What’s a study trick/tip that you used in high school or college?
Ranjani Rao
Wichita State University, M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Sr. Manager, Software Engineering, Discover Financial Services
Read a topic a couple of times and close your eyes and explain the topic to somebody else that is new to the topic. It is almost like teaching, which usually helps you retain better.
Diane Foley
Fairleigh Dickinson University, MBA
Executive Director, Digital Technology, Raytheon Technologies
To remember specific facts, I would use mnemonic devices. If I wanted to remember a specific order, I would construct a sentence that used the same first letters as the items I had to remember. So, to remember the number of carbon atoms in alkanes for chemistry, I remembered “Many Elephants Pick Banana Peels” (methane – 1C; ethane – 2C; propane – 3C; butane – 4C; pentane – 5 C). King Philip Can’t Order From Grocery Stores helped me remember taxonomic rank for biology – Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. It’s sounds a bit silly, but I still remember dozens and dozens of those mnemonic devices and the corresponding facts today.
Kristen Deak
Lehigh University, M.S in Systems
Systems Engineer, Raytheon Technologies
I would make sure to write down/type up notes during each lecture and would review them before the exam. If I needed to memorize something, repetition and using mnemonics for phases would help me. Mostly in college, I would definitely review the syllabus for the mid-term and final exams. Also study groups and professors’ office hours helped me greatly too!
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