Any student has to memorize concepts during their academic life. There is no other way to remember dates, important historical events, names of philosophers and details of the biography of famous authors. However, memorizing does not mean mechanically repeating an idea but making it your own, understanding it. This is achieved through a comprehensive reading in which you establish an active dialogue with the text.
Tips for a Comprehensive Reading
That is, after having performed a first general reading of the same, make later readings to work more calmly the subject structured in smaller sections. Underline the main ideas of each paragraph with a colored pencil. That idea that you will find very useful to visualize in a single visual stroke when opening the book on that page to review.
Also, read carefully. Take your time to review the parts that are more complex and spend less time on those that are simpler. Makes footer annotations. Write down ideas and concepts in your notebook whose meaning you do not know and cannot deduce from the context.
To carry out a comprehensive reading, it is recommended that you express what you have studied out loud. Imagine that you are sharing it with someone else. Use study techniques that help you synthesize a text. An outline and a summary are good formulas to achieve this.
At the university, the most advisable thing is that you study from your own notes. And not from the notes of a colleague. It will be easier for you to understand information from your own words. For this reason, exam preparation begins with the habit of attend class as a personal norm.
Make friends with libraries, places of silence that create a climate very conducive to intellectual curiosity and the word.