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What is ‘TEACH THE DOG’ and why does it work for HSC Students?

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Over 95% of students battle with ineffective learning techniques that add many hours to their already over-loaded study schedule.

Is this you?

• Does it take you a long time to learn things and do you forget much of it within a few days?
• Do you get lower than expected results that don’t reflect your efforts?

Yes? So what can you do?

If you are reading over your notes and highlighting or underlining key points, or if you are rewriting notes in the hope that they will stay in your memory and neither of these methods are working, then CHANGE YOUR APPROACH!
Research shows that we learn best when we are engaging many parts of the brain and to do this best we need to be DOING.

Try these two techniques!

1. Practise with past papers and exam style questions (80-85% retention rate).
2. Teach someone, or pretend to “teach the dog” or no one, by talking out loud and explaining concepts. (90-95% retention rate)

When doing this you are using a scientifically proven technique called ‘elaborative rehearsal’, and by explaining what you’ve learnt in your own words, out loud, you will be changing the information from your short term memory into higher levels of longer term memory. This enables the brain to draw strong links between what you are trying to remember and what you already know.

Not only will ‘Teaching’ help your understanding and memory but it will also improve your ability to apply what you’ve learnt, which is important when answering worded questions. The process also allows you to quickly identify the topics that you do not know well enough and need to revise.

GIVE IT A GO AND SEE HOW IT WORKS FOR YOU!