From mid-June, millions of students will blacken their patent, baccalaureate or college copies in order to obtain a diploma that will determine their future. Stress, sleep disorders, fatigue, over-consumption of screens… Find out how to help them naturally and without medication, by doing with their physiology rather than against it.
Memory is tragic in that, without revision on our part, we lose half of the information learned in barely twenty-four hours, and 90% after a week. Fortunately, others have climbed these mountains before us and bequeath us some techniques to promote long-term learning.
Anticipate through spaced learning
Spaced learning is, according to specialists, one of the best methods of revision. It makes it possible to permanently anchor notions throughout the school year which, in the long term, limits the time spent cramming. This method is inspired by neuroscientific work which indicates that our brain needs spaced repetitions to retain long-term information. Its principle is simple: when you learn a key concept, revise it a little the next day, then three days later, seven days later, then at a longer interval which is halfway between the learning and the exam. . For example, for learning that takes place six months before an exam, set up a review session three months after the course.
A study conducted in 2007 illustrates the effectiveness of this method. Students who learned a concept in September were divided into two groups: the first revised their course a week later, the second too, but added a revision session four months later. Nine months later, during the review, almost 100% of students who revised four months after the course performed better than their peers.
Flashcards, cards to revise
Very simple in appearance, flashcards (“memory cards” in French, but the English term is more often used), have nevertheless demonstrated their effectiveness in several scientific studies and make it possible to memorize key concepts for a long time. On the index cards the size of a playing card, note on the front a keyword related to the concept to remember (accompanied by colors or patterns) and, on the back, the rest of the information (or the answer). Example: “1789” / “French Revolution”. Regularly draw the cards to revise the content, and do it frequently as long as the concept is not memorized.
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The mental palace: way of memory
The mental palace technique works by association of ideas and works the hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores information over the long term. Dr. Michèle Temam gives a simple explanation: “Pick a familiar place like your apartment. Walk from room to room imagining that each room stores information. At the same time imagine a little story. Feel free to add sensations or wacky details. The more detailed the story, the better you will remember it. “
For example, to retain capitals, “combine the capital of Sri Lanka with your cuisine imagining that you are discussing Sri Lanka with your father who is preparing a “colombo ” “. During the exam, it’s up to you”walk through the rooms of your mental palace to remember stories and find the information you want.
Know how to swallow… and regurgitate!
Audrey Akoun and Isabelle Pailleau point out that it is not enough to ingest knowledge – what they call receptivity – it is still necessary to know how to bring it out at the right time – it is emissivity. A student who is still in emissivity“ thinking a billion things all the time “, n’a “ no space ” to receive information. Conversely, a student who is still receptive lets himself “overwhelm ” by external information and has trouble mobilizing his attention to “capture the ‘good’ information”.
To work on his receptivity, a student will benefit from carrying out exercises of the “mindfulness “. To work on emissivity, practitioners recommend this exercise: eyes closed, visualize a board on which you trace the letters of the alphabet, one after the other, erasing the letter after having traced it, to keep only one letter at a time. Continue until you manage to trace the entire alphabet without distracting yourself and, at each mental stall, start again at the letter A. Parents can also benefit from this exercise. As said – who is that again? – well-ordered charity begins with oneself!
Create your “force reservoir”
Have you noticed these strange gestures of certain sportsmen, for example tennis players before serving? This is called “anchoring a resource state”. They associated a gesture with a state of resource (“I am powerful”). To create such a “reservoir of strength”, decide on the gesture that will be associated with it (pressing your thumb on your index finger, pulling the lobe of one of your ears, etc.). As soon as you make this gesture, say “Powerful”. Repeat this many times, so that it becomes automatic, and the gesture is “anchored” to your state of resource. On the day of the exam, repeat the whole thing, and you will regain that feeling of power that you may have lacked a few minutes before.
Source :Take your exams under hypnosis, Luc Vacquié, ed. Dunod.
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