This document provides an overview of effective learning strategies including identifying learning styles, improving memory, reading techniques, note-taking from lectures, and avoiding cramming. It discusses the four main learning styles of auditory, visual, kinesthetic, and mixed modality. Memory is divided into immediate, short-term, and long-term. The forgetting curve illustrates how much information is lost over time without review. Effective reading involves previewing, questioning, and reciting material. Note-taking from lectures uses the 5Rs of recording, rewriting, reciting, reflecting, and reviewing.

1. Learning styles lecture
LEARNING STYLES, MEMORY, READING AND
LECTURES
OBJECTIVES:
Students will be able to:
1. Identify their primary learning style.
2. Provide suggestions for how one can make the most out of his/her preferred learning styles.
3. Define memory and distinguish between the different types of memory.
4. Prepare and explain the forgetting curve.
5. Distinguish between reading for pleasure and reading for learning.
6. Use proper reading and note taking techniques.
7. Make lecture notes useful for studying.
8. Be an active learner in class by being prepared for class.
READING:
College to Career – Chap 5-6
ANTICIPATORY SET:
Have students brainstorm characteristics of teachers that made them either a good lecturer or an
ineffective lecturer.
Write the list on the board. Approximately 5minutes
LECTURE:
MORE THAN ANY FACTOR, VISION AFFECTS THE CHOICES
WE MAKE AND THE WAY WE SPEND OUR TIME.
Stephen R. Covey
A. LEARNING STYLES: the way in which people acquire knowledge
i. THE FOUR BASIC LEARNING STYLES
1. Auditory/Verbal (Hearing)
2. Visual (seeing)
3. Kinesthetic/Tactile (Doing)
4. Mixed Modality (hearing, seeing and doing)
ii. AUDITORY/VERBAL (Hearing)
1. Love class discussions and study groups, easily distracted by sound
2. Uses recitation and flashcards
3. Likes to summarize and outline in own words
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2. Learning styles lecture
iii. VISUAL (SEEING)
1. Wants to see it written down
2. Likes pictures and diagrams
3. Uses clustering and mind mapping
4. Like an organized learning environment
5. Wants transparencies, PowerPoint, handouts
6. Rereads everything
7. Rewrites and reorganizes
iv. KINESTHETIC/TACTILE (Doing)
1. Learns best when physically involved in the learning
2. Like to act out a situation or make a project
3. Like to learn through trying, experimenting and practice
4. Takes notes but forget to rewrite notes and reread text
v. MIXED MODALITY
Function in all three modalities.
Take a survey of how many of each that we have in the class. Have them brainstorm the
advantages and disadvantages of their styles together in the group.
*** In order to learn effectively and remember, you have to be a good listener! ***
Listening Questionnaire: How’s Your Classroom performance” pg. 148
II. MEMORY
A. MEMORY: mental process of recording, storing and recalling information
B. TYPES OF MEMORY
*** Ask students the first thing that they saw when then walked into the classroom? ***
i. Immediate Perceptual Memory: a reflex memory where an impression is immediately
replaced by a new one.
1. typing once you type a word it is forgotten
ii. Short Term Memory: recording up to seven elements for a maximum of 30 seconds or
storing information for no more than 24 hours.
1. looking up and remembering a phone number
*** Ask a student to look up a phone number and remember the number ***
After 30 seconds, 2 minutes, the lecture sees if the student can still remember it!
iii. Long Term Memory: remembering something for days, weeks or years.
1. requires reciting or other association techniques
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3. Learning styles lecture
We Remember:
10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we see and hear
70% of what we say
90% of what we do and say
*** Discuss ***
When reading a textbook chapter, you forget:
46% of what you read after 1 day
79% of what you read after 14 days
81% of what you read after 28 days
So if you have a test every 14-21 days, how much will you remember about the chapter when
taking the test if the only thing you do is read?
Group Activity: Interviewing Each Other: How's Your Memory? Divide class into teams of two. Take 5
minutes or so for each to interview each other, but don’t have them take notes. Have them try hard to remember
each other’s answers. First try general questions such as:
Where they grew up...
Their favorite food/color/sport/or state in the United States.
Their favorite season and why...
Now ask questions related to the subject of memory:
How good do you think your memory is?
What areas do you have trouble remembering?
Do you think cramming works?
What memory tricks have you developed?
Now bring two teams together so there are groups of four. Have the partners report on what was said.
How well can they remember what their partner told them? Was it easier to remember the “personal”
information or the information about memory?
As a whole class, discuss what conclusions you can draw from the experience.
This exercise is useful in helping to reinforce the information in the text on retention levels (by Walter
Pauk and the National Institute for Development and Administration). It gives students the opportunity to
trade experiences with learning and memory and to clarify issues pertaining to memory.
C. FORGETTING CURVE
i. What Hinders Memory???
1. Information overload
2. Stress
3. Alcohol
4. Smoking
5. Fatigue
6. High Blood Pressure
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4. Learning styles lecture
ii. What Helps Memory???
1. Relax and be attentive
2. Practice Repeatedly
3. Study a little Frequently – distributed practice vs. massed practice
4. Avoid Interferences
5. Make Material Meaningful to You
6. Use Verbal & Visual Memory Aids
Memory Game
Have student create a list of 15 terms associated with food. Now add the name of a famous movie star.
Have students switch papers, keeping the papers face down. When everyone has someone else’s sheet
have the students turn over the papers and look at the list for 10 seconds. Have them try to memorize the
list of terms. After 10 seconds have everyone turn over the papers. Have students try to list all fifteen
terms.
Divide into groups and have students discuss their results. Was it easier for them to memorize the terms
if they were familiar with the subject? Did they all list the famous actor? What techniques did they use
for remembering the terms?
Another variation of this activity is to have students look at a painting for 10-15 seconds and then try to
write down as many details from the painting as they can. Surrealistic paintings work well for this
activity.
This activity helps to reinforce the use of associative learning and to help students see how others go
about memorizing.
Have students think of visual or verbal memory aids to member a list of words.
Write out information. Sounds like a no brainer but many people do not write the information
down.
Organize the information
Use rhymes I before E except after C………
Phrases where the first letter of each word represents the first letter of the information you are
trying to remember. I.e. Every good boy does fine.
Acronyms CPR
Make up a narrative story. I.e. Dean Vaughn
D. CRAMMING: preparing hastily for an examination.
Use a food analogy, which goes somewhat as follows:
What's a food you particularly like?” I ask. “Steak? Burgers? Ice cream?”
People around the room volunteer a few favorite foods. (“Fudge!” “Pepperoni pizza!”)
I pick one of them. “Could you eat pizza every evening for a week?” I ask.
“Just about!” a couple of students may say.
“Okay, let's suppose I'm inviting you two over to my house for dinner tonight. And I'm
going to order out for pizza, the best in town. All the toppings you like. Think you'd want to come?”
“Sure.”
“I have just one qualification,” I say. “You'll be required to eat a week's worth of pizza in one sitting.”
“What!”
“Yep. It's the rule at my house.” “Well, I don't know . . .”
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5. Learning styles lecture
Then I explain what I'm driving at: Anyone would find it difficult to eat a week's worth of pizza at one meal.
However, when it comes to schoolwork, many students think nothing of trying to stuff a week's worth of studying
into a single evening.
Students readily agree with the food analogy, which is to say they agree it's a dumb idea to try to eat five or six
meals in the time they would normally take to eat a single meal. Having agreed with this, they are able to begin to
see that it is similarly unwise to resort to cramming for an exam—that is, to consume a great deal of knowledge in
one sitting that should be spread out over several days or weeks.
In class discussion, I point out that knowledge is like food and that it is ineffective and inappropriate to try to
force-feed it. Indeed, I say I have witnessed students who have been cramming get sick to their stomachs and
throw up, just like people stuffing themselves with too much food. The cause in this case, however, was not food
but stress, because they were desperately trying to cram so much information into their brains. This is an excellent
place to introduce the topic of memory and forgetting and the resulting learning strategy implications
Students carry old inefficient habits with them from their high school experience. They have crammed in high
school and were able to get by. In essence they have perfected an imperfection. They will no longer be taught
for the test and will need to become true active learners
Group Activity: Finding Examples of the Six Memorizing Strategies
Divide class into six small groups with nearly equal members of people in each group. Each group should take on
the six memorizing strategies described in the text:
1. Over learning
2. Distributed Practice
3. Avoiding Interference
4. Depth of Processing
5. Verbal Memory Aids
6. Visual Memory Aids
With others in the group, come up with as many ways as possible to illustrate how to use the particular
learning strategy. Share the best examples with the entire class
“What Do You Know About the Reading Process” Quiz College to Career pg. 118
III. READING: two types (reading for pleasure and reading for learning)
3 STEP 3Rs READING SYSTEMS
• Read
• Record
• Recite
A. READ
• Start reading
• Be sure to read each section
• Only read one section or a few paragraphs at a time then
– Ask yourself what you need to know from that sections
– Read and reread for answers and say aloud
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6. Learning styles lecture
B. RECORD
• Outline the reading
• Underline the key information (terms, phrases and sentences) but not all the information
• Write a brief question in the margin
• Proceed to the next section
Levels of Possible Questions
• Data (what, when, where, why) basic questions
• Conceptual: classifications/ relationships between things, functions of things
• What If: use and apply knowledge (analysis of information)
• Making Judgment (short answer or essay where students must support their
answer)
C. RECITE
• Cover the center of the page and ask yourself the questions that you wrote
• Recite aloud and check your answers
• DEVOTE ENOUGH TIME!
• Don’t read the entire assignment in one sitting!! (Take breaks!)
• Keep up with your assignments
• Review the previous assignment before beginning the new assignment
• Work the practice problems
• OTHER STUDY AIDS
• Flashcards/Index Cards
• Digital recorders
• Diagrams or charts (see pg. 136 for examples)
• Mind Mapping (see pg. 102 for examples)
• Time Lines
Group Activity: Practicing the SQ3R Method No matter how enthusiastically we describe a particular learning
strategy, many students won't use it if they're not forced to try it. The purpose of this activity is to get students to
practice the SQ3R method.
Applying the SQ3R method
Working in small groups of four consisting of two teams of two each, students employ the SQ3R method,
and then the teams take turns quizzing the other team to see how well they remember the material on
which they practiced.
Follow-up class discussion helps students evaluate the value of the method and see its applicability to a
variety of materials. In addition, the discussion allows students to see how other students modify the
method to suit their own needs.
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7. Learning styles lecture
IV. MANAGING LECTURES
A. KEYS FOR SUCCESS
a. Attendance is your key to success!
b. Be an active learner and be prepared for class! = Learn to Focus Your Attention!!!
c. Get enough sleep and enough to eat!
B. 5 R’s FOR NOTETAKING
• Record
• Rewrite
• Recite
• Reflect
• Review
1. RECORD
• Always title and put a date!
• Try to capture the main idea of the lecture.
• Don’t try to write down everything!!
• Write in rough form.
• Don’t worry about grammar.
• Skip lines between new ideas
• Skip spaces if daydreaming to fill in later
• Develop a system of abbreviations.
2. REWRITE
• Rewrite ASAP because it will be quickly lost.
• Dissect notes and decide on a meaningful organizational structure.
• Decide questions that a teacher could ask on those notes and write in the margins.
NOTES FORMAT pg. 153-154
3. RECITE
• Review notes over again and ask your self the questions that you developed.
• Ask yourself key definitions.
• Distributed Practice: do a little every day!!
4. REFLECT
• Develop personal and meaningful word associations
– CPR
• Cardio
• Pulmonary
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8. Learning styles lecture
• Resuscitation
5. REVIEW
• Go over your notes 2 – 3 times per course
C. THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT TEACHER LECTURES
• Bell Cues (nonverbal): indicate what is happening is important & should be noted.
– Writing something on the board
• Bell Phrases (verbal/spoken) indicators that show “what is about the happen is important
and should be noted
– “This is on the test . . .”
– “The end results are . . .”
– “The major points are . . .”
–
APPLY THESE TIPS AND YOU WILL BE RECEIVING AN “A”!
APPLICATION:
Using your textbook have the students break into groups of two or three and outline the next chapter
using the one of the note taking formats on pages 153 or 154.
Have students rewrite their notes in the proper format and show teacher the next day.
SUMMARY:
One Minute Evaluation:
A. What did you learn?
B. What was confusing or difficult?
C. How can you use what you learned?
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