Students learn tools and skills for academic success at a workshop held by ASC

The Academic Success Center (ASC) held an hour-long memorization workshop in DeMoss Hall on Feb. 13 to help students improve memorization skills.

The workshop was in partnership with the Department of Psychology and hosted by ASC faculty member Lori Roach. The ASC regularly hosts academic workshops each semester, where students come and learn about different skills and tips they can utilize in their studies.

“These workshops can give (students) strategies to remember the material and challenge them to not just cram the night before a test, but to space out their studying,” Roach said.

The workshop was taught through a presented slideshow, incorporating TED Talks and interactive exercises.

On the first slide, a warm-up activity was displayed where students had 30 seconds to memorize 15 words. When the students failed to recall each word, Roach used the activity as a reference when teaching new memorization tricks. By the end of the slideshow, when doing the warm-up again, students as a group utilized the tricks taught and were able to recall everything.

Various memorization devices were introduced throughout the PowerPoint illustrating how to use acronyms, rhymes, storylines, picture grams and more when studying. Roach provided examples for each one and specifically highlighted the memorization device of chunking (putting large amounts of information into smaller units to increase learning capacity).

“The memorization workshop was good for learning how to study and gives students an upper hand on new learning techniques,” senior Ashley Witt said.

Students also watched a TED Talk titled “Cognitive overload — rewire your brain in the digital age” by Darren McNelis to learn the importance of finding quiet time in the digital age to improve working memory. Roach emphasized the importance of finding moments within the day to go on a digital detox to acquire clearer thinking within the classroom.

“Find time to put your phone away for a little while, even for a meal; lunch or breakfast without your phone gives your mind quiet time,” Roach said.

Roach summed up four study strategies to improve academic memorization: Take notes on paper and not on your laptop, review your notes within 24 hours of taking them, use spaced repetition and use the retrieval practice system.

Upcoming workshops hosted by the ASC throughout the spring semester include Time Management on Feb. 27 from 5-6 p.m. and Critical Thinking on March 5 from 6:45-7:45 p.m.

McDonald is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion