Learning Strategies and Mnemonics

1. PQR4 method (Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Repeat, Review)

The PQ4R method is a method that individuals can use to help them better comprehends
written material. It is a strategy that helps individuals focus on organising information in their
minds and making it meaningful. The first factor in this strategy is Preview. At this stage of
reading the reader determines a general topic of the text and divides the text into units needed
later at the Recite stage. Question formation is again present also in PQ4R strategy. This
time, however, the four ‘R’s refer to Read, Reflect, Recite, Review. As the first, third and
fourth factors have already been discussed, some attention shall now be devoted to Reflect
factor. While the reader reads the text, he should ponder on it, look for its reflection in reality,
his own experience and background knowledge. Thus, the main aim of reflecting on the text
is to understand it.

Advantages: It helps to make individual to know what to learn. It focuses students’ attention,
increasing interest, relating new ideas to previously known concepts and building
comprehension. The students are encouraged to actively interact with the material while
reading by the following organizingtechniques. These help students to break chapters into
important chunks that are easier to assimilate than whole chapters. It also leads to a more
active learning environment, and deeper processing of information

Limitation: It requires the ability to skim texts which involve the rapid reading of chapter
elements such as introduction, conclusion, summary, first and the last lines of paragraph, etc.
It also requires the ability to scan texts which involves careful search for specific facts and
examples. This can be difficult for younger learners to practice this method.

2. KWL method

A lesson designed to give students an active role before, during, and after reading is KWL:
know, want to know, and learn. According to Ogle (1989), KWL evolved as she and a
number of classroom teachers searched for a way to build active personal reading of
expository text”. The before-reading stage of KWL consists of 4 steps: brainstorming,
categorising, anticipating or predicting and questioning. Brainstorming begins when teacher

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Learning Strategies and Mnemonics

asks the class what they know about a topic. Responses are written on board and discussed. If
a disagreement occurs or students seem puzzled by a statement, this cognitive conflict can be
used to create a what-we-want-to-know question. Next, students categorize their prior
knowledge. They also anticipate the content of the text and organise the information as they
read it. The process of categorisation is modelled as well as anticipating categories when
brainstormed items already written on the board and placed in appropriate categories.
Questions are then created. With questions in mind, students read the text. After reading, the
class discusses what they learned and the teacher writes their responses in the board.
Information is organised, misconceptions are clarified, and emerging concepts are developed
more fully.

Advantages: The group brainstorming activates prior knowledge so that students become
more aware of what they know. But the ultimate purpose is to lead students to ask these
questions automatically as they read.

Limitation: The KWL approach can be simplified by omitting the category phase. Primary
grade teachers might use it strictly as a group technique until students have sufficient writing
ability to fill out the worksheet individually. Teachers have found that even just discussing
what we know, we want to find out, and what we learned is helpful.

3. Method of Loci
The Method of Loci is a mnemonic device that dates back to Ancient Greek times. Greek
orators (speakers) would use this method to help them memorize speeches. In order to use the
method of Loci, you must first imagine a place with which you are familiar. The term loci
refer to places or locations. There are several possible places you could use. You must be able
to identify several locations within that one place. It is best if these locations can be given a
logical order, such as clockwise, or top to bottom. To retrieve the information, you mentally
"stroll down memory lane" and visualize the same locations. If the method works, the
information you stored in various locations will come back with the memory of the location.
To be effective, one must usually visualize an object "doing something" or interacting in
some way with the objects at a particular location (see the following section on interactive
imagery).

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Learning Strategies and Mnemonics

Advantage: By employing the method of loci, we tend to remember more items than we
would ordinarily be able to.

Limitation: The Method has limited utility because it requires certain task conditions. The
presented words must be readily translatable into mentally pictured objects. The words must
be presented slowly, not faster than one every three or four seconds. The Method breaks
down if we depart from considering, at any one time, only one imaged object and its
corresponding locus — for example, if we allow ourselves to notice relationships among the
presented words.

4. Pegword Method

This method is one of the foundations of many improvement systems. Easily imaged words
are memorised to represent numbers, usually those from 1 to 100, but sometimes more. These
words can then replace the numbers when memorising a long list in order. The person forms a
mental image linking together the peg word and the item to be memorised. Subsequently,
when recall is required, the memoriser recalls the peg word, which cues the image which in
turn cues the recalls of the item.

Advantages: The advantage over the loci method comes from the relative ease in finding
suitable peg words as compared to loci when large numbers are required. Also, the peg
method allows recall in any order without problems in losing one’s place. Morris and Reid
(1970) found that a peg system doubled recall compared to a control group and did not
observe problems when same pegs are used for learning six consecutive reordering of the
same items

Limitations: The need to memorise the peg words, but that it minimised by rules such as the
phonetic translation system which specify sounds for digits so that an easily learned logic
underlies the construction of most sets of peg words. If, however, the list of words is longer
than ten, you must come up with and memorize a longer reference list.

5. Chain Mnemonics

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Learning Strategies and Mnemonics

It is a technique for remembering strings or chains of items in order. There are two main steps
necessary to use this method. Firstly, link words in a list together into a sentence of a story.
Link the items in the order they must be recalled by making associations between them.
Secondly, use imagery and visualization to connect the first two items, use another image to
connect items two and three, and so forth.

Advantage: This method is very good for quick memorization of simple information.

Limitation: One of the weaknesses of the method is its dependency on itself. If one of the
connections is broken, it is very difficult to recall the rest of the list.

6. Keyword Method

The keyword method has been especially pushed as an effective strategy for learning foreign
vocabulary. It is presumably equally valuable for extending your native-language vocabulary
and learning technical jargon, and has also been used successfully to teach social studies facts
(e.g., the products of a country; capital cities), science facts (e.g., chemical reactions, parts of
the skeletal and nervous systems) and the names and faces of people.

Advantages: The main advantage of the keyword mnemonic over other strategies for
remembering information of this type is that you acquire the information faster. But not
better. Learning new words in a meaningful context is an equally effective strategy for long-
term recall.

Limitation: The keyword method is very effective for linking a new fact to a well-learned
fact, but is little help in recalling the new fact itself.

Why is it essential for teachers to teach learning strategies and mnemonics to students?

Memorising is important in the early stage learning. Vocabulary must be memorised to

understand and speak a second language, technical terms must be memorised to begin to read
in the sciences, proper nouns must be memorised to understand writings in history, geography

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Learning Strategies and Mnemonics

and etc. However, learning the useful techniques or methods can help learners to remember
better. Mnemonics techniques are used to improve retention of memory. Mnemonics organize
information. It forces the user into chunking and/or ordering information somehow and
provides retrieval cues. Mnemonics prevent "interference" between pieces of information. By
storing pieces in or on distinct rooms/pegs/numbers, mnemonics prevent confusion between
similar words and concepts. Use mnemonics to help students encode information in a more
meaningful form and to provide them with a retrieval route at the time of recall. Mnemonic
instruction has been researched in special education and is associated with the largest effect
size found in the special education literature.

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