Memorization Techniques for Learning Social Studies

Is memorization essential?

Memorization is certainly essential for learning. Just imagine what would happen if a brain surgeon has to google the steps for performing a surgery each time before he gets inside an operation theatre. Would he be able to inspire the confidence of his patients? Sometimes, I wonder whether Einstein "looked up" his tables for doing a calculation when he was considering the complex physics and math behind his theories. If a football player does not memorize his role while playing, one can be sure that he has not learned to play properly, and such a player will surely be a poor teammate. If athletes want to get to a higher level, repetition would be a necessary task for them so that their actions become a part of their muscle memory and ensures that they do not have to rethink every action each time before it is performed.

What is memorization?

Memorization is the process of committing something to one’s memory. It involves the mental process that are undertaken in order to store a specific information in one’s memory so that it can be recalled later. Different types of information, such as experiences, names, appointments, addresses, telephone numbers, lists, stories, poems, pictures, maps, diagrams, facts, music or other visual and auditory elements, or tactical information, can all be items that can be memorized by a person.

Memorization in learning social sciences:

As a teacher of history, I regularly impose memorization assignments on my students. And, I find it striking by how burdensome my students find the task of memorizing the events of the 5000-year-old history of our country. Even if given a week’s time is provided to them, there are many students who would invariably falter in memorizing the information. There was a time when people took great pride in taking the pain to memorize huge quantities of information. However, the advent of printing greatly reduced the need to memorize history and cultural mores. In the modern times, we have the internet, whereby one can simply google what one needs to know. In this age, who really needs to strain their brains by trying to remember things? But, defenders of memorization argue that memorization provides exercise to the brain and even helps in fueling deep insights about a topic. Memorization does not simply entail the ability to recall incidents, dates, and names; it is associated with how information can be used to make new and better decisions in life. Given below are a few reasons why memorization is important.

• Memorized information always stays with a person. This becomes important when one lacks the time or access the sources where one would usually look up the information.
• Numerous studies show that the amount of information that one can hold in their working memory is tightly correlated with one’s IQ and problem-solving ability.
• Expertise in any field involves a great deal of memorizing facts. In addition, if you want to succeed in life, it pays to be an expert.
• Memorization is the key to learning. Memorization, coupled with the understanding of the concepts, enables the students to handle a particular subject easily.
• Memorization tends to indirectly increase the creativity of the students as well. They save their brainpower and are able to focus better while learning new skills.
• Neurobiologists believe that ‘mental gymnastics’, such as remembering facts from history, can make your brain more quick and agile.

Some techniques that can be used to memorize anything are described in the following section.

1. Use of Dateroni Table – The steps to use a Dateroni table,
   1. Create a Dateroni table
   2. Convert the historical date into a funny word using the Dateroni table
   3. Use your imagination to create an interesting story to link the historical event and that particular word.
2. Mnemonics can be an easy way to remember facts. One can construct some funny relations between the events and the date in order to memorize them. Let us consider an example. If I have to remember the date of the First World War, which was fought between 1914 and 1918, I would make something relatable or funny story around that information. I can say that in 1914, 14 sounds like “'Fought it”. And in 1918, 18 sounds like “ate it”. So, I could come up with a story where everyone was hungry for power, and in the end some of them got to eat it. This can be random, but it will help you remember things for sure.
3. The repetitive use of audio files can aid in memorization. For this, one needs to arrange the events in a chapter in the chronological order and audio tape them. One can then hear it at their leisure.
4. Flashcards can be made, having the event on one side and the year of the event on the other. The flashcards are lined up in the form of a timeline, either based on year or event. One can take one’s best guess while seeing the information on one side, before flipping the card to reveal the other side and find out whether one was correct.
5. Teaching someone else helps in retaining 90% of what one learnt. When one undertakes the task of teaching, one tends to make mistakes. It makes the person aware of the areas in which the mistakes are made, which forces one’s brain to concentrate.
6. One needs to be involved with a topic if one is to memorize it. A simple concept can never simply be learned. It needs to be discussed, talked about, written, felt, etc.
7. One should find ways to work with resistance, instead of fighting it all the time.
8. Listening to soft music while studying also helps one to remember the events or dates in history.

Conclusion:

Memorization involves learning an isolated fact through deliberate effort. I believe in the argument put forward by the defenders of memorization: It is a mistake to downplay factual knowledge, as if students could learn to reason critically without having any information to reason about. Knowledge matters. A head full of facts - even memorized facts - is better than an empty one.

Author: S. Premalatha, TGT, Social Science, SBBGHSS