Essay About Organic Chemistry And Mnemonic Strategies

Using Your Memory Better
Using Your Memory Better
The task of learning and remembering all the different physical properties of
lipids and proteins in Organic Chemistry can be an extremely challenging
duty. Being an athletic-training major here at the University of Iowa, it is
one of my many obligations to understand and be able to recall such properties
very quickly. By using mnemonic strategies, memory aid techniques that use
vivid imagery and organization devices, I am able to defeat the challenge in
my Organic Chemistry class of getting all the physical properties of lipids
and proteins into my Long Term Memory and then recall them whenever I need.
In order for me to understand and remember the physical properties of lipids
and proteins, I must first relate personal experiences to the information my
professor gives. For example, by using the mnemonic strategy of relating an
object to an image, also known as the “peg-word” system, I can remember things
such as the structural make up of a saturated fatty acid, a long bumpy tube,
versus an unsaturated fatty acid, a bent bumpy tube. Also with this mnemonic
strategy, I can remember the structural make up of a Liposome by relating it
to what a flower looks like. I can turn the task of remember what an Alpha-
Helix protein looks like by associating it to the picture of a spring. A
difficult subject to remember is easily turned into something easy by relating
them to everyday symbols.
This particular mnemonic strategy works extremely well for me because
it associates items, such as the structure of Amino Acids, which are harder to
understand with items that I can relate to in my everyday life, chains and
springs. This technique puts the information I need to know and remember into
my own words so to speak. It chunks the information into acronyms that I am
familiar with. I am a visual learner, so this strategy is easier for me over
others because I am more likely to recognize a picture and relate it to its
short form.
To get the information about lipids and proteins out of my Long Term Memory I
have to do the task of recall, which is the ability to retrieve information
not in conscious awareness. There are many ways to in which I can make
retrieving information stored in my Long Term Memory easier. One is by putting
myself back in the context of where I experienced what I learned. In other
words, by going back to the class room or place I studied the material on the
physical properties of lipids and proteins the room or setting acts as a
retrieval