Anonymous asked: I forget everything I memorize in Biology and geology very quickly and I get bad marks in Biology tests. Do you know a good way to study them and keep the information for a long time?

studymuse:

The key to any kind of study, but for memorisation in particular, is repetition and frequency. It’s not enough to sit down, learn and remember (memorise) something once - you must relearn and re-remember it many times over in order for it to stick in your brain. 

There’s this marvellous thing called the curve of forgetting

and it is a gift to those of us desperately attempting to memorise things. 

Here’s the deal: on the first day, you’ll remember 80 - 100% of what you learned. If you review it the same day, it should be close to 100%. If you then review it again on the second day, it will take about 10 mins to refresh your memory. Review it again on the 7th day, a week after learning it - 5 mins to refresh. A month after learning and reviewing in this way, and it will take just 2 - 4 mins to recall that information. Repetition and frequency!

On the other hand, if you do nothing until Day 7, see how low the curve gets? You won’t have retained nearly as much information and you’ll have much more to relearn and review. This is why it’s important to review things immediately and then continue to review them over the coming days and then weeks. (It also saves you a whole lot of stress come exam time.)

With Biology and Geology, I would suggest reviewing new information the day you learn it, then the next day, then that weekend, then a week later, then a month later, etc etc. Find a pattern that both works for you and follows that same basic structure. Hopefully this will help things stick in your mind and you’ll start getting the improved marks you should be getting!

Remember, study is all about technique. If you’re using the wrong techniques/techniques that don’t work for you, you won’t be reaching your full academic potential, which is a real shame. I think you are absolutely capable of getting much higher marks - you just need to revamp your study techniques! See more here.

I hope this was helpful - good luck! ^_^