After months and weeks of exam preparation and revision, it finally boils down to the moment when your memory kicks in and recalls those crucial answers during the real PSLE exam.

Easier said than done, especially with PSLE Science. With a vast syllabus to cover and numerous concepts to retain, Primary students in Singapore require memorisation tips for studying Science and specific strategies to spruce their memory retention and recalling capabilities. But first-

What is Memory Retention & Recalling, and Why is it Important?

Memory is one's ability to store information in the mind and retrieve it when necessary. Memory plays an intrinsic role in shaping our characteristics. A student's ability to recall and retain information is a must-have trait in school and college, particularly when they face exams that assess this ability.

Memory is classified into several types, stages, and processes. However, we shall restrict our discussion to two types of memory that are important for students:

• Short-term memory is where the mind stores information for only a few minutes or seconds.
• Long-term memory, where you can recall after several hours, days, weeks, months, or years.

There is no limit to how many memories your long-term memory can store and for how long. Interestingly, long-term memory does not require effort because it has a meaningful or emotional connection to your mind.

Procedural memory, also known as Implicit memory, is a type of long-term memory that helps you remember skills and actions you have learned or acquired over the years. For example, riding a bike, braiding your hair, tying your laces, etc., are all categorised under procedural memories.

Procedural memories are ingrained into the brain, thereby making the action effortless. According to research, the brain learns new information by fitting it into existing categories. Therefore, when students are provided with relevant examples and asked to generate their own, their minds can better connect new abstract concepts and what they already know. This is one of the ways to improve your child's memory retention skills for PSLE Science.

However, using high-order thinking skills to answer application-based questions might not be every student's forte. Given below are some best study techniques for memorisation of key concepts in PSLE Science. Let's explore them.

3 Effective Ways to Improve Memory Retention for PSLE Science

1. Connect the dots

Train your child to make connections using existing knowledge retained in the far depths of their memory. Students can hone this skill by using visual cues like diagrams, mind maps, and concept maps to boost their spatial memory. This training will help your child retain as many concepts as possible.

2. Use keywords and mnemonics

Techniques like mnemonics, acronyms, rhymes, and acrostics are a good way to retain information like lengthy scientific terms, names of chemicals, formulae, etc. Students should also make a note of important keywords to make a connection with the main concept. They can:

• Highlight keywords in the stem of the question.
• Identify the concept and the topic with the keyword.
• Identify and note down the related keywords.
• Connect relevant concepts.

3. Rehearse it aloud

Ever heard of children reciting Math tables aloud in classrooms? It might seem like a rote learning method, but reading aloud helps students to retain the information as a whole or in vital bits that can be recalled later. Rehearsing new pieces of PSLE Science concepts by writing or reading them aloud is an effective way to store them in the vital corridors of your memory.

Also Read : 5 Ways Mind Maps Improve PSLE Science Revision

How to Train Your Child To Face the Unknown

Despite long-term revision and practice, students are sometimes stumped by tricky questions, which often leave them clueless. The wisest thing to do is to move on to the next question, which is easier and return to these difficult-to-tackle ones afterwards. Students can tackle such questions by:

• Drawing a diagram and deriving answers from the illustration.
• Identifying and highlighting the differences.
• Identifying the controlled variables.
• Identifying keywords with relevant topics.
• Connecting smaller answers to derive bigger ones.

Conclusion

While there are many tricks to remember things in Science, it is often more effective for children to learn when they can relate the concepts to everyday experiences. They should also be able to recall the concepts they have learned whenever necessary. The above-mentioned strategies and memory techniques will boost their confidence in PSLE science.

Another way to improve your child's memory retaining and recalling skills in PSLE Science is with StudySmart, our intelligent, AI-powered app. StudySmart is packed with online quizzes, extensive question banks, and real-time feedback to reinforce conceptual understanding for long-term memory.