing unusual images, I will know it refers to something for the class. Because the images are very unusual,recalling is a easy process.

Link System is another strategy I used. For words I need to remember, I find words that sound similar to each word and then draw a picture that will help me remember each word. This strategy is helpful because when I see a word on the test, I will be able to think back of the rhyming words I thought of and relate it to that word.

Because HOA 106 is a lecture-dependent class, I used the lecture slides to help me go through these strategies. Constantly looking at each slide and trying to create an image related to each slide has helped me memorize the artists' and their artworks. Next week I have an exam for this course. I hope that during the exam, I will be able to remember and recall back to these creative images I have created.

[MEMORY] LINK and ACRONYMS

Because English is my second language, memory to me is more required for every class work as SU even math. When I had anything to memorize, I used to writing the words or sentences about 30 times, which didn't work for me that much since it took so much time if there was a lot. I disliked memorizing, and this behavior made me weak at history and science. On the other hands, I was quite confident in mate because it usually requires calculating rather than memorizing. However, Statistics is different from other math classes. It has a lot of new terms to cover, and I need to understand the questions and concepts before to calculate. Then, I had to find new strategies to do well in my statistics class. This made me chooose Link and Acronyms strategies for the class, MAT 121.

Link system is what we covered in the lecture few days ago. I could be experiencing it due to the assignment, and I'm satisfied with this strategy. As it is named "Link", it is to use a word that is linked an image that it looks like or sounds like. To apply LINK strategy for my statistics class, I, first, selected the words that I needed to remember. The words were discrete random variable, variance, and binomial probability distribution for one section of the chapter. I already know random variable for discrete random variable and probability distribution for binomial probability distribution so that I only needed to remember discrete, variance, and binomial. Second, I created a word that could be pictured that sounded like the abstract word. For example, I did as "Variance" sounds like "Various. For "Discrete", it sounds like "Separate, and, for "Binomial", it sounds like "Bicycle". Lastly, I visualized a somewhat meaningless picture, but it is related and interesting the images. For instance, for discrete, what I did is that the kids sleep in serapate rooms. Additionally, for variance, I did it as various characteristics of people sometimes bring disagreements. Finally, for binomial, I did it as every bicycle has two wheels. The sentences sounded little silly, but they were fun and appealing.

Acronyms are what I selected among the memory strategies since it sounded fascinating to use. They are words created by using the first letters from each item to create a new word. To apply Acronyms strategy for my statistics class, I, first, put the words that I needed to learn in the box as shown the picture below. They were discrete, variance, and binomial, and, for this part, you might notice that I used the same words as I did for Link strategy. Yes, I meant to do this, for I wanted to compare and contrast the two strategies to use same words. After listing the terms that I wanted to remember, I underlined the first letter in each word. For example, for discrete, I decided to use new words from countries names or directions such as North, South, East, and West. I listed words like Europe, Iraq, Chili, East, South, Denmark, Russia, and Turkey, and then underlined them only for the first letter of each word as shown the picture below. Lastly, I arranged the letters in an order that created a word. For example, I put the letters in an order like Denmark, Iraq, South, Chili, Russia, East, Turkey, and Europe to make the word, DISCRETE. To see more easily, I prefer to write them in a vertical arrangement as

Denmark,

Iraq,

South,

Chili,

Russia,

East,

Turkey, and

Europe.

To sum up, the effectiveness of LINK is that it makes me feel that memory is a fun thing to do! I liked the idea to make a sentence that can be pictured for the word. Link system gives me a lesson that memory is not anymore to avoid, but to have fun. Because of LINK, I could save my time from writing the 30 times or any methods I used before. This strategy was also good to create flash cards! I am a kinesthetic learner so that I need something to carry to remember. This was perfect to make the cards as I wrote the term on the blank side, and then wrote the sounds like and the sentences of the creative images on the lined side. I, sometimes, laughed because of my silly sentences, but they attracted me to see them often, which made me remember fast. I could get familiar with the terms both before and after making sentences because I should think of how to make the sentences and I liked the somewhat absurd sentences. The reason why I chose this is that I actually had a chance to be experiencing for the assignment from the CLS class. I also liked the concept of doing this one since I can make flash cards easily from this strategy. I thought I could use this one wise and useful, and actually it was! This strategy works for me a lot!:) The effectiveness of Acronyms is that it makes me think enough about the terms! I thought I could use it very beneficial to remember all the words. The steps of this one required me think and arrange them in an order. Unfortunately, it didn't shorten my time, though. I took longer that what I thought. I should select one specific topic to make new words for the term since it would be harder to remember if I used more than two topics. Even if I used one topic, it was difficult to memorize all of the new words. Personally, I don't want to recommend this strategy to anyone because it took more time and it required me to memorize the new words plus the term. The reason why I chose this is that I thought it was fascinating to use. Relating new words for the first letter sounded great to me. However, when I actually used this one, it didn't work for me that much. It also didn't help me as a kinesthetic learner since making flash cards or carry-on-item was not useful for this strategy.

For my statistics class, MAT 121, I am happy that I already covered all of the words that I didn't know before through this memory chapter, which is grateful for the strategies that I used this week. In my personal opinion, I prefer Link system rather than Acronyms. The reasons for this are that Statistics has a lot of new terms for each section so that I need to try shorten my time to use and I can use flash cards wisely throughout this strategy. Keep up with LINK!

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TART for MAT 121 and ILL 265

Reading is very problematic for me. I used to hate reading the most in my academic parts. I am not persistent so I can’t continue until the last page of the assigned pages. I used to put off reading my textbooks, and I never get me motivated to do. Because of my behavior, it takes too much time to finish. I realize all the time that I need self-discipline when I read. When I looked through the reading chapter of “It’s All About Choices”, I liked TART strategy the most since it sounded it would be the most suitable for my classes. So, I decided to use the strategy for my illustration class, ILL 265 and my statistics class, MAT 121.


ILL 265 is a lecture-dependent course. I need to focus on the lecture every single time to jot down important information. Sometimes, I couldn’t follow the lectures since I didn’t preview what I was going to learn. To apply TART strategy for my illustration class, I, first, read the list of illustrators’ names on the first page of the chapter and then read through the second page, the summary of what they did in the decade 1950-1960. It was useful to skim through the text, for it provides the summary of it. Second, I created abbreviations for the illustrators’ names. For instance, J.A. stands for James S. Avati, McC. C. stands for McCauley Conner, R.L. stands for Robert Lavin, and etc. Third, I attended the lecture and listened for the technical terminology used in the textbook and by my professor. It was easier to jot down notes since I used abbreviations, and this was quite interesting that I didn’t miss any information during the lecture. I felt some kind of proud of myself. I reread my lecture notes before reading the textbook. Fourth, I read the whole chapter to clarify all the information that was covered in the lecture. When I read the chapter, I didn’t get distracted by anything since all of the information was already familiar through my lecture notes. Lastly, I created test questions and answered them. For example, one of my questions was as who had sold his/her first illustration to Argosy magazine. So, I answered Isa Barnett, which is correct!

MAT 121 is also a lecture-dependent course. To get good grades on any test, quiz, or exam, I have to attend the lecture to write notes. The professor always provided very organized and neat notes in the lecture, so it was not hard to follow him. However, since I start learning chapter 5, I didn’t follow him as much as I did before. The new chapter was harder than what I covered before in the class, so, to keep up my work, I had to put more efforts on it. I decided to use TART strategy to my statistics class. First, I read the terms and definitions on the first page of the chapter. The key concepts were in bold print or in italic print, which was attracting my attention. Second, I created abbreviations such as random variable for R.V., and probability distribution for Prob. Dis., which would be frequently used in the lecture. Third, I attended the lecture and listened for the technical terminology used in the text and by my professor. The abbreviations that I created shortened the time to write my notes, so I could more focus on what my professor discussed. Fourth, I reread my lecture notes before reading the textbook, and I felt I already knew all the material. Fifth, I read the textbook to clarify all of the information that was covered in the lecture. The interesting thing was that I felt I was like a sponge which absorbs all the information! This was the first time that I felt I liked reading. Lastly, I created test questions and answered them. For example, one question was as identify Discrete and Continuous Random Variables. I answered Discrete for the number of people now watching TV in the countryside, which is correct!

To sum up, the effectiveness of TART strategy is that it makes me feel that reading is not difficult, but it is interesting! TART gives me a lesson that Reading can be easy and fun. Because of TART, I could focus in the lecture and shorten the time to jot down since I created abbreviations. I missed important information before using it, for it took time to jot down every single information, and I should only listen to take notes since my professor doesn’t provide written notes, but only discussing and speaking. I also get familiar with the terms both before and after class. Because I already read the key concepts before the class, it helped motivate me to listen! After class, when I read the chapter to clarify, I felt I was improving my reading skills. Creating questions also made me review the material, which was good to go. In the lecture for ILL 265, I always felt I needed more time to jot down notes, but not anymore! I can take notes faster since I use abbreviations. For MAT 121, I only focused on taking notes, so I sometimes didn’t understand the concepts, but now I spare my time to more focus on my professor rather than only taking notes! The reason why I chose is TART is for lecture dependent courses. ILL 265 and MAT 121 both are lecture dependent classes, so I thought this strategy would be well suited for, and the result told me that TART was perfect! Before using TART, I struggled to find the time and to do the reading. What I did the first was to check to see how long the chapter is. I had difficulty knowing what is important in the text, recognizing the main ideas and the important details, maintaining concentration while reading, and remembering the information after reading. ILL 265 has a heavy reading workload, and MAT 121 requires understanding of key concepts. I used to be distracted by thinking about which show programs I was going to see. I was not persistent so I used to give up reading all of the pages at once. However, after using TART, I know how I should keep up my behavior and what should I do for next time! This is the first time that I felt interesting to read. Thank you, TART!


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Reading

There are many different ways to receive information for your classes these days. You can attend lectures and take notes, or look something up on the internet that you don’t understand. Many classes that I take this year require reading the textbook to get the majority of the material. For some, including myself, reading is very boring. I normally find myself drifting off, and forgetting everything that I had just read. I cannot find myself to focus on a chapter as a whole. A strategy I have used to help me complete reading a chapter, while retaining the information, is the 10-minute technique. Honestly, people should use this technique because I know it is hard for many to sit there and read and concentrate for more than thirty minutes. If they could break that down into smaller sections and focus for shorter periods of time, they would be able to remember everything they read.

There are other techniques I use during reading to help me remember the information more efficiently. Using TART is probably one of the best ways I use to retain the material for my classes. Because I am a Kinesthetic learner TART allows me to write out questions and see certain notes from the class in a variety of ways. “T” stands for terms. In this section, I go through the chapter and read the terms and definitions that are in bold print. This step occurs before class, and helps me because I already know most of the information that is covered in class. “A” stands for attend lecture. After taking notes during the lecture, I reread the lecture notes before reading the textbook. “R” stands for reading the chapter, which clarifies information that was covered in lecture. “T” stands for create test questions. After reading the chapter, I create test questions from the chapter and try to answer them to see if I know the information. This technique is beneficial to my learning style and reiterates the material multiple times.

Another strategy that I use is flash card reading. This strategy helps me because being a kinesthetic learner, I always study for exams by using flashcards. In this technique, I first skim the chapter to see where the majority of the information is. Then, I read those sections, making flashcards, section by section. This technique benefits me because it allows me to make flashcards in advance, and therefore study for the test at an earlier date. Reading has always been an issue for me, but after using these techniques, it has made it easier to retain the information and overall has made me a better student.

Reading Strategy

Reading assignments are very important for the courses I take. But last semester I completed my readings the night before my exams. This obviously didn't work out. I decided to use some of the reading strategies that I have learned in CLS. Reading the textbook can be boring. However, the textbook does help me get a better understanding of the materials that were covered during the lectures. I used the strategies called TART and NSAS: No Salt and Sauce to guide me through my reading assignments.

TART works well for lecture-dependent classes. Because MAT 183 is a lecture-dependent course, TART was helpful. Before my lecture I wrote down a list of terms that appeared in the textbook. At the lecture, I looked for these terms and all those terms were mentioned in class. My professor described each term thoroughly so that I could understand them. There were some terms I wasn't sure of. Therefore I went home and read through the chapter for clarification. After all this, I created test questions. Because I have taken an exam for this class before, I have a sense of what will appear on the next exam.

NSAS: No Salt and Sauce is another strategy I used for MAT 183. Before attending class, I looked through the lecture slides that were posted on blackboard. I wanted to get familiar with what was going to be taught. After attending the lecture, I created flash cards. I am used to creating flashcards because in high school I used to create flashcards for my classes and SAT prep school.

As a kinesthetic learner, I need to constantly rewrite my notes so that I could memorize them. I am also a bit of an auditory learner. I need to hear something constantly so that I could remember the materials for exams. Thus, I read my flashcards out loud. Even though my next MAT 183 exam is quite far away, I have already mastered most of the topics.

Plug-In Notes

Note-taking is one of the most essential skills to have in order to succeed in your classes. They give you a good percentage of the information needed to do well on tests, quizzes, and projects. This semester, we have learned about a few different ways to take notes. The most efficient way of taking notes for me would be Plug-In notes. I have started using this type of note-taking over the last week and it has been very efficient for me so far. There is a few steps to using Plug-In notes. For most of my classes, I write my notes by hand. With plug in notes, you are suppose to write the notes on the right hand side of the page, leaving room for yourself to make questions and insert drawings to explain and understand the concepts easier.

For my MAT 121 class, I took all my notes on the right side of the paper, such as median, mean, mode, and all the box-plot information. On the left side, instead of using specific questions for each one, I created a series of numbers that were to be used to find all the information on the notes we took that class. The graphic that I inserted into my notes was creating my own box-plot, using these sets of numbers. I understood the concept of everything a lot easier after creating my own problem.

The Plug-In notes help me because I am able to visualize the information, while seeing examples of it also. The technique is divided into two sections, which makes it easier for me to learn it and see it clearer.

Plug-in notes

Last week, we learned different strategies for taking notes. Of the many strategies we learned, I decided to use Plug-in notes for my math class, MAT 183. I usually take notes in my notebook and I never look back at it until the days of exams approach. But this strategy gave me an opportunity to look through my notes. While I was typing my notes into my computer for this Tech assignment, I was able to review what wascovered in my math lecture and I even tried to learn the topics I was confused on. I wrote some definitions that was taught to us and someexamples for these definitions.

I used my textbook to help me learn these definitions and get an understanding of how to

answer problems related to what I have learned. Every Sunday, I have online assignments that are due. Usually I would have trouble answering more than half the questions. However, I got my benefits from using this strategy. Reviewing helped me know my materials and answer all the

questions online without any problem. At the end my Plug-in notes, I needed to anticipate exam questions. Having already taken an exam before for this class, I realized the exam questions were very similar to the Webassign homework. I took some questions from the site and used it as my "anticipated test questions." I also created some definition questions of my own because people can't solve math questions without knowing their math equations.

I am a kinesthetic learner. I need to constantly write and solve problems so that I know ways to approach the problems. For instance, Math is definitely a subject an individual can succeed in if he or she constantly solves problems. Therefore, I decided to answer some suggested problems in the textbook. Copying notes into my computer helps because it gives me a chance to memorize the materials as I constantly see my notes. I am willing to use this strategy for other courses because I know it will help me succeed academically.

1 Plus 3 Note-Taking Strategy

When I looked through the note taking chapter of the text, It's All About Choices, I was surprised there are a lot of methods to do. Especially, I really like 1 Plus 3 Note-Taking Method since it consists of all-in-one, and it looked also interesting to me. I decided to apply this method to my two math courses, MAT121 and MAT194. As shown below, that is how I have approached 1 plus 3 note-taking strategy.


For MAT121, I took notes as I always did. For format, I wrote my notes on one side of the notebook, and I used only the right-hand sheet. During class, I recorded take my notes as shown below of the picture. I used lists and bullets to see easily. After class, I reread my notes on the right page. On the opposite page of my notes, I divided the blank page into three sections. I drew a horizontal line about five inches up from the bottom. In the large section above the line, I drew a vertical line to the left of the middle. First, in section A, I wrote key terms. Then, in section B, I created a table to visually present the key terms, definitions, or examples. Lastly, in section C, I wrote test questions that I think my professor will ask. For instance, in section A, I wrote terms such as fundamental counting rule, counting the number of arrangements, factorial rule, counting permutations of different objects, and counting combinations. Then, in section B, I wrote definitions and examples in a table that I created. I did in order of terms, so I can see them easily and I don’t have to be confused. For example, for fundamental counting rule, I put a definition as if there are m outcomes for event A and n outcomes for B, then there are m*n outcomes, and I put an example such as 5 outcomes for A and 3 outcomes for B equals 5 times 3, which is 15. Finally, in section C, I created three questions that my professor may ask on test. For example, one of the questions that I created is as in how many different ways can one arrange the letters NWDOIW, and arrange these letters to form an English word.




For MAT194, I also took notes as I normally did and I preferred. For format, I wrote my notes on one side of the notebook, and I used only the right-hand sheet as I did for MAT121. During class, I recorded take my notes as shown below. I used lists and bullets in numbers to see easily. After class, I reread my notes on the right page like MAT121. On the opposite page of my notes, I divided the blank page into three sections as shown I plus 3 note-taking method directions. I drew a horizontal line about five inches up from the bottom. I the large section above the line, I drew a vertical line to the left of the middle. First, in section A, I wrote key terms. Then, in section B, I created a table to visually present the key terms, definitions, or examples. Finally, in section C, I wrote test questions that my professor may ask on test. For example, in section A, I wrote key terms such as logarithm, logarithmic and exponential functions are inverses, properties of the common logarithm, properties of the natural logarithm, justification of log(a*b) and log(a/b), justification of log(b^t), log(a+b), log(a-b), log(ab), log(a/b), and log(1/a). Then, in section B, I wrote definitions or examples in the table that I created to present visually. I did in order of terms as I did for MAT121, which prevents showing confusing. For instance, for logarithm, I wrote a definition as if x is a positive number, logx is the exponent of 10 that gives x, and I put an example such as y=logx then 10^y=x. Lastly, in section C, I created three questions that I think my professor will ask. For instance, one of the questions that I did is as rewrite the following statements using exponents instead of logs (a)log100=2 and (b)log0.01=-2.




To sum up, the effectiveness of 1 Plus 3 Note-Taking strategy is I can get valuable information in one page of my notes, and it is visually presented and very organized to see easily. I do three things in one time such as writing term, putting definitions and examples, and creating questions. Before I started this strategy, I recorded take notes during class, but never looked back after class. I only looked back when I had a quiz or test coming up soon. However, after I used this, I realize how important to reread my notes and summarize, for it makes me remind every single word. I also prefer 1 Plus 3 note taking method rather than my notes since it is way more organized and visualized. This strategy is very effective since it makes me memorize more, and it’s easy to see. It also looks like well-categorized book. The reason why I chose this strategy is when I first looked at this one, I felt it was very interesting and organized to try. As I stated as first, this strategy has all-in-one, which includes key terms, definitions, examples, and even questions. For MAT121 and MAT194, this strategy is perfect for me, who felt boring on my old notes, to use to study and present visually. I felt very proud and organized after I completed this strategy.


I feel satisfied with this strategy a lot, and I must keep up this one to be more successful to my classes! :) (http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/5722412/2/istockphoto_5722412-note-taking-student.jpg)