Learning and Memory

Understanding how we learn, how to learn effectively and how our memory works are an important part of being successful in University. There are a number of ways in which we receive and store information. Many of us depend on our short term and working memory to store information when it should be stored in our long term memory. Our long term memory takes a number of different forms:

• semantic (information learned through word),
• episodic (our memory of places),
• procedural (“muscle memory”),
• automatic memory (multiplication tables, alphabet, our ability to read) and
• emotional memory.

You can use all these memory “paths” to learn in university (and to be successful you should), but the one that you will use the most often is your semantic memory.

There are a number of strategies that you can use to retain semantic information:

• graphic organizers,
• teaching,
• self-questioning,
• summarizing,
• debates,
• outlining,
• creating time lines, and
• paraphrasing.

Each of us also learns differently. To be successful, it is best to figure out your learning style and then learn how to adapt that style to new situations and learning contexts.

Learning and Memory
Learning Styles
Graphic Organizers
Summarising
Paraphrasing