Teach me how to M-e-m-o-r-i-z-e

Do you have a difficult time remembering information for class? I know I do. It can be very stressful for college students to remember information for courses which can make studying for exams more hectic than it has to be. Many students memorize information by saying information over and over until they can understand it which is a very ineffective strategy. On Thursday I have my second exam in CHE 116 that covers three chapters of challenging information. To prepare for this exam I tried two different memory strategies.

I used Acronyms and Rhymes to help memorize information for my chemistry exam. Before I used these strategies I would struggle with remembering information which would leave me anxious and unprepared on exams days. Like other students I would continue using the same strategies every week which was repeating information continuously until I knew it even though I knew this was not a useful way to learn. I am glad that I stepped outside of my box this week and tried new methods for memorizing information.

The first strategy I used was Acronyms. This method was very easy for me to use. An acronym is created by using the first letter of a series of terms. I made a table for this strategy by writing information I need to learn on the left side and on the write side I wrote the Acronym I created. Then after I had done this I listed all of the terms that I needed to remember then I underlined the first letter of these words and lastly I arranged the letters in an order that created a word as you can see below in my picture.

ACRONYM for CHE 116

I had never before considered using Acronyms to learn information especially in a class like chemistry. I liked this strategy alot. It really worked well for me. I noticed that after I used this method I was beginning to remember information more quickly than I had previously. I plan on continuing to use this strategy for my next CHE 116 exam and my CHE 116 final since it was helpful when studying for this exam. I also liked this strategy because I am a linear learner so I need to see things presented in an organized way. Acronyms organized the information that I needed to know in a way that made it easy for me to understand compared to just repeating the information over to myself. Furthermore the information was written out so it made it easier for me to visualize a word as opposed to terms which worked well for me because I am also a visual learner.

The second memory strategy I used was a Rhyme. I used this method by using the same format that I did for Acronym by making a table that had information I need to learn on one side and my rhyme on the other side. After you have put the information that you need to learn in the box you then create your own rhyme so that you can better recall the information.

CHE 116 RHYME

I did not like the Rhyme method for several different reasons. The first reason is I had a very difficult time making a rhyme which wasted alot of my time. I do not think the amount of time that I spent making this rhyme was worth it. I had a hard time remember the rhyme I created too which kind of defeats the purpose of the strategy. I will probably not use this strategy again because I did not find it effective because it did not help me learn the information that I need to know for chemistry. I think this strategy would be better suited for language based classes that are more vocabulary based compared to course like chemistry that are not term based. I also feel like this strategy would work better for audio learners because they learn by hearing information whereas I am a visual learner so I need to see information.

Although I did not like using a rhyme as a memory device I would still recommend this as a strategy for other students because every student learns differently. I am glad that I tried both the Acronym and Rhyme to recall information because these two strategies taught me alot about myself as a learner and helped me to further learn what works for me. In addition this strategies helped me to step outside of my comfort zone and try new things that were less time consuming than the strategies that I had been previously using. Just be open to trying new strategies and the world is your oyster. Good luck remember information for exams. :)