Private: Learning Essentials – Learning to Learn

Lesson 1 – How to improve your reading skills
12 Topics
Introduction and overview
What is “reading”?
Types of reading – part 1
Types of reading – part 2
Speed reading – part 1
Speed reading – part 2
Managing your environment
SQ3R
Reading electronic materials
Summary
End of lesson activities
End of lesson assessment
Lesson 2 – How to Improve your Memory and Mental Agility
11 Topics | 1 Quiz
Introduction and overview
The Relevance of Memory to Learning and Work
Memory in a Nutshell
Knowing Your Mind
“The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”
Recitation
Mind maps and Mnemonics
Practical Tips for Improvement
Forgetting
Summary
End of lesson activities
End of lesson assessment
Lesson 3 – How to improve your study skills
12 Topics
Introduction and overview
Preparation
Learning styles
Principles of planning for study
A study plan
A model for study
Resources and information sources
Concentrating on your study
Motivation
Summary
End of lesson activities
End of lesson assessment
Lesson 4 – How to Improve Your Time Management for Learning Skills
12 Topics
Introduction and overview
Learner Competencies
Planning Part 1 – Principles
Planning Part 2 – Scheduling
Goal setting for learning
Action Planning and To Do Lists
Prioritisation
Obstacles to achievement
PDPs and CPD
Summary
End of lesson activities
End of lesson assessment
Lesson 5 – How to Improve Your Exam Skills
12 Topics
Introduction and Overview
Knowing About The Exam
Exam Preparation – The Practicalities
Revision – A Timetable
Revision Techniques
Exam Papers
Before The Exam Dealing With Nerves
Problems With Exams and Some Solutions
Maximising Exam Performance
Summary
End of Lesson Activities
End of Lesson Assessment
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The Relevance of Memory to Learning and Work

Context of memory and mental agility
Let us put memory and mental agility into context.

Probably, you have decided to work through this course because you would like to improve your memory and mental agility for reasons of work, study or personal development.

The focus of this lesson is on work and study but anything you learn from it will naturally help you improve personal development.

Ask yourself:

  • What is the relevance of memory and mental agility to my job?
  • What is the importance of memory and mental agility to my job?

What did you come up with?

Memory and organisation
If you are a financial services employee, underpinning everything we do is regulation. We must at all times be able to demonstrate competence in our roles and where we are not competent, have a plan in place to show we are working towards it.

Being competent – having a good grasp of key workplace policies and procedures cannot occur without good memory skills and mental agility. Using the memory is part of everyday life and it is essential to productivity at work. For example:

  • An intermediary must remember information about clients when handling their business needs
  • A compliance officer must recall relevant regulatory criteria when assessing business practices
  • A claims handler must remember insurers’ protocols for handling claimants
  • A sales manager delivering a presentation to a client must remember key product information

In this course, we suggest that the first rule of memory and mental agility is organisation both in mental/psychological and practical physical senses.

If you are organised in your mind and at your desk you are already on your way to competence.

Being organised means having good time management skills so if you want to improve your memory and mental agility you need to organise your time so that you can have regular short breaks to allow your brain to rest.

If you continue studying without a break the information will start to compete for memory space and you may lose most of the knowledge you acquired. This is why it is so important to take a break and make time to reflect and recollect.

As well as significantly improving the memory, organising and ordering information is a sign of good self-discipline and management. If we think of the memory as a filing cabinet, we can see how it can be managed and ordered.

When new information emerges, you need to decide whether it should be kept or disposed of – in the same way as receiving a new file. If you are going to keep it then you need to store it in a way that allows you to find it when you need it, whether this is going to be on a regular basis or only occasionally.