Methods To Learn History Effectively

Many students avoid choosing history for their higher studies as they find it hard to remember the chronological order of events, various names of kings, places and other important things. That is unfair to put aside an interesting subject that educates us about our past. So, here we have listed some methods to learn history productively.

First read the syllabus of your history book to get a clear understanding of what it covers. Then follow the steps given below:

Take Notes

Note-taking is essential for doing well in academics because it helps you remember important details, such as key points, names, and places, from your history lessons. Instead of going through your entire history textbook again, it is better to write down key points while studying. This helps you to brush up your memory during your final history revision. Use a highlighter in your notes or textbooks to accentuate important details

Prepare Timeline Charts

Timeline charts help you remember the chronological order of events. Writing things in sequence will help you to have a clear idea about the series of incidents that took place in history.

• Select a start and end date for the timeline.
• Write down the most important dates and events on the timeline.
• You can add more points near the date for better understanding of the event.

Infographics

For some people, learning continuously through text form of content can be boring. You can bring in infographics, which are usually collections of imagery or data visualizations that give you a clear assimilation of a particular topic.

Incorporate infographics when learning history to help remember the progression of an event. This will make you understand how certain things led to another.

Flashcards

Flashcards are excellent aids in memorizing things, as they are helpful to recall names, events, dates, places and years.

You can write down the name of an event in one side of the flash card and add the year or a small description about it on the flip side. This way you can test yourself about how well you know a topic.

Mnemonics

Memorizing can be frustrating at times but with mnemonics it becomes fun and easy. Mnemonics are strategies used to improve your memory by using a silly method to recall facts or years. Mnemonics doesn’t have to be meaningful.

Example: It is hard to remember the names of the 13 U.S. colonies when learning American history. So here is how a mnemonic can help you recollect those names easily.

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The first letters of each word mentioned in the above example can help you in retrieving the names of all the thirteen settlements.

• Massachusetts
• New Hampshire
• New York
• Connecticut
• New Jersey
• Rhode Island
• Pennsylvania
• Maryland
• Delaware
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Georgia

Establish Relationship

Try to correlate events that happened in various periods of time by making a connection between them.

Example: World War -2 war was fought between the Allied powers (U.S, U.K, Soviet Union, China) and Axis countries-Germany, Japan, Italy which to the following effects:

• Great depression
• Progress in military technology and its implications
• Creation of United Nation

Make Mind Map

When you want to remember so many things about a particular topic, you can try mind maps as they can help you organize your ideas in a pattern and make new connections between them.

Steps To Write A Mind Map

• Choose a core topic that you want to draw a mind map for.
• Gather information about it.
• Connect topics and subtopics with arrows and dotted lines to show relation among them.
• Add additional information like dates, events, names to the topics.

This mind map will help you to not leave out any information while writing a descriptive answer or an essay.

Movies

You can read about a historical event and then watch a documentary video or movie revolving around the historical event. It can give you a broader idea on the topic. It is easy to forget about the incidents that happened during the civil war in America but you will remember things better when you watch in a video format.

Example: Lincoln (2012) focuses on the last four months of his own life, especially the role he played during the end of the Civil War, the abolishment of slavery and his assassination.

Get Additional Aid: Online

You can ask experts to take your online history class as they have a thorough knowledge about the subject and knows well how to clear your history exams. At Online Class Help, we will help you with the entire course, including assignments, homework, exams, quizzes, discussion boards, and research papers with guaranteed A’s and B’s.

If you have trouble remembering dates or chronological events, then you can try teaching what you have learned to your friends or family for reinforcement of important details.

Revise

Study the topics regularly using the Pomodoro technique, where you learn for about 25 minutes and then take a 5-mins break.

Use any of the above tried and trusted methods to learn history appropriately. If you want someone reliable to take your online history test, hire our experts.