Master of Memory: Accelerated learning, education, memorization - MMem 0354: How to use accelerated learning techniques to prepare for the ACT

Episode Date: July 16, 2015

Michael is preparing for the ACT and is overwhelmed with the amount of information required to know. I present some suggestions for keeping his preparation clear and simple. What do you want to learn? Leave your question at http://MasterOfMemory.com/. Music credit: Maurice Ravel’s String Quartet, 2nd movement, performed by the US Army Band.

Master of Memory 354. Welcome to Master of Memory. I'm Timothy, and I'm here to answer your accelerated learning questions every day and to inspire and empower you to learn anything you want to learn faster than ever. Michael submitted a written question at masterofmemory.com slash question. Michael says, Hi, Mr. Timothy. I was wondering what advice you would give to those studying for the ACT. There's so much information that one must know to get a high score.

Grammar, punctuation, math formulas, reading comprehension, and understanding graphs. Thank you. Well, Michael, my biggest suggestion as someone who professionally prepares students individually for the SAT and the PSAT in particular is going to be based on my prep for these students, so I don't generally prep people for the ACT, although I am familiar with it. My first suggestion to start out is to focus on one subject of the test at a time. Maybe you will choose the one that you have the most trouble with, like let's say your math score is good, but your English score is really low. You might just start with the English and that'll get you the best results for the least amount of work because since it's graded on a curve it's easier to get from say 25 to 30 than it is to get from 30 to 35. So your

overall score will improve faster if you focus on just one of those subjects. So choose one subject to focus on and focus on it for a while before moving on to something else. Within that subject, you want to find a way to categorize the questions, particularly the questions that you have trouble with, and then focus on just one if possible. For example, if you're doing a reading section,

it may be that you have the most trouble with the vocabulary and context questions. You don't want just to study one section at a time and keep doing that over and over. Instead, you want to focus on one particular type of question so that any time that type of question comes up on a test section, you already know quickly how to do that because you're familiar with it and you can focus on different questions. So I would study in batches that way, get really familiar with one type of question before moving on to others. So you can see how we're focusing on one subject and then we're focusing even within that subject so that we make concrete results in specific areas instead of just trying to prepare everything at once. This is an accelerated learning principle that can be applied far and wide. You want to make very specific concrete

moves forward in specific areas that get good results before moving on to study other things. Now, as far as just general test prep goes, I would recommend pacing yourself and doing some work each week, not necessarily every single day, but keep moving forward every single week, focusing on specific score goals for each week or month. So let's say you have some very accurate test materials to test yourself with, and your goal is to get to, for example, a 28 on the math by the end of the month. So you'll focus on those goals, and then the next month, you'll focus on goals of getting your reading score up to 30 or something like that. Whatever it is, you want to have specific measurable goals and be able to test yourself that way.

But at the same time, don't over test yourself. I think a big mistake that people make is taking the test too many times and that's just fatiguing and I think just doesn't really get any good results, I would only take a test every two months or perhaps even less frequently, and that includes practice tests to test yourself. While I'm preparing students for the PSAT, for several months before the test, I recommend that they not focus on any other standardized tests like the SAT or the ACT, and that they take practice PSATs, but only every two months leading up to the test. So don't over-test yourself, and then also do some things outside of your test prep that will supplement it, like extra reading or extra math work that you find more enjoyable and less restrictive,

like the test can sometimes feel. I hope you find that helpful and actionable, Michael, and I'd really appreciate an iTunes review of the show. That really boosts our rankings and helps hundreds of more people to see it. And really, for anyone listening, if I've ever answered your question or you've found any help from this, the show is free. So why not go into iTunes really quickly, write something about what you think of the show, make it honest, and give us a rating. Those reviews have a multiplying effect of whom iTunes allows to see the show. What do you want to learn? The world's knowledge can be yours. Leave your learning

request at masterofmemory.com slash question and I'll talk to you again soon.