How the brain works

I had the privilege of attending the 2010 Annual ISACS Conference "Learning: What's New and True" here in Chicago two weeks ago. I attended many wonderful sessions, more to come on those, but the one theme that has resonated with me were the sessions & information about brain function. I talked so much about the brain and memory over the next week that one of my students asked me for some tips for studying for tests. I summarized my learning from Ann Anzalone's session "Active Learning" for her in this way:

Memory Tips
1. Use verbal repetition: The one who does the talking does the learning.
2. See, say, and do: the more learning modes one can use at the same time, the more axons and dendrites get involved - which means the connections will be stronger.
3. Teach others what you want to remember.
4. Connect new information with old knowledge - the more connections you build, the higher chance you'll really remember the information.
5. When memorizing, use flashcards and use them in the upper corner of your vision - visual memory is located up, so holding the flashcard in the upper left or upper right (this is individual) will help your visual memory retrieve the information you're trying to store.

There is so much more to what I learned, even just at this one session, but that will have to wait for another day.

Post Script:
The student for whom I wrote these memory tips forgot the note card on her desk ... I truly love my job. Young people provide irony in the most unexpected of places :D