Active learning

Remembering is an active process and one that requires direct attention and sustained concentration.  Our brain needs to filter out the distracting, unhelpful information the environment presents to us so that we can learn. 

Facilitating the process of remembering

Body posture

To actively learn we must pay attention to our body posture.  It has been found that erect (but relaxed) body posture and seating that is not overly plush or harsh facilitate concentration.

Our study area

We need to examine our study area and look for distractions.  Is there background noise, a window to look out, people walking past, or lots of other interesting stimuli in your study environment?  If there is then this may detract from your active learning.  Find a place that minimises the amount of external stimuli that may distract you and overload your sensory memory.  Do you feel sleepy, hungry, cold or hot, tired, sexually aroused, or in pain?  These internal distracters often impact more significantly than external distracters.  Being aware of these and preparing for the study session are important steps in maintaining concentration.

Negative thoughts

Dismiss any negative thoughts about the information you may be trying to remember.  If you have done poorly at a subject before or had problems with a lecturer, sometimes the feelings that result from this impact on how well you are able to learn now.  However, the fastest learning and best recall comes from how motivated you are to learn and how positively you approach the task.

Understanding the material

It is important that you understand the material you are trying to learn and memorise.  As part of university courses, you are often required to remember both facts and concepts.  The strategies that we will discuss later help in memorising facts.  However, to remember concepts it is vital that you also understand them.  One way to assist this process is to become familiar with important terms in the material.  This way while you are studying, your sensory memory will focus on these terms, helping you to extract the important concepts.

Making links

Always try to link new material with material you have previously learned.  Approach the subject material from the ‘big picture' perspective, becoming aware of how present material relates to the aims and objects of the course as a whole.  You are more likely to remember things when they are associated with other facts that are already well established in your mind.