Great Memory Strategies for Students

by Keith
(Manchester, England)

When I was in graduate school, I spent several days revising for tests, and still made average scores. Part of my problem was having an undiagnosed learning difficulty related to my short-term memory. My comprehension, on the other hand, was brilliant.

To solve this, I started using two memory techniques that worked wonders. I cut my revision time down to just one day, and scored higher on my exams. Not bragging, but I graduated with honors too.


Below you will find the two techniques I used:

The first memory technique is for note taking. Don't write anything down that you already know. Only put the notes of things you don’t know on the page, and leave a three inch blank margin on the left hand side of the paper. Read through your notes after class, and put a word or phrase in the margin next to your notes.

When you study for your test, fold the notes over and only look at your margin. If you can recall the information by looking at your key word, then tick it and move on to the next key word. If you can’t remember the information associated with a key word, then circle the word and read over that part of your notes again. When you go through the list of key words in your margin again, only look at the key words that you circled.


The next one is a memory tool that will help you keep facts in your head, and is based on a pegging system. A pegging system is where you connect what you need to remember, onto something else. The key with a pegging system is to make sure that the information and the object that you peg your information on, actually connect. Make sure the information that you want to remember has action - the crazier, the better. This will be the glue that will help you remember the information that you have pegged. You can peg things to your body, your car or even to objects in every room of your house. This memory technique works brilliantly with lists.


So if you want to cut down on time and perform better on your tests, remember to use the note taking technique and the pegging system. These are simple tools that are guaranteed to work.