Ways to consolidate your learning in higher education

Lectures, seminars, workshops, and practical sessions are your key channels for learning information in higher education. How can you ensure that the information you learn stays with you beyond the classroom? 

During your learning sessions, make sure you’re concentrating and taking in the information in a way that works for you. Whether you prefer to sit and listen or to take down physical notes, it’s important that you absorb as much information as you can as this will help you when it comes to consolidating and revising your learning. The more information you can take on board at this stage, the more familiar topics will be in your mind when you return to them later. 

Following your learning sessions, try rereading or summarising what was covered. The more times you revisit information, the more it will embed itself into your long term memory. Summarising is a great way to ensure that your brain is active when you’re revisiting topics, as you are performing a task that requires you to engage with the information. Other activities you could try include writing topics up onto revision cards or posters - great options if you like to get creative.

To take your engagement to the next level, try challenging the information you originally learnt. Revisit your notes and annotate them with comments, questions, or further research. Take the topic that you feel least confident about and write a blog post about it. Form practice assessment questions and plan your answers to them. There are lots of different ways to perform this part of the process, which means you can try different methods and work out a way that’s right for you. If you make the effort to engage with your learning on a deeper level, you’ll be well-rewarded when topics remain familiar to you months down the line. 

For more advice about how you can make the most of your higher education, contact the Platinum Education Services team today. We support our students to perform at their very best and achieve their academic goals. With our guidance, your next steps in education could be closer than you think!