I've been using the techniques in the course recently to memorize a five page spreadsheet of biological diversity. The techniques I've been using are mostly associations made through intelligent gap management and also stories and mnemonic devices remember lists of things. Without the techniques in the course, I think it would have taken a lot longer to remember all this than it has.
For an example of how I used intelligent gap management, I already knew some things about chordates, but other things were totally new to me, so I created associations from the things I already knew to those I didn't know yet. For instance, I already knew that vertebrates and craniates were both chordates, but I didn't know that a vertebrate was a craniate with a backbone, so I pictured a crane with a backbone to help me to remember that relationship.
An example of a story to help me remember a list is a list of example conifers:
(1) Douglas Fir - I pictured a friend I knew in a sweater that was furry.
(2) Common Juniper - I thought it was common to see him at this location.
(3) Wollemia Pine - I pictured him taking a pine cone and thowing it over a wall.
(4) Pacific Yew - I pictured that when the pine cone went over the wall, it fell into the pacific ocean.
(5) Bristlecone Pine - I pictured the pine cone bristling when it fell into the cold pacific ocean.
(6) Sequoia - I saw the pine cone end up on a beach where there was a redwood tree growing.
I know this is only six long, but there were a lot of these to learn, so any help is very helpful.
An example of a mnemonic device I used was a list of subgroups for platyhelminthes(flat worms). First I pictured a platform in hell for the word playtyhelminthes, then I think of the phrase "Try to come more" as kind of a scary way to help me remember the subgroups: Turbellaria, Trematoda, Cestoda, and Monogenea.
I hope this is helpful to some. Cheers.
