Learning Tips and Study Habits

• Omega 3 oil capsules help improve the memory and eating oil rich fish such as salmon and tuna also help. Remember to drink the minimum of 8 glasses of water a day. Your brain is nearly all water and needs proper hydration to work properly.

• Along with nutrition, you need to understand how your memory works. Your mind isn't built to remember abstract information, it is built to deal with images, feelings, sounds, smells, etc... There are great systems that can teach you to turn information into images, which are easy to memorize and retain. You can remember anything, with the right skill and training.
• Great memory is a skill that can be developed with training. You can take a memory improvement course that not only teaches memorization techniques, but also focuses on developing the skills necessary to memorize quickly and efficiently.

• There are a myriad of helps available to better utilize your memory, both in general, and in specific applications. Mnemonic devices can be used to remember anything from names and phone numbers to foreign words, mathematical formulas, and complex terminology.
• When you have something you need to remember, try linking it to something familiar:

• If you meet someone named Jack, you could imagine him tumbling down a hill with Jill.

• If you need to learn the Spanish word for dog, you could imagine a pair o'(pair of) dogs playing cards. (Perro)

• If you need to remember SOH CAH TOA for trigonometry, you can think of 'Some Old Hippie Caught A High Tripping On Acid', or think of Sohcahtoa, Sacajawea's grand-daughter.

• You can search for 'mnemonic devices' or 'mnemonic aids/helps/tips' along with your area of study to find help. You can also seek a training program for improving your memory.

• Nutrition and physical health are also very important to healthy brain function. Make sure you stay hydrated, eat healthy foods, and get proper rest and exercise.

• Avoid excess stress. The gluco-corticoids produced by your body under stress can stimulate your memory for exams and tests, but prolonged exposure can cause damage and aging to your hippocampus, and other areas of your brain/body.

• Get enough sleep. Starting and ending your day right is also very helpful - that you get by sleeping properly. If you have sleeping problems, try gadgets to help you sleep, do not take prescription drugs.

• Memory is like a muscle that can be trained to become stronger. Just like you do physical training at the gym, you can do mental gymnastics with crosswords puzzles, mental games, etc. You need to also augment this with a good diet and other healthy habits such as regular exercise, managing stress and a good night's sleep!

Note-taking is needed for class lectures. You can use a variety of methods, but you should choose a method that works for you. Notes are not just scribbling down words. Notes should capture enough of the lecture statements to help you study. You can use stars beside important points, or underline or circle them. You can draw arrows between important points, or to replace words like "leads to".

Notes should never try to copy the speaker's full sentences. Capture just the main words and put the rest into your own words, with enough detail that helps you remember the point.

The best way to improve your knowledge is to study hard. Other ways are:

• Read (non-fiction) about many different things, not only the things that interest you. Include any and every branch of science.

• Pick up a current World Almanac at the bookstore. There are several different ones but they contain basically the same material. They are jam-packed with interesting, useful and 'general' information.

  • Here's a challenge: Get one of the World Almanacs and thumb through the pages summarizing all the nations of the world. Count how many official world nations there are that you have never heard of. You don't think there are any? You are in for a surprise. Challenge part B: Is Holland the name of one of the world's nations?

• Listen to or watch a news program regularly. The BBC programs are particularly good, because they focus on main events world-wide, and not just local or sensational news that most of the time doesn't provide a lot of substance.

• Develop an interest in national and local politics to the degree that you can.

• Have some hobbies, including some kind of art if you don't already have that. Why? It will help develop some thinking skills to add to your mental arsenal. You may not see this now, but this is part of the general knowledge you seek, right?

• Use the internet to research topics that interest you, but always take a questioning and skeptical attitude regarding anything you learn on-line. Skeptical is good. Cynical is not so good.

• Questioning is not bad; it is particularly good. If you are in school, develop the habit of asking your teachers questions. This will be uplifting to them, you will gain knowledge, and not the least important, you will gain points with your teachers.

• Be curious about everything.

• If you are serious about wanting to have general knowledge, you will have to be (or get) comfortable with ambiguity and contradiction. Lots of ambiguity and contradiction. Don't fear this; it's just the way the world is.

• The bottom line (or in this case the penultimate line) is that having 'general knowledge' is a frame of mind, not something you attain by following a list of directions.

• And please, don't forget to have lots of fun, enjoy your friends and do some things (legal and safe) just because you enjoy doing them.

This can be tricky. Are you in over your head? Are you working beyond your

skill set? What I'm trying to determine here is, do you know what you're doing?

Or, are you hopelessly lost?

If you know what you're doing, good! It sounds like your boss has developed a

trust in you and has given you your head. OR, your boss just doesn't give a damn.

In either case, all you can do is your best. Try to see the big picture. Know what steps

need to be taken in what order to accomplish a given task. That will help you prioritize.

Know why you do the things you do and why you do them in a certain order. If you are

called upon to explain someday, you should be able to come up with a good answer.

This reminds me of the old Marx Brothers movie "A Night At The Opera" and the bit about

the tax (tacks)

Minister: "We need to take up the tax"

Groucho: "I'd like to take up the carpet."

Minister: "I still insist we take up the tax."

Groucho: "He's right - you've gotta take up the

tacks before you can take up the carpet."

"Test-taking skills" refers to the ability of a good student to read over a test and understand how all the basic questions are alike from one test to another. This is an important skill because if you know what to expect, you know how to work out the answer.

For example, if you know that in a multiple choice question, there is almost always one answer which is totally wrong and can be crossed out immediately, you can instantly narrow down your choices. If you know that, if you see "all of the above" as an answer choice, finding even one false answer will make that the wrong choice, you are ahead of the game.
To help you demonstrate what you know during assessments

Also so you don't freak out during the test, know how to prepare, study, and take the test to get the best score possible out of your efforts!

1. Read Over It Once Without Looking At The Paper.

2. While Your Reading, If You Pause Or Try To Remeber Whats Next, Write It On A Piece Of Paper Or Type It On Your Computer.

3. Go Over The Parts You Wrote or Typed.

4. Go Over It Until You Get To The Point Where You Don't Even Need The Paper Your Notes Are On That You Forgot Before.

5. Have A Good Time On Whatever You Memorized!

~It May Not Be The Fastest Way. But You'll Get It Memorized~

~.....EASIER WAY...IF YOU CAN HAVE NOTES.....~

~If You Don't Have Enough Time To Read Over YOUR Notes, Print Out Your Paper, So You Can Use It For Notes Later.~

Some people use notes. This can be in the form of Powerpoint, if there is a projector, or just headings on a set of small pages hidden in your hand.

Practise. Try to give the speech at home, in front of a mirror or to a relative or friend.

Have a look at the related question about stage fright. Stage fright can cause a speaker to forget material, but stage fright can be overcome.

Fun tip: Hold something small in your hand like a toy. It will be kind of like an inside joke and it will keep you calm. Also you kind of focus on it and you will forget about any audience you might have.