One Simple Step to Improve Your Recall of Formula
If you don't do this already you could be instructing your mind NOT to remember the formula you need for your exams! You could change this right away and make the most of your study time.
A simple question: when you practice your Costing-FM problems, do you work with the formula in front of you in your notes or in your text book?
If you don't, then you probably already know what you need to know. No need to read on! But, if you do, you may not realise it but you are actually increasing the chances that you won't remember the formula when you need it!
When you work on a problem, and refer to the text book anytime you need a formula, you are sending a subtle message to your brain that the formula is available somewhere else, and that there is no need to remember it. You will get used to this, and find though you are familiar with the formula, you may not have actually internalised it.
This can produce the often experienced 'on the tip of my tongue' experience in exams, where you feel that the formula is nearly there, but you just can't remember it. Worse still, when you see it later or ask a fellow student about it, you are left feeling that things are so unfair because 'you knew it!'
But you didn't.
This constant rereading will also make it difficult for you to commit a formula to memory, precisely because of the familiarity. This is a scary thought when you first consider it, because you may have felt that you have been working hard, but have actually been doing damage!
But don't worry, the solution is simple and you can start straight away! It takes a little more effort and is not for the lazy. All you have to do is always write the formula down from your own memory, instead of copying it down from the book.
Even if you can't remember all of it, write something down first, and then, look at the book. Find out the part you didn't know, repeat it to yourself a couple of times, put away the book and go back to the question again to finish writing it down. Just make sure you never copy it down directly from the book.
Easy? Yes of course, but it takes a little more effort and you may be tempted to lapse. But just remember how much it can affect your learning if you don't!
Start now. From now on, use your memory and turn it into the sharp tool that it should and can be.
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