I have a mild dyslexia problem. I always had unpredictable memory lapses on tests. My grades were unpredictable, sometimes A or B, more often so-so. When I started studying this way, suddenly I was getting As! And I wound up with two bachelor's degrees and a master's degree in a demanding clinical subject! You guys who are struggling, STUDY BY WRITING THE WORDS AS YOU SAY THEM ALOUD TO YOURSELF! It worked for me!

Last edited Thu Feb 22, 2024, 01:56 PM - Edit history (1)

techniques and experience. Educators and experts finally recognized the different ways kids learn and implemented appropriate teaching methods in the last several decades.

Standardized methods clearly don't apply to all. Some individuals need sound/audio in addition to print, as a good friend with a dyslexic son stresses.

This Norwegian study confirms what I already thought and I'm glad to see it. If typing instead of handwriting was so effective for learning, I think schools would have had middle school students using typewriters decades ago!

As a child, I had a terrible time learning to write legibly. One day in 6th grade, Mrs. Wright called me to her desk as the recess bell rang, and told me, "When the lunch bell rings later today, go to Mr. Simon's room. He attended a workshop on legible writing over the weekend, and he has an idea that might help you." So I went to Mr. Simon's room at lunchtime, and he got out a piece of graph paper and told me to think of writing square letters, and form the written lines right over the square graph lines. IT WORKED! I have never forgotten the THRILL of watching legible words come out of my pen, for the first time in my life! And after I had practiced under the guidance of these two wonderful teachers, I gradually became able to write legible cursive passages spontaneously.

Even something as mundane as a grocery list.

me why I was writing a 'To Do' list.

I said there's nothing wrong with my memory! if that's what you think. I enjoy the writing process (and drawing, art) and hand writing the List imprints it in my brain. So back off! JK.

He's a dear, not a big writer and doesn't need to be. Naturally sharp and perceptive, from a family of engineers. His son went through a well known Tech university in 3 years instead of 4 and was hired by Amazon right after graduation.

The best learning aid there is ... writing notes/facts out by longhand. The second best learning aid is to type it on a keyboard, and then read it, over checking for errors.

and reading assignments, the info always registers better. For papers and reports I typed up, reviewing and reading the text carefully afterwards was a must.

I've been doing this and using daily calenders, esp in the heavy career years for ages.

They'll have to pry my calender notebook, and To Do lists out of my cold, dead hands! Lol. 😊

brain activity.

And if they think the tech we have now is dumbing people down, wait till they see the results of people using generative AI almost everywhere, as AI companies are desperate for it to be used so they can start to recoup what they've invested in it.

and memory were clear to me long ago.

The coming AI tidalwave and the affect on human intelligence and work is almost too heavy to fathom.

When a big breakthru in AI happened c. 2012, I followed it some but have slacked off from concern overload.

In terms of employment I've seen some state that AI will 'help' workers. When I mentioned this to a smart professional friend who isn't a Luddite he replied, 'that's what they said about computers.'

notes every night. We had no textbooks. It really did help me learn, and to this day I write things down to remember. Back in HS I actually rented out my notebook to others that did not take notes or needed help studying. Our teacher, affectionalyy know as Rocky (he taught Geology also) was impressed. To this day I still use a Day Timer to write my notes daily.

the name Rocky is a riot, luv it and one I'll remember.

They'll have to pry my daily calender and To Do Lists out of my cold, dead hands! Thanks for replying.

have been changing in a big way in the Internet, Data Age.

but about output rather than input.

I'm a graphic designer of print and static ads. I use a computer all day. In a crunch, the tendency is to put all the elements on the page and fiddle until it looks good. That's fine for most straightforward jobs. But when I get stuck or uninspired creatively, I get out paper and pencil. Almost as soon as I sketch out a rectangle and the biggest element, everything else seems to fall into place, and I can almost see the end result. Suddenly I know what to do to solve the problem. It's kind of exhilarating.

I think part of the reason for this is that hand-drawing forces me to simplify and look at overall shapes rather than fixating on content or colors. But another part is the immediacy of the mind/hand connection, something that seems to be lacking when using a keyboard. Ideas occur to me when sketching that would not occur staring at a screen. “What if I reversed this? What if I filled here?”

In art school they drilled into us that “quantity produces quality.” I remember once in Typography class, being asked to show 25 draft sketches of the same two words to use in our 5 selected comps. That forced us to explore unconventional approaches. Following that process proved to each student that drawing by hand works, even if it's rough. The ideas each of us came up with were striking and unique, even within the stricture of the same two words.

Which is a long way of saying, if you get stuck, use your hands!

is different from what the human brain and hands can produce - often original and creative.

Thanks for sharing!
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But another part is the immediacy of the mind/hand connection, something that seems to be lacking when using a keyboard.

Following that process proved to each student that drawing by hand works, even if it's rough.

The ideas each of us came up with were striking and unique, even within the stricture of the same two words.

the prices of e-notebooks are really coming down. Just got a Rocketbook with my birthday gift card for 20 dollars and change.

My messages, on b'day cards to kids and grands, getting REALLY bad, as in illegible!

Years ago Philip Roth said novels will be over in 10 years. Maybe not quite, but I understand his point.

when i was in college . i learned how to use a word processer called ms word 5.0. my grades went from bs and ds to as and bs because of this . the instructors could read my reports and so on.,

….. students have to actively pay attention to the incoming information and process it—prioritize

Botany. =

...was trying to remember what an abbreviation, that seemed clever and logical at the moment I first thought it up, actually meant when reading my notes. Many times, I'd look at one of my spur-of-the-moment creations and wonder, "
what the hell does this mean?"

In the various subjects that were part of the nursing school curriculum, there were lots of lengthy technical terms that took too long to write down in their entirety, hence the temptation to abbreviate.

Learning a new tune by ear works a lot better than playing music from a page IMO, but sometimes the melody escapes memory anyway.

If I take the time to rough out the dots on paper when learning it, I have a much better chance of retaining the tune long term.

Or sometimes if the tune escapes when called on, a quick peek at the first couple of bars brings the whole thing right on back.

Don't know why that works but it does for me.

about foreign languages from listening to people I was around and remembering the words and phrases they used, even years later.

Classroom instruction and reading in school was good, but not the same as hearing the language spoken in RL of course.