Consolidation
New information takes time to soak in. Most people agree that short term memory will only hold five to seven bits of information. We are usually bombarded with much more information than we can remember. We must, therefore, allow time for consolidation to take place. In fact, we must cause consolidation to take place. Here are a few ways to consolidate or allow information time to soak in.
- Taking notes in class
- Asking questions in class
- Reviewing Notes
- Stopping after each paragraph you read and writing a question in the margin which identifies what the paragraph is about
- Visualizing
- Reciting
- Making flash cards
- Designing practice tests