Preparing for final tests in college or any educational institution requires good knowledge in all subjects as well as skills in applying this knowledge to non-typical challenging tasks.

Firstly, you should find out which memory type is your prevailing:

– imaginative memory (including visual, audial, sensory, olfactory, and gustatory)

– word logical memory (thoughts, concepts, definitions and their logical bindings)

– kinesthetic

– emotional.

Surely you’d better rely more on your leading memory type, still for long-lasting memory you should perceive an object via all main channels and apply all memorizing techniques.

For instance, it math tests there are often needed trigonometry formulas. Word logical memory will start working if you memorize these formulas by applying them and comparing to other trigonometry formulas. Visual memory switches on if the object is always in the limelight: hang all over the house tables and drawings with main notions, task examples and so on. Visual and audial memory in pair work even better, here online video lectures will be of great help. To add kinesthetic memory one should rewrite in hand the most difficult formula many times. Crown it all with emotional memory: your positive approach to exam preparations will be natural if you set your study to your taste – comfortably and aesthetic, and after classes indulge yourself with pleasant walk and chatting with friends.

Here are some advice from Daniel Lapp – how to remember information better.

1. Comprehention

Follow the golden rule of information processing: choose the core subject, concentrate, and analyze logical bindings. Involve in process of memorizing as much feelings and emotions as you can. Let your inner sight follow all main points and stop at the most significant elements and hints.

2. Images Associations

For better memorizing associate information with the things you are good at, you like the most. In your imagination, you can distribute parts of the things you try to memorize in your room and connect with this or that object, and historical heroes could be associated with your nearest acquaintances.

3. Pauses

Avoid any rashness in your everyday sayings and deeds – make pauses to think over and make suggestion on things. While memorizing information your ability to make a pause will help you to abstract the main things and concentrate on them, to avoid disturbances and other averting things.

4. Personal Notes

Become an expert right now: leave the notes for information you are to remember. Emotional and intellectual involvement helps to remember information. Additionally you can imagine yourself as a co-author of a book.

5. Organizing Material into Categories

If you expect yourself quickly remembering the detail needed, you should categorize information while memorizing. Additionally to academic classification, you can invent your own one, with funny interesting bookmarks.

6. Relaxation

Before starting to memorize anything, you should get reed of stress, for stress prevents you from concentrating attention and blocks mechanisms of memory. Relaxation exercises, at least some deep breathes can help to collect yourself. When you are peaceful and quit, you can memorize information more exact and recall in due moment without effort.

7. Looking Through and Frequent Repeating

There can be no remembering without repeating. Material should be looked through from time to time and used in practical tasks. Online lectures provide such possibility: pre-recorded video can be viewed once more in certain hours, when information is mainly stored in long-lasting memory (before getting to bed), and in mornings and daytime it is better to pass tests or do practical tasks and drills.

Mnemotechnics specialists recommend such order of material repeating:

On active memorizing of material one should make a pause for half an hour: change activity, have a rest, and then in 30-40 minutes there should be first repeating of material. Second repeating is better to plan before getting to bed. Regarding the fact that the most forgetting happens on the following day after learning, the third time of repeating should be on the second day and in the most intensive way, including drills, tests and practical tasks. Starting from the third and up to the seventh day there should be one repeating per day, changing different types of tasks and look through main points of theory. Good effect can be achieved by reading and immediate reproduction of learning material. Interchange reading and reproduction (retelling) at least twice.