How does one retain information long term?

Homework and Study Help
1

First year CS student here wanting to take school seriously and study!! I will admit I don’t know “how to learn”, but I am taking the necessary steps to acquire that skill. My main question arises from the shift in pedagogy between my classes this semester and last semester. The classes I had last semester were heavy on logic and critical thinking. Most notably my philosophy class. The class lent itself to critiquing philosophical ideas, expanding on them and even arguing in favor of them. We wrote a lot and I got a A in that class. I tend to try and understand the big picture and view the relationship between concepts and systems, not get hung up on the little details. This has generally worked fine, until recently. The classes this semester are more focused on the rote memorization of discrete facts rather than the actual application and understanding of concepts and ideas. I am ill equipped to tackle the amount of information being thrown at me. I am also not sure how to decide what information to write down and attempt to commit to memory vs information that isn’t important. Once I figure that out, how do I actually commit such information into long term memory and get near perfect recall?

2

i tend to view knowledge as clouds of associated information in my mind. when you encounter a new topic or fact that you don’t have lots of context on, it sort of floats off by itself and is hard to “get to”. the way to solidify it is two parts:

  1. Associate it or relate it to other topics or information you already know about

  2. Add more context, examples, and information to the “cloud” around the new topic or fact. This will include applying the knowledge in some way as well, so you have some experiences or further context to buffer up the memory and to make it more real rather than just an abstract concept. This could include teaching or explaining it to someone else.

3

Hey I appreciate the response and will definitely try these tips. I wanted to ask you as well if there’s anyway I can anticipate the information I’ll be tested on or expected to recall? I am not sure how I am suppose to know what to write down or what to make an effort to commit to memory. Especially when it’s tiny discrete facts.

4

Hi. I suggest combining rote memorization for quotes. Cognitive approach to ideas and mnemonics in the end. You could write some things then realize if are they good, correct it and then memorize it.