5 Strategies for Improving Learning Retention

Learning retention is a key identifier of your learning success because it is what helps you take in new information and remember it as and when required regardless of the time between the two activities. With a great learning retention capacity, you can retain information in your long-term memory which is basically how knowledge sticks in your memory for a long time. Your brain forgets information quickly if you don’t take up steps like re-studying the material or actively recalling what you’ve learned.

Teach Others

Teaching others is always the most effective way for you to understand a subject and retain knowledge. You may not realize how much you have learned until you try to teach others. Teaching requires you to fully engage with the material to enable you to explain it clearly and well enough for someone else to understand. 

If you can explain a subject to others, you get to have a good mastery of the concepts of the subject and maintain superior knowledge retention. In fact, engaging in the process of sharing your knowledge with others also helps you develop research abilities, and communication skills and reinforce your learning. Taking advantage of a great learning management system like Teach ‘n Go can help you interact with learning material in creative ways and help improve your learning retention.

Study In Groups

Group discussions and projects are a great way to get engaged with the curriculum content and boost your retention capacity. They offer an active, cooperative learning environment that allows you to learn from others. The concepts of social learning suggest that in group discussions you model yourself on the behavior of others by watching their creativity when learning something and how they attempt to replicate it.

In a group study forum, you can ask each other questions, offer each other support, generate ideas collectively, and express and exchange your views. It makes learning memorable and helps you reinforce the points you’ve learned for better retention. While studying in groups, your thinking is heightened and your engagement with the study material is enhanced because of participating in the learning process with others.

Make the Most of Microlearning

Your working memory or conscious mind can only hold about 3 to 4 things at once. Information overload like trying to memorize an entire chapter of a textbook in one go is a leading cause of poor knowledge retention. Breaking down information into smaller sections or key concepts and focusing on them individually can make it easier for you to recall and retain it over time.

Broken-down bite-sized information is remarkably easier to learn and remember. Learning British Sign Language online with short videos on a great learning management system with broken-down learning objectives that you can build on is a good example of microlearning. Short learning sessions can help reduce cognitive overload and improve your memory retention.

Try Some Video-Based Learning

Videos are engaging by nature and can help you consume information more easily and quickly. Your brain perceives visual information better, and faster and you can remember that information for longer. This is why even social media and advertising companies maximize videos for user consumption because visual cues create a more robust memory.

Learning through watching videos of the course material gives you the flexibility to pause the learning session to take note of key concepts. You can rewatch an educational video to reinforce what you’ve learned and keep it in case you want to review it in the future. You’ll soon discover that you’ll enjoy and might even prefer watching an engrossing video to going through pages of a text-only curriculum.

Reflect, Recall, and Test Yourself On the Curriculum Content

Take some time after each study to think about and analyze the material you’ve learned. Reflecting on what you’ve learned can help identify key insights and connections and reinforce your memory and understanding of the information. You can also try to recall key facts or concepts from your memory by repeating the information aloud or writing it down from memory. 

Testing yourself on the material after a study session helps you reinforce your ability to remember and helps you retain that information for a longer time. By testing your memory recall you can also identify gaps in your knowledge and focus on those areas that need more attention. Additionally, try to use the information you’ve learned in new and creative ways such as applying it to real-life situations to boost your learning retention.

Endnote

When there’s retention in learning, your mind processes information more fully enabling you to draw upon that information in the future. It improves your learning experience and strengthens your long-term memory which is essential for flawless application of the knowledge you have learned in the future. Sleep and exercise may seem unrelated to learning retention, however, exercising and having enough sleep can improve memory consolidation for better learning retention.