Secrets for Surviving College: How to Improve Your Grades Learning Styles the particular way in which a person

takes in information Types of Learning Styles Visual learners-people who learn best by seeing, reading, and looking at images Auditory learners-people who learn best by hearing and saying out loud Tactile learners-people who need to touch objects in order to learn about them Kinesthetic learners-people who prefer to learn by doing and being active Social learners-people who prefer to learn with other people or in groups Effective Study Reading The best known reading method is called SQ3R First used by Francis P. Robinson in a book called Effective Study (1970) The letters S-Q-R-R-R stand for: S-survey R-recite Q-question R-review R-read Survey Look at the chapter youve been assigned to read Take a look at the outline at the beginning of the chapter or whatever opening questions, learning objectives, authors Flip through the chapter and read the headings of each section, and look at the tables, figures, graphs Quickly read through the chapter summary if there is one Question After previewing the chapter, read the heading for the first section Try to think of a question based on this heading that the section should answer as read Read Now read the section, looking for the answer to your questions As you read, take notes by making an outline of the main points and terms in the section Recite

Reciting out loud what you can remember from the section youve just read is another good way to process the information more deeply and completely Writing it down accesses your visual memory; saying it out loud gives you an auditory memory of the same information Recall/Review Finally, youve finished reading the entire chapter in depth, reading it over and over throughout the semester and just before the exams

Strategies for Improving Your Memory

Some Mnemonics Linking-items Peg Method In this method, it is necessary to first memorize a series of peg words, numbered words that can be use as keys for remembering items associated with them Method of Loci (LOW-kee) Sometimes called the Roman Room Method Each point of the speech is made into an image or placed in the room at the certain locations Each point would have its place, and all the person would need to do to retrieve the memories or take a mental walk Verbal/Rhythmic organization Setting information into a rhyme aids memory because it uses verbal cues, rhyming words, and the rhythm of the poem itself to aid retrieval Put in to music Some people have had success with making up little songs, using familiar tunes, to remember specific information Cramming is not an Option Timing is everything One of the worst things that students do is waiting until the last minute to study for the exam Give yourself enough time