Board exams 2015: Is your memory failing you? 7 tips to boost score

Are you appearing in the board exams this year? Do you feel that the inability to remember comes in way of your scoring high marks? Well there is no need to panic. We have seven tips that can help you memorise better.

1) Revise frequently

Revising at regular intervals is very important to remember what you have read. "When you revise a particular chapter again and again, your brain starts retaining what you are trying to learn," said Veena Oberoi, counsellor of Sarvodaya School in RK Puram sector 2.

2) Use mnemonic devices

Don't get confused by the word 'mnemonic devices'. These are simple techniques to help you memorise better. These techniques are ways to form patterns of letters or ideas to help your brain in memorising. To make the concept simple here is an example. You can remember the colours in a rainbow (in order of their appearance in the spectrum) by remembering the word 'VIBGYOR'. Here V stands for violet, I for indigo, B for blue and so on. (We have taken the first letter of the spelling of the colours in the rainbow and combined it to form the word 'VIBGYOR' which is much easier to remember)

In the same manner "My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets' is a sentence formed out of the first letters of our nine planets in the solar system in order. "Mnemonic devices aid your memory. It is always better to organise and learn," said Dr Pooja Jaitly, clinical psychologist at Moolchand Medcity.

3) Read chapters and not just specific questions

Some of you have the habit of mugging up important questions and answers of a chapter instead of reading the whole lesson. Reading complete chapter gives conceptual clarity and thus helps you in memorising it. Simply mugging up question specific answers are not that helpful.

4) Relax and revise

Don't read chapter after chapter in one go. Take small breaks in between and try to recollect what you have learnt earlier in the day to memorise better. "Grab a bite, snack a bit, listen to some music at short intervals," said Oberoi.

5) Chunk and visualise content

If you are trying to remember a big chapter, breaking down the study material into parts is helpful. Converting large paragraphs into pointers, adding cue points to topics and making flowcharts also help in retaining complex materials. "Learn the content in a way that forms a visual. Relate dates to significant days in your own life, this will make recalling much easier," said Dr Jaitly.

6) Follow different techniques for revision

Sometimes reading inside a closed room might be monotonous for your brain. Try reading chapters in different ways. Study in pairs. Ask someone to read out chapters to you. Listening helps you in retention. You can also read out chapters to your friends. All this helps your brain retain better.

7) Set revision targets and rewards

As there's less time and more to read, you are under constant pressure to revise again and again. Making a time-table for revising and rewarding yourself for achieving the set target also makes your learning process more fun and retention much better.

Following these tips in proper manner can really help you in retaining what you have learnt and perform better in the board exams.