How to Understand, Retain, and Recall Information

Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko: 

https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-woman-reading-a-book-at-the-library-6549855/

Do you ever find yourself questioning what you just read? Realizing you have no idea what you just spent the last 30 minutes reading? That you were thinking about other things while your eyes were reading the words..? These are all very common concerns that most of us have when studying content. How do we force our brain to stay on task? Below are some great ideas...

This method consists of five components and incorporates active strategies that will increase your ability to understand, retain, and recall information.

Preview: At the beginning of a study session, take a few minutes to skim the chapter or section of the chapter you are about to study. Look at the table of contents, key concepts, section heading, and tables. Get a sense of what is already familiar to you and what is new, and mark sections or paragraphs that address unfamiliar material with an asterisk or arrow to remind yourself to pay particular attention to them when you read the text.

Question: Before reading a section of a chapter, turn the headings, subheadings, and key concepts into questions. Because your study time is limited, you may want to formulate questions only for information you are unfamiliar with.

Read: Read the text that follows the heading or subheading that you used to frame your questions and find the answer. Reading with a purpose (to find the answer) will add an active element to your studying, which will help you acquire and retain the information. Once you’ve found the answer to your question, restate it in your own words; but if you’re unable to do so, re-read the text. As you read, you may have to adjust your speed: If you’re already familiar with the information, skimming the text is probably adequate; however, if the information is unfamiliar, you’ll need to read more slowly and may need to read the text more than once. Use as many of the following active strategies as you can while reading, especially when the information is very difficult or complex. 

• Highlight: Highlighting as you read will enhance your concentration, encourage you to think about what you’re reading, and make it easier to find topics you want to take notes on or review later. Be careful to highlight only the most important information. Don’t highlight complete sentences and try to limit your highlighting to no more than one-third of the text.
• Annotate: While reading, circle or put a question mark next to things you don’t understand and want to review later. Also, make brief notes in the margins, construct an acronym for a list of stages or steps, or write a phrase that summarizes a paragraph.
• Summarize: At the end of a section or subsection, summarize the most important points in a few sentences. For difficult or complex material, you may want to write multiple choice matching, or fill-in-the blank questions about the key information. Write your summary and/or questions in the margin of the text or on a separate piece of paper.
• Take notes: After you finish reading a section of a chapter, go back and take notes on the information that you’ve highlighted or annotated.

Recall: Use flashcards to evaluate your learning and practice retrieving information from long-term memory.

Review: Review your notes and flashcards at the end of each study session, at the beginning of the next study session, and during scheduled reviews.

What other ideas do you have to engage the brain while you read? Share in the comments below!