What strategies do you guys use to memorise content? (1 Viewer)

[idkkdi]

I've been pretty stuck on how to revise content for heavy subjects (e.g eco, business studies, etc), reading the stuff and trying to memorise it isn't really working so I want to know what strategies do you guys use?

I've heard of some people using flashcards but I honestly don't know how that'll working considering there's like a paragraph of text for each question/card

make sure you can reason/derive things. memorise the syllabus. practice some qs. and u should be good.

break big things into little things that u can remember.
e.g. have some huge paragraph.

word -> word -> word -> word -> word -> word -> end.
minimise memorisation load.

 

[011235]

wrt flashcards I am a bit of a flashcard enthusiast myself - while i'm not doing senior content-heavy subjects yet i think this still applies.

The Minimum Information Principle involves making sure each Q/A pair only relates to one piece of information. If you apply this to flashcards you get way more flashcards but they take less time to think about per one and you get little atomic bits of information you can piece together pretty well as long as you are obviously doing other forms of revision (flashcards are no one stop shop)

 

[dasfas]

wrt flashcards I am a bit of a flashcard enthusiast myself - while i'm not doing senior content-heavy subjects yet i think this still applies.

The Minimum Information Principle involves making sure each Q/A pair only relates to one piece of information. If you apply this to flashcards you get way more flashcards but they take less time to think about per one and you get little atomic bits of information you can piece together pretty well as long as you are obviously doing other forms of revision (flashcards are no one stop shop)

Kinda unrelated to the original post, but here's my 2 cents about your post.

I disagree with only using this - I think that it becomes pattern recognition of the cards rather than actually remembering and understanding the content.

Personally, I think that having a mix between chunky cards which require you to stop and think, rather than blasting through 10 cards a second, is far more fruitful. Plus, flashcards using MIP don't allow you to see the bird's eye view, how everything connects together.

Here are two examples of flashcards I use





One is MIP, one is chonky. Both are necessary to fully synthesise the content

 

[011235]

I do agree that is a very easy trap to fall into. However in terms of studying for school that's why I was saying "as long as you are obviously doing other forms of revision" for me exam style questions are a better way of formulating this knowledge together than chunky cards.

To be clear chunky cards do fufill the same purpose of connecting things together. I tried this at one point but I really didn't like it; I think it's a what works for the learner basis but there is a role and place for both individual facts and knowledge consolidation in any learner.

 

[dasfas]

I've been pretty stuck on how to revise content for heavy subjects (e.g eco, business studies, etc), reading the stuff and trying to memorise it isn't really working so I want to know what strategies do you guys use?

I've heard of some people using flashcards but I honestly don't know how that'll working considering there's like a paragraph of text for each question/card

Flashcards flashcards flashcards - they are a godsend.

For definitions, you should have it in a question and answer type thing. So Q: what is the consumer price index? A: ....

For larger concepts, don't be afraid to have chonky cards, but as I said above, you would also want to have individual cards for each of the parts of the chonky card you struggle to remember.

Also don't just use flashcards, also have notes. Flashcards are good to remember stuff, but you need to also be able to search up concepts easily, and having notes has everything you need in one spot, whereas for flashcards its much messier.

 

[dasfas]

I do agree that is a very easy trap to fall into. However in terms of studying for school that's why I was saying "as long as you are obviously doing other forms of revision" for me exam style questions are a better way of formulating this knowledge together than chunky cards.

To be clear chunky cards do fufill the same purpose of connecting things together. I tried this at one point but I really didn't like it; I think it's a what works for the learner basis but there is a role and place for both individual facts and knowledge consolidation in any learner.

What did you end up doing instead?

 

[011235]

What did you end up doing instead?

Exam style questions (for those with poor past paper availability/quality I write other general questions down in a spreadsheet making reference to parts of my normal notes)

FWIW (I use Anki) I have a subdeck with big cards when I'm just generally more interested in how something works and not just cause I'm working towards an assessment/exam

 

[dasfas]

Do you use physically written down flashcards or a particular app?

Don't ever use written down flashcards. For content heavy subjects, you can end up with 1000s and its a pain. I used Quizlet during y11/12 when I was new to flashcards and now I use anki.

It's absolutely amazing, best app for learning content. There's a reason why literally every medical school student uses it.

It's perfect for spaced repetition - it has an algorithm that estimates when you're about to forget a concept and just before you do, it shows you the card to practise. You gotta do it every day for it to pay off, but it's not too bad because as you learn the content better, the intervals get larger.

If you're in y11 going into year 12, spend the holidays learning anki. It will save your life, legit the best thing that has happened to my grades ever.

(not sponsored, it's just amazing and free)

 

[jimmysmith560]

The good thing about a subject like Business Studies is that having a good understanding of a particular concept can make remembering it much easier - thorough understanding of the content is essential and is something you should consider as it can greatly assist you in retaining information, as opposed to solely attempting to memorise content without first understanding it.

HSC Business Studies relies heavily on your knowledge of the syllabus, meaning it is also a good idea to familiarise yourself with the syllabus dot points, allowing you to become more comfortable with how each of the 4 HSC topics is structured as well as correctly answering the question by using and elaborating on the appropriate concept(s).

Of course, as mentioned in the above discussion, flashcards can also be used for Business Studies. Flashcards are a good way of memorising these syllabuses because they are generally easy to make and use. A student may quickly go over their finance content on their way home or in the morning before an assessment/exam, and they could also use them more frequently/for extended periods of time, particularly when studying for an exam with more significance/weighting, such as trial and HSC exams, in addition to completing past exam papers.

I would believe that HSC Economics follows a similar framework, i.e. thoroughly understanding concepts/topics precedes and assists in effectively memorising content.

I hope this helps!

 

[jimmysmith560]

I currently have notes that's roughly 20,000 words for economics (theory + short answer questions), so should I make flashcards out of them? What would be a good approach to revise the stuff?

20000 words will be quite difficult to memorise to say the least. A good way to prepare for Economics in my opinion would be to go through your theory notes instead and ensure you have a thorough understanding of the content. While you're doing so, you should make flashcards that cover the important concepts within the different Preliminary Economics topics. Practising the short answer questions upon finishing your study of the content would be a good way of determining how much you have learned. By then you will have also finished making your flashcards and at that point you can start using your flashcards to consolidate your knowledge of all concepts, while emphasising concepts that you might struggle with more.

 

[Eagle Mum]

The good thing about a subject like Business Studies is that having a good understanding of a particular concept can make remembering it much easier - thorough understanding of the content is essential and is something you should consider as it can greatly assist you in retaining information, as opposed to solely attempting to memorise content without first understanding it.

I would believe that HSC Economics follows a similar framework, i.e. thoroughly understanding concepts/topics precedes and assists in effectively memorising content.

I hope this helps!

This is really important advice - it applies to all subjects, at school, Uni & work.

 

[011235]

Exactly, flashcards are a remembering/recalling tool, they give you the ability to remember, but not nessecarily to understand a topic, you need to do that before making flashcards.